Landscape Architecture Master's Projects
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Browsing Landscape Architecture Master's Projects by Author "Bowden, Taylor"
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Item Open Access Narratives in Nature: Black, Indigenous, and Latinx Inclusion in Public Natural Areas(2021-06-13) Bowden, TaylorBlack, Indigenous, and Latinx folx face many barriers when trying to access public natural areas. Park managers, designers, city staff, and community organizations can build a more equitable future for our public natural areas by listening to the experiences of those from marginalized communities and building mutually beneficial relationships with them. On-site observations, visitor surveys, interviews and focus groups provided insights into cultural barriers that Black, Indigenous, and Latinx folx face in the outdoors, and the foundations for a toolkit that begins to address those barriers. By focusing on the ideas and experiences of local individuals who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, or Latinx as the generative force for solutions, the process and resultant toolkit offer tangible steps that can be broadly applied to public natural areas within North America, with specific application to the Howard Buford Recreation Area and Mt. Pisgah in Eugene, Oregon as a case study. Five main barriers (exclusion, poor accommodations, staff representation, racism, and safety) and eighteen sub-barriers were identified through interviews. Subsequent focus groups generated thirty-four action items to address these barriers, which were then organized into three types, community, educational, and administrative, to create a toolkit for any public or community organization to utilize. The community engagement and research methods of this project demonstrate an approach that bridges from community brainstorming and storytelling to recommend actionable items to enhance diversity, inequity, and inclusion within public natural areas for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities.