You’re invited to our next program, “Living Connected to Place: Why it Matters and How We Can Make It the Norm,” on Thursday, November 14, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Burlingame Community Center, 850 Burlingame Ave. It will feature Matt Biggar, Ph.D., a place-based collaboration consultant, researcher and writer who will offer guidance on how we can change systems locally and regionally to support living connected to place and advance collective well-being. There is no charge, but pre-registration is required at https://bit.ly/ConnectedtoPlace. Those who register will also receive a video of the event.

Living connected to place strengthens our health and well-being as individuals and as a society, but it can be a struggle these days to connect in tangible, meaningful ways to what is around us. Car dependency, digital devices and consumerism have firmly taken root in our society and lives, and among other factors, eroded our relationships with community and nature. It’s no coincidence that we now face multiple unfolding crises, from climate change to deep social divisions to a loneliness epidemic.

Strengthening our connection to place invites us to firmly embed ourselves in our physical surroundings and nearby human community and can be practiced in all aspects of life. Systems change is essential to create conditions that enable living connected to place. When place-based systems are present, we can live with a much smaller ecological footprint, stronger bonds to local community and each other, and more meaning, happiness and hope.

Matt Biggar is the principal and founder of Connected to Place, a strategy consulting firm that supports place-based collaboratives, nonprofits and government agencies with facilitation, strategic planning, research and advisory services. Matt regularly writes for his Living Connected to Place Profiles series and blog. He has a forthcoming book, Connected to Place: Regenerating Nature, Community and Local Wealth through Systems Change (Cornell University Press, 2025). He served as Principal of Burlingame High School from 2002 to 2008 and as Associate Superintendent in the San Mateo Union High School District from 2008 to 2011.