Discovering Green Spaces

by Colin Schofield
July 15, 2013

Colin Schofield ’14 is an Impact Providence intern this summer working for the Rhode Island Land Trust Council

We're now up to 53 Land Trust Days events and counting all over the state!

A land trust is a property that is legally protected to preserve aspects of its natural character. It turns out there are around 45 of them in Rhode Island, everything from working farms to public parks, forests and trails, and urban gardens.

My job this summer is doing marketing and communications for Land Trust Days. These are events hosted by Land Trusts and are intended to get people outdoors to enjoy the protected lands in their communities. They consist of guided walks, art workshops, kayaking, stargazing, geocaching and more. They’ll hopefully serve as an introduction for people that don’t know these areas are being protected for the public, right in their backyard.

My internship work so far has been to help our director coordinate and publicize these events. I hadn’t previously done any marketing work, so I’ve had to learn communications on the fly. After some long days with a thick media communications binder, and multiple meetings with public relations professionals (thanks Jim!), I’m able to craft press advisories and media releases with ease.

Land Trusts Days starts on August 1st at Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, and both the Governor and Mayor will be in attendance. Leading up to that I’ll be contacting media throughout the state, and distributing materials to the Land Trusts. The events will continue for eight weeks, through the end of September.

I’m excited about Land Trust Days as an opportunity to explore the state, and publicize these special places. Delivering posters and attending their activities seems is a great way for me to discover the cool green spaces in Rhode Island. Hopefully many people take the opportunity to enjoy the summer days and discover a new favorite trail or view during Land Trust Days.

If you’re interested, check out Land Trust Days on Facebook and see the full roster of events on our website.