IIT Institute of Design,
Forest Preserve of Cook County,
Harvard t.h.chan school of public health, 2022
Class: Co-design & Social Intervention
Prof: Christopher Rudd
Team: YongHak Kim, Elizabeth Graff, Emery Donovan, Latrina Lee, Luce James, Ron Martin, Sunaina Kuhn, and Takayuki Kato
Participation: Workshop Facilitation & Analysis
For this project, we partnered with the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) and focused on how to increase BIPOC visitorship. Their questions were, “How do we increase the number of BIPOC folks who volunteer and engage in the Forest Preserves?” and “How do we increase their comfort level and inclusion in the natural space?” We used these questions and FPCC’s willingness to engage in this critical work as an opportunity to co-design pathways.
The previous research was to better understand why BIPOC visitorship to the FPCC is low. It included staff interviews, on-site observations, and a series of co-design workshops.
Of the many physical, sociocultural, historical, and economic barriers that prevent BIPOC folks from visiting natural spaces, they highlighted the following four as being the most salient:
• Racial targeting and hate crimes
• Lack of transportation
• Lack of preparation and equipment
• Lack of diversity
“How might FPCC make access to natural spaces a more safe, reliable, and inclusive experience for BIPOC folks?”
To resolve this complex and structural problem and shift the current power structure in access to the natural world, we decided to use a Co-design approach that is more participatory, user-centric, and generative. Therefore, along the workshops, participants will come up with the most crucial pain point and design the most optimized solutions for their own.
"Co-design addresses legacies of injustice & exclusion."
by centering BIPOC folks’ experiences, expertise, history, and perspectives.
"Creates the best and most viable solutions."
by inviting those with the most lived experience of the problem to lead the design process.
"Shifts existing power structures."
by shifting unequal economic power structures away from a system of gross injustice and towards a more equitable system.
“[co-design is] an approach to designing with, not for, people. … It typically works best where people with lived experience, communities and professionals work together to improve something that they all care about. Overall, the primary role of co-design is elevating the voices and contributions of people with lived experience.”
–Kelly Ann McKercher,
Beyond Sticky Notes: CoDesign for Real: Mindsets, Methods and Movements
An Equitable and Inclusive Forest Preserve
“To acquire, restore and manage lands for the purpose of protecting and preserving public open space with its natural wonders, significant prairies, forests, wetlands, rivers, streams, and other landscapes with all of its associated wildlife, in a natural state for the education, pleasure and recreation of the public now and in the future.”
Our co-design workshops focused on one vision in particular - transportation - and identified paths forward in this area as a result of synthesis from the workshop. We crafted a vision statement, which we think of as a North Star. The remainder of this section provides pathways for achieving these desired outcomes.
A clear vision of an equitable and inclusive Forest Preserve crystallized over the course of our Co-Design workshops, which we believe will help FPCC achieve its mission for the entire public.
The term “public” is used twice in this statement. However, for all of the reasons explored above, BIPOC folks do not share the same access to the Forest Preserve as White folks do. FPCC must do more to fulfill its mission for the entire public.
Equality
Giving each individual or group of people the same resources and opportunities, regardless of their circumstances
SourceEquity
Meeting communities where they are and allocating resources and opportunities as needed to create equal outcomes for all community members
SourceInclusion
Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities, and decision/policy making in a way that shares power
SourceWe conducted two co-design workshops for this topic in the Spring of 2022, where twelve co-designers participated in. The theme for the workshop were 'Transportation' for BIPOC's better experiences in the natural environment of FPCC.
At each workshop, co-designers shared their personal experiences and developed physical prototypes. These prototypes embodied the co-designers’ lived expertise, values, and priorities and were one of the main sources of data we used to derive our findings.
Note: Some co-designer’s names are withheld to preserve anonymity.
Workshop 1
Defining & Addressing
Transportation Challenges
Workshop 2
Creating a BIPOC-centered
Transportation System
- BIPOC-focused marketing campaign
- Social Media app to connect with community, including Ride-share function for getting to FPCC
- Bus or Train -based local transportation system for BIPOC community
Transportation systems reflect the needs and priorities of BIPOC individuals, families and communities. In addition, they must be authentically welcoming to BIPOC communities.
Transportation systems and services ensure BIPOC safety and security when they connect to pre-established social networks and organizations.
Transportation systems must prioritize security for BIPOC folks in the form of emotional, psychological, financial and physical security.
Ensure a safe and comfortable experience that is family and community centered.
Transportation to and from FPCC would be more desirable for BIPOC folks if it was family and community oriented.
“What we wanted is that it’s safe, that it’s community oriented, family-centered, sustainable…reliable…connecting and affordable.”
Transportation to FPCC for BIPOC folks becomes more possible and desirable when programs are low-cost, free and/or discounted.
“What we wanted is that it’s safe, that it’s community oriented, family-centered, sustainable…reliable…connecting and affordable.”
Transportation to and from FPCC would be more desirable for BIPOC folks if it was family and community oriented.
“What we wanted is that it’s safe, that it’s community oriented, family-centered, sustainable…reliable…connecting and affordable.”
Ease the burden of planning for BIPOC folks by making information to assist with trip planning,gear rental and equipment storage available and visible.
BIPOC folks want to have a sense of who else would be commuting with them and who else would be at the Forest Preserve.
“[I would want to see a] guest list, or number of attendees…for ride shares.”
Departures and arrivals schedules would need to be highly visible and clear to support transportation to FPCC for BIPOC folks.
“One of the biggest ideas that emerged was having access to some sort of mobile app so that you can see the schedules for the arrivals and departures.”
BIPOC folks would be more likely to visit FPCC if they were able to see photos and information about what to expect at the park in advance -- and if these photos showed other BIPOC folks enjoying the park.
“Maybe there are some genuine pictures of people of color enjoying these spaces.”
Offer services that are for BIPOC folks, by BIPOC folks and build upon existing social networks of trust.
BIPOC folks want trusted social contacts to be able to vouch for FPCC.
“Who’s someone that you know, and trust, who can like vouch for this experience?”
“When you go for events, you can see where people in your group…said ‘I’m going [to be] at a concert too’ or ‘I’m going there.’ You can see who’s connected in your social media circles that might utilize some of these spaces.”
BIPOC transportation to FPCC becomes more possible & desirable when these systems are run and managed by BIPOC folks, for BIPOC folks.
“By BIPOC people, for BIPOC people. That’s a necessary element in having a mode of transportation.”
“You don’t want to just like, have a whole bunch of White staff. You want to have, you know, people who look like you, who are on the bus.”
Grow from current community hubs and effectively partner with existing service providers.
BIPOC transportation to FPCC becomes more possible & desirable when the transportation system fills gaps in the current public transportation infrastructure.
“BIPOC people should be at the forefront of any initiatives geared toward BIPOC people.”
BIPOC transportation to FPCC becomes more possible & desirable when the transportation system is complementary to existing community infrastructure.
“We want more advanced bus stops [at] the places in the community that the most people go to like a church. It should be close to there and frequent.”
BIPOC transportation to FPCC becomes more possible & desirable when it exists within a network of partnerships with other transportation providers and BIPOC-led organizations.
“We were thinking of a train, or a tram, or sort of like an extension of maybe the metra or the CTA.”
Establish on-site, BIPOC community-led security systems.
Security systems that are run by police do not feel safe for BIPOC folks.
“On site security is very important. But not cops.”
“We wanted to have camera access, or security on site. Not police, but having individuals who are part of an organization that’s external to FPCC…”
BIPOC folks want an on-site system to communicate concerns about hate crimes and emergencies.
“[We want] a system to manage hate crimes, investigate things that might be harmful for the BIPOC.”
“We talked about emergency alarms and systems on the train itself.”
“[We want] easy ways to communicate concerns.”
Provide transportation services that feel special, modern, and authentically welcoming to BIPOC folks.
BIPOC folks want a transportation system that feels special, welcoming, and modern.
“[It might be] like a shuttle bus that will go through whatever neighborhoods and it’ll have FPCC [logo] on there. And maybe nature’s things and [it will say] ‘You are welcome’ which will be very colorful. And it will be electric.”
BIPOC folks want to feel authentically cared for and welcomed.
“[I would like it] if you got mailed a super nice invitation and then you got a call about [it] and you got an email about it. Just the frequency of the outreach means the outreach is real and people really want you there instead of just saying, ‘Go to my website’, and they just got to figure it out.”
BIPOC folks want to feel calm, safe, and connected [a sense of community] en route to the FPCC.
“Safe spaces for…not just for women, but also anybody who just feels like…they don’t feel safe. They have a space to go to.”
In this section, we outline a pathway toward achieving a more equitable and inclusive FPCC. This pathway consists of strategies and principles for achieving this vision by focusing on safety and transportation. Though the topics safety and transportation were presented separately, we want to underscore how connected these two issues are. Achieving safety isn’t enough if the Forest Preserve remains inaccessible to BIPOC folks. Similarly, creating an accessible but unsafe Forest Preserve is not sufficient. These visions must be pursued simultaneously.
At the same time, we want to acknowledge that these are by no means the only components of equity and inclusion. Our team only had the capacity to focus on these two issues; there are many areas we were unable to explore. For example, “lack of preparedness” is another barrier that prevents BIPOC folks from equitably enjoying FPCC. We encourage FPCC to continue filling in the pieces of this puzzle.
