Community Design and Workshop

February 18,2014Sacred Keepers Sustainability Lab

6-8:30pm

OverviewSeveral community partners from Bronzeville and Pilsen along with the Field Museum seeks to create a corridor of connections between these two culturally significant areas, that include other bordering neighborhoods on South and West sides of Chicago with the lake front and its natural and cultural resources. Specifically, we seek to build both physical and social infrastructure that will enable people to expand their access to and stewardship of the nature and green space in their midst.

Benefits:

•Enhancing the level of engagement and interactive experiences families have with nature and green space

•Provide opportunities to cultivate new interest in career paths connected to the earth sciences and compliment ongoing economic developments in the area •Enhance the quality of nature in the City’s parks and open spaces by providing committed long-term stewardship from the adjacent communities

ENGAGING COMMUNITY THROUGH NATURE,ART AND CULTURE ENGAGING COMMUNITY THROUGH NATURE,ART AND CULTURE

THE PATHWAYS

• The Burnham Wildlife Corridor

• The Green Ambassadors

• Bronzeville and Pilsen Environment and Arts Collaborative Group (working title)

• Community Tree Planting Days

BURNHAM WILDLIFECORRIDOR

• Natural Habitat Area

• Connected to

• Expansion of McCormick Bird Sanctuary

• Potential as Woodland

• Creates 100 acres of Natural Areas

• Benefit for nature and community

COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING DAYS

• 100k trees will be planted in Burnham Wildlife Corridor

• Begging May 10th, 2014

• Community event will include interactive and further learning opportunities

• 750 residents from Pilsen and Bronzeville

GREEN AMBASSADORS

• 30 students from Bronzeville and Pilsen

• Learning biological and social science research methods

• 10 month internship that will create and carry out an action research project

• Focus on climate change and community connection to the south lakefront natural areas

Habitat Types Savanna: a partially to moderately wooded

habitats. Canopies can be quite open with canopy trees spaced out, to more closely knit (approaching the characteristics of an open woodland). Savannas can contain shrubs and smaller tree species, but in Illinois they are adapted to periodic fire occurrence and are thus dominated by fire resistant mature oaks. The understories are usually comprised of a rich mix of native grasses and forbs.

Woodland: a moderately to heavily shaded plant community dominated by a canopy of mature trees. Understories in our region can contain a diversity of shrub and understory tree species. In spring when leaves are absent, a unique group of native wildflowers known as spring ephemerals take advantage of the light and create luxuriant displays over undisturbed remnant forest floors. Open woodlands can also contain a variety of shade adapted grasses, sedges and later season flowers, but the herbaceous understory is generally not as uniform especially in more closed canopy woodlands. 

Prairies: generally grass dominated herbaceous plant communities and can range in a number of ways depending on soil moisture and chemistry. Prairies in the Chicago region are adapted to periodic burning which inhibits brush development and facilitates the growth of many native wildflowers and grasses. 

Habitat Examples

• Oak grove

• Open woodland

• Prairie pocket

Habitat Examples

• Prairie with woodland surrounding

• Prairie opening

• Mature open woodland

Seating Examples

Seating Examples

Seating Example #1

Seating Example#2

Seating Example #3

BRONZEVILLE AND PILSEN ENVIRONMENT AND ARTS Collaboration(working title)

• Act as the body that works to engage communities to become stewards of the BWC (Burnham Wildlife Corridor)

• Curate the creative place making project

• Integrate and execute shared city arts cultural plans

• Help sustain, engage and communicate climate issues in both communities.

BUILDING ON THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY CLIMATE ACTION TOOLKITI

Questions:

Contact Jacob Campbell:

jcampbell@fieldmuseum.org

Environmental Social Scientist

Science and Education

The Field Museum 

312 665 7475

Jacob Campbell Jcampbell@fieldm