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🤸♀️ Discover the transformative power of engaging young minds in town planning. Our latest blog written by Milla Oliver, delves into the crucial role children play in shaping inclusive, vibrant communities. #socialimpact #youngminds #builtenvironment

Education and learning come from social interactions, so how can schools create a real sense of community and connection inside and out? We explored how new school designs are fostering inclusive and engaged connections with their surrounding communities with landscape architect Marie-Eve Parent. Read how with the link in the comments. #Education #Design #Community #LandscapeArchitecture

Universal Design needs to be the new Green Building. This is a great short video about universal design. For those of us familiar with ADA design requirements, we know that for decades we've been mostly focused on one type of wheelchair user when we talk about designing for disabilities. This acknowledges how a design accommodation for one, might create a barrier for another. But, with creativity we can solve it. I also love that this mentioned not only physical disabilities but also developmental disabilities (often overlooked in the discussion). I'd love to hear creative solutions people have incorporated into their projects. Or, even challenges that you are still trying to solve.

Michigan Main Street (MMS) is focused on building strong places that attract people, investment and economic growth. The place-based approach to downtown revitalization encourages local community members to invest in their downtown district by volunteering, supporting downtown businesses, preserving historic resources and promoting downtown as the heart of the community. #MMS documents self-reported data and highlights from each of its local communities to compile annual reports demonstrating the impact of Main Street programming both at the local level and statewide. We're doing a deep-dive series highlighting key statistics and highlights from this year's report. A big highlight of MMS's 2024 Edition of the Impact Report is that MMS celebrated 20 years of programming! Celebrating in style, MMS worked on multiple projects to capture the impact of Main Street in Michigan and embarked on a marketing campaign to raise awareness of what Main Street programming can do for downtowns. Read the synopsis of the 20-year celebration on page 3 of the state report, or follow the links below to check out additional resources which were developed to celebrate the anniversary. 🤓Read the 2024 Edition Impact Report here: https://lnkd.in/gZG5b-Qp Pro-tip: Hop to page 3 of the report to learn where the pictured stats came from 🤩Check out the video campaign exploring the Impact and Legacy of Michigan Main Streets here: https://lnkd.in/ehBNMqb 🥳Dive into the study developed to examine the economic, fiscal, and community impacts of MMS since 2003 here: https://lnkd.in/gespseip #MMSImpactReports24 #MMS20ImpactReport #MiMainStreets

Updating here, as it’s been about 3 months since I joined the City of Boston as head of the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics. For the uninitiated, MONUM is the Mayor’s civic innovation team, the team that applies human-centered design on the entire spectrum of R&D activities to advance the Mayor’s agenda and the City’s initiatives to better the lives of residents (and beyond). We get to partner with all Cabinets and Departments as well as organizations and institutions across the city and strategically push for transformation in many areas, like housing, climate, youth, and transportation, among others. There are a lot of questions about which directions civic innovation ought to go in this day and age, whether or not it should even stick around in City Hall. The question is even more of an imperative at this City Hall, which is filled with so many innovative leaders. But as cities always need to adapt, so does the definition of innovation. For us, we’re expanding our toolbox of strategies beyond prototypes. We’ll always continue to experiment and iterate, only now that would be accompanied by: 1) deeper upfront research and evidence building and 2) stronger connections to delivery and operationalizing positive changes. These are newer muscles to build and flex, it’ll be exciting to see how it goes! Do reach out if you have ideas or thoughts to share. It’s also been fun for me to learn more about the impact the MONUM team has had (beyond 311) especially since that's the one question that is inevitably asked: - Piloting strategic roles that join the City full-time, like the Housing Innovation Lab or the Office of Early Childhood Development, yielding new programs like Great Starts that streamlines families’ search for childcare or preschool. - Heeding the call of the disabled community to improve sidewalk accessibility by helping property owners better maintain areaways (i.e. empty spaces underneath sidewalks), a complex challenge for historic cities. - Extending Browse, Borrow, and Board beyond MBTA and Boston Public Library to across all of Massachusetts. I’ll share more as I learn, it’s been an exciting ride so far and I’m grateful to be working alongside the best team.

Youth strive for cleaner, healthier neighborhoods. The Star News by Albert Fulche Efforts like cleaning the park follow the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles to deter criminal activity, drug use and vandalism, while creating a more family-friendly environment. SBY4C is bringing these issues to the attention of the local community to get additional resources and infrastructure in the park to make it more accessible. Making a positive community presence will increase safety for visitors so they can feel more comfortable using the area for running, biking, hiking, picnicking and other recreational activities. For parks, in particular, the CPTED approach aims to reduce feelings of isolation, maximize visibility, and limit areas of concealment. Park activation and social programming are also critical components of CPTED. As more people use parks, which serve as community gathering spaces, parks develop social capital that strengthens neighborhood ties, reduces crime, and makes people feel safer. TheNICP.com #CPTED #USCA https://lnkd.in/ek6_3frQ

Last semester, my project was born out of the question: what if neighborhood spaces were designed for connection? This topic has been on my mind recently because so many people say “your college years will be your best.” Yet I wondered how much of this was actually due to the college stage vs the livability of a campus where everything you need is a short walk away. With communities dominated by cars and the rise of urban sprawl, the average American is much more isolated than before. They have little-to-no community in the immediate vicinity and must drive everywhere to maintain social connection and community. I decided to tackle this isolation by reimagining a space many neighborhoods already have: the community center. Nbrhd Block is a product brand that reimagines community centers by providing adaptable alternatives tailored to the needs of the community. Neighbors can collaboratively build spaces by adding and customizing modules, ensuring the community center is a meaningful space to the entire neighborhood. By adding local public spaces, neighbors are essentially creating their own 15-minute city and establishing more community nearby (proven to have improvements for health and well-being).

Youth strive for cleaner, healthier neighborhoods. The Star News by Albert Fulche Efforts like cleaning the park follow the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles to deter criminal activity, drug use and vandalism, while creating a more family-friendly environment. SBY4C is bringing these issues to the attention of the local community to get additional resources and infrastructure in the park to make it more accessible. Making a positive community presence will increase safety for visitors so they can feel more comfortable using the area for running, biking, hiking, picnicking and other recreational activities. For parks, in particular, the CPTED approach aims to reduce feelings of isolation, maximize visibility, and limit areas of concealment. Park activation and social programming are also critical components of CPTED. As more people use parks, which serve as community gathering spaces, parks develop social capital that strengthens neighborhood ties, reduces crime, and makes people feel safer. TheNICP.com #CPTED #USCA https://lnkd.in/edumcNcP

Hey friends! As some of you may know, I've been working on a passion project for a while and I've recently decided to transition it into a business! To assess that this is the right decision, I put together an interest survey (see below) and would be thrilled if you all could participate and/or amplify it. Urban Detour is a local, developing program aiming to connect urban populations with the outdoors through skills-building workshops, environmental education, and guided experiences. To create the best programming possible, Urban Detour wants to hear from you! This survey is intended to assess the popularity of potential programming concepts and determine access barriers to the outdoors. Constraints: Participants should live or have experience as a resident of the District of Columbia and/or the broader DMV area, and are required to be 18+ years old. #marketresearch #dmv #outdooreducation #outdoorrecreation https://lnkd.in/e3TRpQSQ Urban Detour

🤩 We're excited! Later this month, we'll participate in an online design workshop with We Are Open Co-op and California State University-Dominguez Hills to build a #communityofpractice that will create a digital space to promote access and training in digital technologies in the CSUDH community. What makes this workshop unique? ➞The approach to building a "minimum viable community of practice" (MVCoP) focuses on intentional, inclusive, and engaging community spaces. →Using the Architecture of Participation (AoP) framework, we'll create a community that empowers individuals to co-create, share knowledge, and foster professional and personal growth. 🔗 Click to learn more about #MVCoPs, the role of #CoPs in #lifelonglearning, and how our upcoming #designworkshop will pave the way for collaborative and organic community growth. https://lnkd.in/etgDU2uF Krystal Rawls, Ph.D.