Merrimack Valley 2050 (MV2050) promotes a sustainable region and a sustainable world. That means a healthy environment, a vibrant economy, social justice and political participation. In view of the gravity of the threats to local and global ecosystems, we must look seriously at environmental impacts when we make "non-environmental" choices in such areas as jobs, education, housing, health, recreation, religion, etc.

We are a partnership between the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell and citizen and other groups in the Merrimack Valley that share our goals".

MV2050 focuses on long-term and proactive approaches to sustainability. We promote citizen empowerment, and try to provide everyone with concrete tools.

We cordially welcome involvement by groups and individuals from all walks of life—business, government, labor, neighborhood groups, environmental organizations, social-service agencies, religious and educational institutions, etc. etc. We seek to involve young people in everything we do.

What is sustainability?

These are two of the many possible answers:

• "Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (United Nations, Our Common Future)

"In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." (Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy

Our current activities:

·        Recycling and reducing waste.  

1.  We are working closely with the city of Lowell and community and regional leaders in the region on municipal solid waste.  

~On May 4, 2002, we held a barbeque and forum "Update on Recycling in Lowell" -- for more details Click Here  

~We organized a major community forum in April 2000, attended by over 100 people, on choices for Lowell—for summary reports on this event Click Here.  For a full report Click Here.  

~On November 14, 2001, we helped celebrate America Recycles Day at a lively event in Lowell City Hall, with presentations by Scott Cassel (Product Stewardship Institute, UMass Lowell), local youth groups and others.  For more details Click Here.

2.  We are partners in a pilot project on composting restaurant waste in Lowell, organized through the Center for Family Work & Community.  For more details on this work, contact Julie Villareal, 978-934-4677or Julie_Villareal@uml.edu

• Other educational events. We usually hold about two major events each year. Topics have included Service Learning For Sustainability, and Light Pollution.  MV2050 has also participated in Earth Day events and annual neighborhood cleanups in Lowell. For more details click here. 

During the 2002-3 academic year, we are not planning any major events, because our co-directors are too busy with other commitments.  However, we would love to hear from interested people, if they 1) would like us to cosponsor event(s) they would like to organize this year, and/or 2) have ideas about MV2050 activities for 2003-4.  For more information on contacting us, Click Here.

All are invited to join us in planning these events. For more information on all our activities, click here.

Since 1997, we have focused on the following:

• Workshop on indicators of sustainability, in collaboration with various community groups. We designed the workshops in collaboration with Maureen Hart, a nationally-known expert in the field. For more details, click here 
• Work with youth: we have teamed up with youth agencies in Lowell to run hands-on educational events about sustainability: for details, click here 

Last Updated:  01/21/2003