GREENFIELD — With a focus on greening urban areas and environmental justice, the Four Rivers Charter Public School senior class is presenting its annual documentary Thursday evening.

To be held as a webinar, the students will present “Plants Through the Pavement: Green Space Inequity in Boston,” which explores the concepts of urban wilding; the history, preservation and future promotion of green spaces in the city; and the environmental justice and human connections to maintaining green spaces in our cities.

The film will be presented Thursday night, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. The event is free, although advance registration is required at bit.ly/3xnJCQ2.

“It is a really broad thing, we put a lot into it. … It’s every level of human life packed into a Boston-environmental lens,” said Four Rivers senior Rafael Gell. “The film is about trying to show people ways we can move forward.”

The senior class has spent five months putting the documentary together, all the way from the initial creative planning to post-production. Part of that process included a December trip to Boston where students interviewed public officials, university professors and community organizers to get their perspectives on creating and maintaining green spaces in the city.

One of the key people students interviewed was Nick Long, the urban wilds foreperson for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, whose job involves maintaining landscape restoration projects and community outreach.

Four Rivers senior Eleanor Herbert said it was interesting to see everyone’s different perspectives during the interviewing process, especially when exploring the environmental justice aspect of urban green spaces.

“When some urban wild areas are restored … the housing costs go up if it’s a low-income area and the people are pushed out,” Herbert said, adding that her hope is to bring “awareness to the fact that it’s a complex topic and it’s important to take into account the equity aspect of it.”

Fellow senior Kole Broderick added that the goal of the documentary is to “spread information” about the importance of green spaces and how they can benefit different populations of people in the city.

Similarly, senior Eve Macek hopes the film inspires people to get more involved in their community’s green space projects, while also considering the difficulty of returning developed lots back into natural areas when new projects are proposed.

Before the documentary is presented, students and teachers will give a short presentation about the film. Once finished, the audience is encouraged to participate in a question-and-answer session with the students about the production of the film.

“I’m so proud of these guys,” added 11th and 12th grade social studies teacher Alex Wilson, who helped guide students through the filmmaking process.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

]]>