This project included a removal of impervious surfaces, and replaced them with new stormwater measures. This design also includes a “Nature Classroom” with a crescent seating wall, detention pond, interactive musical instruments, and a vegetated living teepee. There is also now signage posted to educate on the sustainable features around the site. 

This project had a much smaller budget, so the school looked to other sources to get this project completed. The parents and teachers participated in design charettes to form a completed masterplan. For funding the project, the community held fundraising to raise around $264,000 by reaching out to organizations like  The District Department of the Environment, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the Capitol Hill Green Schools Initiative. The United States Botanic Garden donated $25,000 in plants and materials to the project. The scholl community put together a team to help keep up with the grounds maintenance of the site, saving around $18,000 a year. This project shows that even on a small budget, these projects can still be completed through fundraising, community involvement, and splitting the projects into phases.

• • • It's possible to build bigger projects on a smaller budget, through fundraising, and volunteers. These bigger projects are split up into phases to make the overall budget and site work more digestible.

    • On certain sites, you will need to design for as little maintenance required as possible. Keeping the site vegetated will help with stormwater runoff and flooding.

    • Projects will get done much faster with a good response from the community. Volunteer work helps the community to believe that they own a piece of the space, which will bring excitement and future use of a space.

For more information:

"Brent Elementary Schoolyard." Landscape Performance Series, The Landscape Architecture Foundation, 2023, https://www.landscapeperformance.org/case-study-briefs/brent-elementary-schoolyard#/overview.

"Brent Elementary Schoolyard Greening." Sustainable Sites Initiative, Sustainable Sites Initiative, 2014, http://www.sustainablesites.org/brent-elementary-schoolyard-greening. 

The outdoor classroom consists of a heated pavilion with pallet walls to hang up students' artwork and other classwork. Inside are rows of desks made of wood stumps and engraved wood name plates. At the head of the pavilion is a large whiteboard for lessons about geology, astronomy, botany, orienteering, and gardening.   

Trisha Drake, “Oh my gosh, I can't imagine going inside again, I really can’t. Our teachers love it, our students love it. Teachers are saying, “Why would we ever go back inside?” This project has heavily influenced behavioral and social challenges of students at the school, and has helped the students to better cope with any academic challenges that they face.  This project will continue to service children year by year and can be continually added onto for further projects.

• • • Something as simple as a place for a class to meet can be just as influential and useful as a heavily thought out outdoor learning experience. All that is needed is a comfortable place for those to sit and learn.

    • A high budget project is not needed in some communities. You are able to create an effective design just by supplying a space and building on it over time. The increased interest and small added features can help supply future funding for larger future projects in the space.

    • Help from the community can help to bring a sense of pride to a space and increase use by helping those think that the space is theirs in some way. Something as small as including students' artwork in the design helps bring excitement to the space.

For more information:

"Linden Waldorf Schoolyard." Green Schoolyards, The Green Schoolyards Alliance, n.d., https://www.greenschoolyards.org/linden-waldorf.

Dignity Village is a village of 43 tiny homes with only the essentials – each home is essentially one walled room with a bed and an electric heater. The homes are arranged in rows on an asphalt lot, and many of them have been personalized with outdoor decorations, planters, and outdoor seating. Homes are close together, and dwellers can stay for one year, meaning there’s a sense of community among Dignity Village. 

• • • Allowing members of the unhoused community to play a role in building Dignity Village gave them a sense of ownership and shared responsibility for the project, making them more likely to advocate for the project and instilling a sense of ownership over their living conditions. 

    • Similarly, people experiencing homelessness are more likely to lead happier lives when they are sheltered somewhere that they had autonomy in curating. Giving people a sense of ownership over where they live - instead of just staying somewhere temporarily - curates the sentiment of “being home”. This link has been found in numerous other areas of society, pointing to a broader lesson at play in Dignity Village.  

    • Successful communities for unhoused people are possible to curate with public support – often unhoused people are shuffled around, removed from places where they’ve been living due to trespassing or other legality concerns. This project is an example of an intentional community that follows the law and hasn’t caused an uproar from Portland’s governing bodies, yet still accomplishes the goal of housing people.  

For more information:

"About." Dignity Village, Dignity Village, https://dignityvillage.org/about-2/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

"Dignity Village." Communitecture, Communitecture, https://www.communitecture.net/dignity-village.html. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

In the initial phase of the Greening the Grounds Initiative, students excavated the area, moved several tons of stone, and planted over 200 native species. Additionally, they created a Facebook page to document their progress and developed a unique QR code system for labeling the plants. Students were involved in every step of the design, construction, and maintenance process of the project, giving them hands-on experience and a personal connection in beautifying their school.  

This project achieved its goals of getting students involved in the beautification of their surroundings, teaching them about environmental protection and prevention, and minimizing erosion on site.   

• • • Students feel more connected to their environment when they’re given the opportunity to directly participate in its wellbeing.

    • Projects like this bond students together, giving them common ground to stand on and a joint bond to a particular space that they interact with regularly. Projects like this achieve interpersonal significances, not just physical changes in the landscape. 

    • Offering young people the chance to work on something so out of the ordinary of their daily life activities improves their quality of life! Young people want to participate in their environments, they just often don’t know how or aren’t given the option to. This type of project opens them up to possibilities outside of what’s been presented to them in school and expands their known personal limits, creating higher self-esteem and confidence.  

For more information:

"Sustainability at the Front Door." Early Space, Early Space, https://earlyspace.com/sustainability-at-the-front-door/. Accessed 4 Sept. 2024.

"Greening the Grounds." Arlington Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, https://wl.apsva.us/families/pta-home-page/greening-the-grounds/.