‘Conflict, Consensus and Community in the Future of Auburn’s Ag Zone,’ talk Feb. 20

LEWISTON — The newest season of Great Falls Forum continues Thursday, Feb. 20, featuring Francis Eanes, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Bates College, speaking on “Conflict, Consensus and Community in the Future of Auburn’s Ag Zone.”
The program will take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library, 200 Lisbon St.
Productive, working landscapes that support farm and forest livelihoods have been steadily lost for decades throughout the United States, especially in New England. Although the driving forces behind this trend — e.g., globalization, urban sprawl and demographic shifts — are talked about in distant and abstract terms, their effects are profoundly acute and personal, impactng how individuals and communities see themselves and imagine a more durable future. In this talk, Eanes will explore these challenges and potential solutions through the lens of his in-depth research on the City of Auburn’s contentious process to modernize policies that govern the city’s agricultural zone, which covers more than 40 percent of the city’s land base.
Francis Eanes originally comes from the mountains of western Pennsylvania, but has lived in Idaho, Wisconsin and Indiana and now calls Lewiston home. Having lived in so many different landscapes, his research and teaching interests revolve around urban and rural land use planning. He is especially interested in the social, cultural and livelihood connections that people develop with land, and how these can help to form healthy and more equitable communities. He and his students have worked with community partners in Lewiston-Auburn on a variety of local research projects, including some related to the future of Auburn’s Ag Zone. Before coming to Bates, Eanes earned his doctorate in environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was a postdoctoral researcher in natural resource social science at Purdue University.
Admission is free to all forum events, and no reservations are required. This program is a bring-your-own brown-bag lunch event. Coffee, tea and bottled water will be available on site at the library
For more informatin, call the library at 207-513-3135 or LPLReference@gmail.com.