Nominate Your Favorite Market

From the green to the groovy, the quintessential to the quirky, Project for Public Spaces is looking for your nominations for its 2002 Great Public Markets Awards.

The winners of the awards will be announced on Saturday 9, November at a special reception at the Chelsea Market. The reception is part of the 5th International Public Market Conference, organized by Project for Public Spaces to highlight the role of public markets in city and neighborhood revitalization.

Leading personalities from the world of markets, food, and farming will judge the 200+ anticipated entries for the awards and make the final selections. The Awards categories celebrate both major public markets and smaller neighborhood markets. The leadership award is for a person or organization that has successfully evolved a market or other public space to meet the needs of today's users.

AWARD CATEGORIES

Great Markets / Great Cities Award -- for a major public market in North America that has added significantly to the social, economic and environmental health and well-being of that city.

Great Community Place Award -- for a smaller market that, although not necessarily well known nationally, has become a nucleus of social activity and revitalization in that community or neighborhood.

Catalyst Award for Leadership -- for a person or organization that has successfully evolved a market or other public space to meet the needs of today’s users, by involving the community, building stewardship and making a space the setting for diverse community activities.

NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE MARKET/LEADER NOW

To nominate your favorite market or leader send us an email with the following information:

Your name The name of the market/person you're nominating The town/city and state that the market is located in (or that the person represents) The award category Why you think this market/person should win the Great Public Market Awards To learn more about what we think makes a Great Public Market visit: http://www.pps.org/gps/

"How to Turn a Place Around" Training Gains Momentum

Project for Public Spaces' Training Program, launched just one year ago, is growing by leaps and bounds. Based on our 25 years of experience in placemaking, the Training Program has already expanded from its initial locale in New York to include a tour of the Czech Republic and our upcoming course in London (see sidebar).

Now we are expanding the Training Program further and hiring a new staff member to manage, promote, and develop PPS courses. This will enable PPS to transfer our placemaking skills to an even wider audience. Potential applicants can click here for more information: http://pps.org/Who_We_Are/job_openings.html.

PPS to Help Forest Service Create Living Memorials

Recognizing the widespread desire to memorialize the tragic losses of September 11, 2001, the USDA Forest Service has initiated the Living Memorials Project. The Project will use tree plantings to create lasting, living memorials in communities around the sites in New York City, Washington DC, and southwestern Pennsylvania where lives were lost. The Forest Service will also create a national inventory of similar memorials to help recognize places throughout the U.S. "where residents can connect to community, reflect on life, and honor peace."

PPS is working with the Forest Service and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to train managers of New York-area memorials in the principles of placemaking. In addition, the training will include a custom-designed planting and tree-care component to be created in partnership with the Forest Service.

The memorial sites will be open to the public by September 30, 2003.