Second Saturdays: Volunteer Stewardship in Franklin Park
2024-09-14 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Valley Gates Parking Lot, Boston, MA, United States
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers with land stewardship work in the Emerald Necklace parks on Saturday, September 14! This month, we will be working in Franklin Park.
Registration is required in order to participate in this event. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waivers to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Register below:

Tuesdays with Roses
2024-09-17 17:30 - 19:30, 2024-09-24 17:30 - 19:30 | Kelleher Rose Garden, Back Bay Fens, Boston, MA, 02115
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers in the Kelleher Rose Garden to deadhead and prune roses and to weed the rose beds and borders. Training and tools are provided.
Registration is required in order to participate. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waiver to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Register below:

Forest Bathing Walk
2024-09-21 10:00 - 12:00 | Valley Gates Parking Lot, Boston, MA, United States
Experience the healing benefits of The Emerald Necklace on a Forest Bathing Walk.
Discover one of Boston’s forested gems on this slow-paced guided therapeutic combination of leisurely walking, sitting, and observation. This is a chance to unplug, slow down, and de-stress through a series of gentle sensory-opening invitations that welcome us to deepen our connection with nature.
Forest Bathing is inspired by Shinrin-Yoku, a term coined in Japan in the 1980’s and there has been years’ worth of research and studies done demonstrating how the practice is an effective form of preventative healthcare and treatment for many stress-related illnesses. There is a long list of proven health benefits from increased cerebral blood flow to stronger immune defenses.
Tam Willey of Toadstool Walks is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide who believes the practice of Forest Therapy can deepen and broaden our relationships and guides Forest Bathing Walks for all.
Registration is required; sign up below:

Tuesdays with Roses
2025-06-03 17:30 - 19:30 | Kelleher Rose Garden, Back Bay Fens, Boston, MA, 02115
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers in the Kelleher Rose Garden to deadhead and prune roses and to weed the rose beds and borders. Training and tools are provided.
Registration is required in order to participate. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waiver to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Register below. If the form does not load, try opening this page in an incognito/private browsing window.

Tour: Historic Treasures of the Back Bay Fens
2024-09-29 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-11-02 10:00 - 11:30 | Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
What do a 17th-century Japanese Temple Bell, a bridge made of Roxbury puddingstone, and a tree once thought extinct have in common? They all reside in the Back Bay Fens. Learn about these and other treasures on a guided walking tour of the Back Bay Fens that is sure to bring out the history detective in you!
Registration required: sign up below!

Film Premiere & Panel Discussion: "Franklin Park—Boston’s Imperiled Public Landscape"
2024-10-08 18:00 - 21:00 | Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St #200, Boston, MA, 02119
Based on Ethan Carr’s award-winning book, Boston’s Franklin Park: Olmsted, Recreation, and the Modern City describes the landscape Frederick Law Olmsted designed in 1885 as the centerpiece of a unique municipal park system known as the Emerald Necklace. Weaving together interviews with the author, park advocates, and park users, the film traces its decline, caused by patterns of institutionalized racism on the part of the city of Boston, and the heroic efforts of local residents to save it from ruin. Now, as the city is poised to spend millions of dollars to improve the park, the film presents an important crossroads: “As we look forward to the city—finally, after decades of official neglect—investing major amounts of money in Franklin Park, the question is how should the city move forward?”
A panel discussion on the future of Franklin Park moderated by Keith N. Morgan, President of the Library of American Landscape History, will take place following the film premiere. Panelists include:

Ethan Carr, Author and professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst;
Louis Elisa, President of the Garrison Trotter Neighborhood Association, founding member of the Franklin Park Coalition, and community advocate;
Renee Stacey Welch, Jamaica Plain resident, community advocate, and member of the Franklin Park Defenders;
Karen Mauney-Brodek, President of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy.

Register below. If the registration form does not appear, try opening this page in an Incognito/private browsing window.

Second Saturdays: Volunteer Stewardship in the Back Bay Fens
2024-10-12 10:00 - 12:00 | Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers with land stewardship work in the Emerald Necklace parks on Saturday, October 12! This month, we will be working in the Back Bay Fens.
Registration is required in order to participate in this event. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waivers to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Register below:

Opening Our Doors
2024-10-14 10:00 - 16:00 | Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
Join us for a day of cultural activities in the Fenway neighborhood. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy invites visitors to take a walk in the park with all-day events at the Shattuck Visitor Center!
10:00AM-4:00PM
The Shattuck Visitor Center will be open with lawn games, free park maps, visitor information, a public restroom and more!
10:30AM-12:00PM
Indigenous Peoples Day Plant and Tree Walk (Registration Required)
1:00PM-2:30PM
Tour: Historic Treasures of the Back Bay Fens (Registration Required)
View other Opening Our Doors programming here.

Indigenous Peoples Day Plant and Tree Walk
2024-10-14 10:30 - 12:00 | Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
Join Aquinnah Wampanoag artist and cultural steward Elizabeth James-Perry on an educational nature walk! This guided, family-friendly activity will highlight Indigenous cultural cuisine, architectural tribal uses and responsible stewardship practices in the lands and waters now known as the Back Bay Fens.
Register below. If the registration form does not appear, try opening this page in an Incognito/private browsing window.

About Elizabeth James-Perry:
Internationally known 2023 National Endowment of the Arts Heritage Fellow Elizabeth James-Perry is an enrolled Aquinnah Wampanoag whaling descendant who engages with Northeastern Woodlands cultural expressions primarily in sculptural wampum carving, naturally dyed textiles, and watercolor paintings including the Bear Map series. Her work explores the connections between the arts, sustainability, Native identity and sovereignty, maritime traditions and environmentally restorative Native gardening. Her garden project Raven Reshapes Boston was part of a year-long collaboration with artist Ekua Holmes to bring diversity to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. James-Perry has a Marine Science degree from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, attended Shoals Marine Lab, and Rhode Island School of Design CE, and holds a certificate in Digital Tribal Stewardship from Washington State University. She was an advisor for many years for the New England Foundation of the Arts Native program, gave workshops in the Evergreen College Longhouse Program. For over a decade she was employed first with the Natural Resource Department and then the Aquinnah Tribal Historic Preservation Office, she was the Federal Tribal Co-lead of the Northeast Regional Ocean Planning Body and participated in the United South and Eastern Tribal Conferences as a member of the Heritage and Culture committee.
Acknowledgement:
For millennia before and in the centuries since Frederick Law Olmsted designed the Emerald Necklace park system, the lands and waters of and around Greater Boston have served as a site of exchange among communities including the Massachusett, Pawtucket, Wampanoag and Nipmuc peoples. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy acknowledges the Greater Boston region as their unceded ancestral territories. This acknowledgement is a starting point toward right relations with Indigenous neighbors and their understandings of land stewardship.

View other Opening Our Doors programming here.

This event is supported in part by:

Opening Our Doors Tour: Historic Treasures of the Back Bay Fens
2024-10-14 13:00 - 14:30 | Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
What do a 17th-century Japanese Temple Bell, a bridge made of Roxbury puddingstone, and a tree once thought extinct have in common? They all reside in the Back Bay Fens. Learn about these and other treasures on a guided walking tour of the Back Bay Fens that is sure to bring out the history detective in you!
Register below. If the registration form does not appear, try opening this page in an Incognito/private browsing window.

View other Opening Our Doors programming here.

Save Franklin Park's Trees! Community Standout
2024-10-28 17:00 - 18:00 | MA
RSVP HERE
City officials are considering cutting down up to 140 trees in Franklin Park to build an enormous professional sports and entertainment complex at White Stadium.
Join the Franklin Park Defenders to speak out against the City’s privatization plan and ask state officials to provide much-needed independent review. We want a truly-public renovation of White Stadium that meets the needs of Boston students without destroying essential greenspace, privatizing Franklin Park and shutting out the public.
Feel free to bring signs and dress up in costumes that show your support for Franklin Park’s trees and natural environment. Kids and families are welcome!

Second Saturdays: Volunteer Stewardship at Jamaica Pond
2024-11-09 10:00 - 12:00 | James Michael Curley House, 350 Jamaicaway, Boston, MA, 02130, United States
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers with land stewardship work in the Emerald Necklace parks on Saturday, November 9! This month, we will be working at Jamaica Pond.
Registration is required in order to participate in this event. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waivers to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Register below; if the signup form does not load, try opening this page in an incognito/private browsing window:

Happy New Year!
2020-01-01 | MA
In observance of the holiday, Conservancy offices at the Shattuck Visitor Center are closed.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day
2024-01-15 | MA
In observance of the holiday and Martin Luther King, Jr., Conservancy offices at the Shattuck Visitor Center are closed.

Public Meeting on 'Public Park Proposal' for Franklin Park's White Stadium
2025-02-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Lena Park Community Center, 150 American Legion Highway, Dorchester, MA, 02124, United States
Join us on Thursday, February 13 for a public meeting encouraging community feedback on the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s alternative design proposal for Franklin Park’s White Stadium, from 6:00 to 8:00PM at Dorchester’s Lena Park Community Center.
NOTE: Due to inclement weather, this event has been rescheduled from February 6 to Thursday, February 13.
RSVP using the form below:

Presidents' Day
2019-02-18 | MA
In observation of the holiday, Conservancy offices at the Shattuck Visitor Center are closed.

First Day of Spring!
2025-03-20 | MA

Connect with the Conservancy: Back Bay Fens Tree Walk
2025-03-20 16:30 - 18:30 | Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
Join tree care staff from the Conservancy and expert arborists from Bartlett Tree Experts on a guided walk of the Back Bay Fens, all about the extensive pruning project underway in the park to keep over 900 trees healthy and growing strong!
In the event of inclement weather, this event will take place at the same time and location on Friday, March 21.
Registration is required; sign up with the form below.

Open House at the James Michael Curley House
2025-03-27 15:00 - 19:00 | James Michael Curley House, 350 Jamaicaway, Boston, MA, 02130, United States
Join us on March 27 for an Open House at the historic James Michael Curley House!
We will be opening our doors from 3:00 – 7:00PM and invite all to stop by to explore the house and meet the Conservancy team.
Come to learn more about the Conservancy’s work and the 1,100 acres of the Emerald Necklace, enjoy snacks and refreshments and experience the historic “house with the shamrock shutters.” Thank you for welcoming the Emerald Necklace Conservancy to the neighborhood, and we look forward to getting to know our neighbors and community!
For more information, contact Elena Duncan.
RSVP below:

Second Saturdays: Volunteer Stewardship at Jamaica Pond
2025-04-12 10:00 - 12:00 | James Michael Curley House, 350 Jamaicaway, Boston, MA, 02130, United States
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers with land stewardship work in the Emerald Necklace parks on Saturday, April 12! This month, we will be working at Jamaica Pond.
Registration is required in order to participate in this event. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waivers to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Register below; if the signup form does not load, try opening this page in an incognito/private browsing window:

Patriots' Day
2019-04-15 | MA

Patriots' Day
2025-04-21 | MA

Earth Day Celebration
2025-04-22 15:00 - 19:00 | Punch Bowl, 700 Brookline Ave, Brookline, MA, 02446, United States
This Earth Day, join us for a special event supporting your local parks!
On Tuesday, April 22, we will be holding an Earth Day fundraiser from 3:00-7:00PM at Punch Bowl in Brookline, overlooking Olmsted Park and Leverett Pond. We hope you’ll stop by, buy some food or drinks, and join us for a toast to the greenspaces that clean our air and cool our streets—10% of all proceeds from your purchases will support the Conservancy’s work stewarding and protecting the Emerald Necklace in Boston and Brookline.
Can’t make it on the 22nd? Throughout Earth Week (April 20-26), 30% of all sales from Punch Bowl’s Emerald Necklace-themed cocktail, The Green Girdle, will support our work! Stop by for dinner or a drink and support park stewardship with every sip!

CANCELED: Arbor Day Volunteer Tree Planting 2025
2025-04-25 09:00 - 13:00 | Refectory Hill, Franklin Park, 1 Circuit Drive, Boston, Massachusetts, 02124
NOTE: Due to last-minute logistical concerns, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this event. Every effort was made to keep it, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Please check our calendar for other upcoming volunteer opportunities.
Original text below:
Join Emerald Necklace Conservancy staff and volunteers as we celebrate Arbor Day with the planting of new trees in Franklin Park! Learn more about previous Arbor Day plantings here.
Registration is required in order to participate in this event. Those who register will automatically receive an email with further details, including the necessary waivers to sign and specific information on where to meet and what to expect on the day of the event.
Please email volunteer@emeraldnecklace.org with inquiries on this event or other volunteer opportunities.
Note: this form is for registering to assist in tree planting. To RSVP to the Arbor Day Celebration happening at the same location, click here.

Bilingual Wildlife Conservation Adventure
2025-04-25 14:00 - 16:00 | Shattuck Picnic Grove, Circuit Drive, Boston, 02124
[Due to inclement weather, this event has been postponed to Friday, April 25]
Join us for an exciting, hands-on learning experience where young explorers will dive into the world of wildlife conservation and ecosystems! Through storytelling, movement, and park exploration, children will discover how animals rely on their environment and how changes—both big and small—impact nature.
Space is limited, register below:
¡Únase a nosotros para una emocionante experiencia de aprendizaje práctico donde los jóvenes exploradores se meterán de lleno en el mundo de la conservación de la vida silvestre y los ecosistemas! A través de la narración de cuentos, el movimiento y la exploración del parque, los niños descubrirán cómo los animales dependen de su entorno y cómo los cambios— tanto grandes como pequeños— afectan a la naturaleza.
Espacio es limitado, registrarse aquí:

2025 Muddy River Cleanup
2025-04-26 10:00 - 12:00 | MA
We hope you will join us for this year’s Muddy River Cleanup!
The Muddy River Cleanup is a part of the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup; this event takes place throughout the Charles River Watershed and builds on a national effort as part of American Rivers’ National River Cleanup® which, to date, has removed over 25 million pounds of trash from America’s waterways. From 2016 to 2019, the Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup was recognized by American Rivers for the Most Pounds of Trash Collected and Most Volunteers Mobilized.​
The Charles River Cleanup brings together over 3,000 volunteers each year to pick up litter, remove invasive species and assist with park maintenance along all 80 miles of the Charles River. Residents are drawn to the popular Charles River Cleanup from a desire to give back to their community while enjoying the beauty and wildlife along the river. Volunteers hold onto the connections they establish during this day of stewardship by returning to the Charles to exercise, play and enjoy nature throughout the year.
To lean more and register for the cleanup, click here

Useful Plant Walk
2025-05-03 13:00 - 14:30 | Franklin Park, Boston
There are helpful and even edible plants all around us, especially in springtime. Learn how to identify and use helpful plants that grow in the wild on a leisurely stroll along the Emerald Necklace with Pam Kristan, author and wild food practitioner. Find out what is growing, where, when, which parts are edible or useful for other purposes, and preparation techniques.

Note: This event is for educational purposes only, no plants will be harvested or eaten. Ages 8 and up.
Registration required; sign up below:

Franklin Park and White Stadium: Community Impact Discussion
2025-05-06 18:30 - 20:30 | Lena Park Community Center, 150 American Legion Highway, Dorchester, MA, 02124, United States
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:
How will the professional sports and entertainment complex proposed for the White Stadium site impact you? Join the greater Franklin Park community to discuss:

The updated transportation plan for the stadium and the surrounding residential area
The Superior Court’s ruling on public park protections
Opportunities for a fully-public and less costly venue for Boston’s student-athletes

RSVP using the form below:
