Hello!

Introducing....The Productive Collective!   

We are a group of urban farmers, architects, artists, contractors, renewable energy consultants, and community organizers committed to urban citizenship. We identify projects that will affect positive social, economic, and educational growth in our Greater Boston communities and develop strategies for their implementation.

And we need YOUR help!   

We are constructing a pilot project in Dorchester, initiating the research, development, and prototyping of a semi-enclosed urban farming ecosystems – designed, built, and maintained by students and volunteers to empower our community. The scale of our aquaponics pilot is ideal for do-it-yourself construction and serves as an exemplary model for DIY homeowners. The pilot will act as a developmental tool for sustaining partnerships and fundraising, it will become a site of educational and economic opportunity, and provide healthy food access for the local community.

With lessons learned from this project, we will lead a series of four graduate level design/build workshops at the Boston Architectural College. Each project/workshop will sustain the next - not only as a source of healthy local food, but as educational and economic institutions that foster new modes of social interaction between the Roxbury and Dorchester communities and emerging designers. 

The project also will also participate actively in the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s agricultural re-zoning initiative by attending BRA meetings and showcasing the value of urban agriculture. At the local level, our mission is to provide educational and economic opportunity to their neighborhood, to create an institution of community and citizenship for its youth, and to support the Frederick Douglass Market.

You can help by contributing your time and/or resources to make this project happen! Click here for more information, and make a tax free donation through Crowdrise!   

We hope you'll consider joining New England Grassroots, Boston Architectural College, and other private individuals in supporting our project launch. Your donation will be used to directly fund construction of the pilot system, to help us get started with this exciting project. Our goal is $5000 - and we already have $1000 - every little bit helps! $50, $20, $10, $5 - chip in what you can, and support our work in community urban agriculture.     

Thanks!  The Productive Collective

[Kyle, Lauren, Bobby, Dan, Nataka, Alex, Marilyn, and Laura]