Waller, M., Cove, M. V., Daniels, J. C., & Yocom, K. P. (2025). Innovative communication strategies for promoting urban wildlife habitat conservation. Landscape and Urban Planning, 253, 105229-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105229
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Abstract
The emerging recognition of the importance of urban habitat and wildlife for increasing biodiversity, driven partly by responses to climate change and urbanization, presents critical opportunities for urban biodiversity conservation and species recovery. However, effectively communicating these benefits to the public and policymakers remains a challenge for scientists and landscape architects with public perceptions, often shaped by diverse socio-cultural factors, serving as obstacles for garnering support. Our research explores innovative communication strategies through an intersectional analysis of planning and design communications and theory in museology and presents a structured approach in the use of charismatic species within interpretive studies to enhance public empathy and the potential for action. This research offers a valuable foundation for planning and design professionals, guiding their efforts to promote urban wildlife habitat and bridge the gaps between scientific knowledge and public advocacy.
Keywords
Urban wildlife habitat; Biodiversity conservation; Communication strategies
A cohort of 4 projects were awarded Inspire Funds in April 2023. The report-outs from these projects are described below with a summary of project work and progress. The 2023 cohort of Inspire Fund awardees met with the 2024 cohort of awardees in May 2024 to share their accomplishments, successes, and challenges, and to foster a connection between these research teams as resources to one another. The 2024 cohort has begun their projects and will share their products in 2025….
The 2024-2025 Awardees for the Johnston-Hastings Endowment Publication and Travel awards have been selected. The Johnston-Hastings Endowments are in honor of Emeritus Professor Norman J. Johnston and his wife, L. Jane Hastings, established and endowed travel support and publications support funds to provide money for activities of faculty and students in the College. Publications endowment support is for work that has been accepted for publication rather than the writing thereof. Such support is needed for publication; especially where a University…
Rebecca’s long-term design and research interests involve exploring a gap between built environment design fields and public health research. She believes that an essential component of design activism must be research that can inform equitable policy. Rebecca holds a Master of Landscape Architecture and Graduate Certificate of Global Health from the University of Washington, and is a current NIH Fogarty Scholar. She has spent recent years working with the design-action-research firm Traction on design and research projects that examine built environments as social determinants of human and ecological health in marginalized urban communities in Peru. In addition to English, Rebecca speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and has a blended background in international relations, journalism, and horticulture—all of which is integral to her current interdisciplinary work.
EarthLab announced their Innovation Grants for 2024-25 for projects focused on Climate and Social Justice. The awardees were announced in March 2024, and 2 of the 5 selected projects include CBE researchers. Project Title: Catalyzing Just Circular Communities: A Feasibility Study of a Large-Scale Anaerobic Biodigester to Generate Hyper-local, Community-Owned Clean Energy Infrastructure in Seattle’s South Park CBE Team Members: Catherine De Almeida, Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture; Gundula Proksch, Associate Professor, Architecture. Project Title: Healing Amazonian Soils with Science and…
Beck, H., Berney, R., Kirk, B., & Yocom, K. P. (2024). Building equity into public park and recreation service investment: A review of public agency approaches. Landscape and Urban Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2024.105069
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Abstract
In recent decades, academic and professional research has increased understanding of the importance of city and landscape planners engaging with social and environmental justice issues, including contemporary inequities inherent in the planning, distribution, use, and access of public green and open spaces. However, there is a gap between this research centering equity and the planning, development, and implementation rate demonstrated by public agencies. In this article, we examine examples of emerging practice in the public park and recreation sector to understand the strategies and approaches public agencies are taking to provide equitable park and recreation systems. Our research identifies and analyzes 17 examples of North American public park and open space management agencies using equity-based planning frameworks to prioritize park investment and resource distribution. Equity-focused resource analysis is distinct because while it assesses budget and project-based funding distributions, it further incorporates assessments of historical allocations to understand better areas of under-investment and the evolving needs of different communities. As economic inequities become more pronounced, local governments, and other public institutions providing services to populations, are important in helping communities navigate changes. Our findings support the ongoing advancement of equity-driven planning and implementation for public park and recreation agencies by providing practical information on existing approaches to redress the impact of unfair patterns of under-investment.
The CBE Inspire Fund Awardees for the 2024 cycle have been selected! Their project names and team members are outlined below. Title: Mycelium Grow Lab for Student-led Research Team: Gundula Proksch (Associate Professor, Architecture), Tyler Sprague (Associate Professor, Architecture) Title: Exhibition of the works of OUR: Office of (Un)certainty Research Team: Vikram Prakash (Professor, Architecture) Title: Emergence, Resilience, and Future(s) of Urban Informality in Seattle Team: Julie Johnson (Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture), Manish Chalana (Associate Professor, Urban Design and Planning)…
Catherine De Almeida, Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture was selected as one of twelve faculty and staff across the University of Washington Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma campuses to focus on topics related to community engaged research and learning. “The initial priorities for community engagement infrastructure to be addressed through this funding include: Develop community engagement best principles and blueprints in alignment with diversity, equity, and inclusion Support or incorporate community engagement in campus-scale strategies and planning Remove…
Lozanovska, M., Pieris, A., Haghighi, F., Taylor, W. M., Hou, J., Smitheram, J., & Chee, L. (2020). Other Spaces of Quarantine. Fabrications : The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, 30(3), 416–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/10331867.2020.1857609
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Hou, J. (2020). Guerrilla urbanism: urban design and the practices of resistance. Urban Design International (London, England), 25(2), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-020-00118-6
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Abstract
Unsanctioned, unscripted, and seemingly “undesirable” activities have long appropriated urban spaces in routine and sometimes unexpected ways, bringing new meanings and unforeseen functions to those places. In the last decade or so, such practices have inspired a growing movement under the banner of DIY and tactical urbanisms. The growing acceptance of these practices creates important openings in the formalized planning systems for greater fexibility and expedient change. Yet, the institutionalization of previously informal and even subversive acts has resulted in concerns regarding co-optation and de-politicization. This special issue seeks to pivot a refocus towards these unsanctioned and unscripted urban activities as a form of counter-hegemonic spatial practices, distinct from its professionalized and institutionalized counterpart. A range of cases is examined here sharing similar characteristics as challenges against the prevailing social and political paradigm. Key findings include the scalability of guerrilla actions, the fuid shift between overt and covert actions, and the linkage between everyday struggles and organized resistance. This special issue is intended to advance our understanding of urban design by situating it in a broader social, economic, and political praxis that encompasses both formal and informal practices performed by a wide variety of individual and collective actors.
Keywords
Guerrilla urbanism; Tactical urbanism; Insurgent planning; Spatial practices; Everyday resistance