Our quarterly community dinners welcome anyone with a curiosity about expanding access to green space to support health and well-being, environmental and health equity, people-nature reciprocity, and climate change resilience. Students, professionals, and community members from many different disciplines come together to explore new ideas, discuss policies and programs, and strengthen partnerships in the field of nature and health.
The February 10 dinner features a speed talk from Rachel Berney, PhD, associate professor in the UW College of Built Environments and director of Urban@UW.
Rachel is an urban designer and scholar whose research examines the social, political, and spatial dimensions of public space in cities across the Americas. She focuses on how the built environment shapes community development, equitable urban development, sustainability, and everyday life. Her work examines the use of public space to promote belonging and the impacts of mobility and transit infrastructure on public health and well-being. A central focus of her research and teaching is community-engaged work that supports more just and inclusive planning practices. Across these areas, she is particularly interested in the legibility of urban environments—how invitations to use public space and their imaginaries (intended audiences) communicate meaning, foster inclusion, and support more equitable urban futures.
During the February Community Dinner, Rachel will talk about two recent works:
1. Building equity into public park and recreation service investment: A review of public agency approaches
2. Fit for all: Exploring invitations and imaginaries in urban design research
Nature and Health Community Dinners include:
- A plant-based dinner
- Drinks
- Networking
- Short talks from a wide variety of professionals, including researchers, community leaders, policy-makers, program managers, etc.
