Kari Spiegelhalter: Data and Democracy: Design Processes for Community Health

Bio:
As an Urban Ecological Designer for Asakura Robinson, Kari works on a broad range of sustainability and equity-related planning and design projects that enhance urban ecosystems, public health, and environmental justice. She is especially interested in how participatory design processes build ecological and social resilience in communities. Kari received her Masters of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University and was named Cornell’s 2018 Graduate Olmsted Scholar. At Cornell, she became interested in community engagement and environmental justice, and co-wrote the “Landscape Architecture Student’s Guide to Environmental Justice,” which received an ASLA Student Award in the communications category in 2018. Kari also holds a BA in Biology from Lawrence University.
Presentation:
Access to parks and public open space is an increasingly recognized cornerstone of community and personal health. However, communities of color and rural communities often do not have equitable access to the benefits nature provides. How can landscape architects use data and technology to identify locations where parks investments would have the greatest impacts to community members? Once those locations are chosen, how do designers balance evidence-based design strategies with designing for and with the community? This presentation will describe how landscape architects can effectively combine spatial analysis tools and grassroots participatory design processes to improve community and ecological health outcomes.
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This lecture was presented at the 50th edition of the LABash Student Conference, curated by students in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University, and Land8 Media, LLC.