Parks Build Community Even During a Pandemic

You must log in to register
- Non-Members - $50
- Members - $35
- Premier Members - $35
Continue

This year's Parks Build Community project, Lynnbrook Park, has been like the rest of the year - all but normal. It restores a natural stream. It provides a space for local food production. It was designed by a local resident and artist with community cultural events and art festivals. It was jointly managed by park and recreation professionals and stormwater professionals. It includes donated bridges. It gained support from new sponsors. Sometimes, not normal is a good thing. It challenges us to re-think our work and center our values. In this session, join NRPA, the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the Chattanooga community and philanthropic partners to learn how despite the many challenges of a pandemic, economic recession and racial reckoning, we can build back stronger.

Learning Objectives:

Understand how the use of arts and culture can build an inclusive process for park design and development that is centered in community values and desired outcomes.
Identify key methods for cultivating philanthropic support for community-driven park projects in a recession.
Understand the multiple benefits of incorporating nature into neighborhood parks.

Akosua Cook (she/her)

Parks Planner

City of Chattanooga

Akosua Cook is a Parks Planner for the City of Chattanooga where she plans and implement proposed new park sites, evaluates potential sites, determines opportunities and limitations, and recommends site development that will best meet the needs, interests and concerns of the community. This involves developing park plans and identifying and prioritizing open space and park improvement projects for capital funding and then project managing the design processes for park projects approved within the five-year Capital Improvement Plan. She graduated from Auburn University in 2005 with masters degrees in Public Administration and Community Planning. After graduation she moved to Orlando to work as a land use planner, eventually making her way to Chattanooga in 2012 to work for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency and then taking the leap over to park planning in 2016 in the recently formed Open Spaces Division. In the intervening years she has had a chance to work on a wide variety of projects, including the award winning redevelopment of East Lake Park. Chattanooga was selected to participate in the first cohort of 10 Minute Walk Planning and Technical Assistance grantees and for the past several years Akosuas work has focused on furthering Chattanooga's efforts to create greater access to parks for its residents and developing a new Parks and Greenways Master Plan.

Darci Schofield (she/her)

Senior Program Manager

National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)

Darci Schofield is a Senior Program Manager at NRPA. She has dedicated her career to ecological conservation, natural solutions for climate resilience, environmental planning and park equity. She has created 1,300 acres of new parks worth $28 million in southern New England and published 15 plans on climate-smart parks, nature-based solutions for climate, climate change vulnerability assessments, and natural hazard mitigation. Additionally, she advanced and created urban agriculture economy and farms in Boston and managed over 20 cities in spatial planning, stakeholder development, and implementation of climate-smart parks using green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. At NRPA, Darci advances park access through research and technical assistance to members on prioritizing equity for parks that promote community health and resilience. Darci has a BA in Environmental Science from Boston University, MS in Forest Ecosystem Science from the University of Maine, Orono, and is certified in Leadership and Negotiation from Harvard Law School.