Join GrowSmart Maine at our 2022 Summit, and have a voice in building Maine’s Policy Action 2023 to address barriers to and create incentives for equitable, sustainable growth and development that strengthens downtowns and villages of all sizes while pulling development pressure away from productive and open natural areas. We will develop policies to strengthen Maine’s cities, downtowns, and villages AND protect farmland, forests, working waterfronts, recreational, and conservation spaces. We promote equity for all. We do so by acknowledging that our towns thrive when we support diversity—for people and land use and that Maine has urban, rural, and suburban settings for which any solution may/not be a fit.

Our Keynote Speakers: John Piotti, American Farmland Trust and Mike McGinn, America Walks will share from their national perspectives stories of how advocacy is empowerment. As communities navigate change, actively engaging in local, state, and federal policymaking is essential to your community’s success in navigating change.

Our keynote speakers will be joined by Maine’s USDA: Rural Development State Director Rhiannon Hampson, who will bring her own depth of experience as moderator of a conversation between the two speakers and with our audience.

Then we will dive into Maine Policy Action 2023. GrowSmart Maine and Build Maine are convening statewide partners to develop forward-thinking legislative proposals. The current effort builds on work that has been ongoing since 2019, involving the Maine Alliance for Smart Growth and hundreds of people across the state. We want your feedback to strengthen the proposed slate in time for the 2023 legislative session.