Tag: community


A Landscape of Resilience and Perseverance

It has been an exciting year for a group of community gardeners in the Rockaway community of Queens, NY. Last summer we spoke with Renae Reynolds about the progress of this Nature Sacred site, and we continue to see more participation, planting and construction (in partnership with Nature Sacred, Cornell, Drury University, USDA Forest Service,…

Community Engagement: Tips and Strategies

For those who work or volunteer in the nonprofit world, engaging the local community is always on hearts, minds, and spreadsheets. Within nature and health organizations, such as Trees Forever, success comes from connecting community volunteers, civic leaders, government officials and landowners through on-the-ground projects like a tree planting event. Other organizations, such as the…

Nature Sacred community spaces open and thriving

A Brooklyn Nature Sacred community space opens to the public. A stretch of land along the Brooklyn waterfront once supported Native American settlements, 17th century farms, and a final resting place for 19th century naval officers and Marines. In 1926, the Navy moved the 2000 buried servicemembers in the Naval Cemetery to Cypress Hills Cemetery….

Stewardship of Civic Sacred Space

“I’ve found that it’s usually the process of coming together as a community that makes a place sacred, not simply the existence of green space.” Outdoor environments, particularly in cities, can deliver transformational benefits to users and surrounding communities. The experience of nearby nature can offer sanctuary, solace, and places for mindful reflection. Civic Sacred…

Healthy Communities for You and Your Parents

Health is often believed to be the outcome of personal choices, such as one’s diet, whether to drink bottled water, or how often to exercise. Yet health officials now recognize that one’s surroundings, from home to neighborhood, are equally important in promoting health. Spending time with family and friends, eating healthy, exercising regularly, and living in…

The city has been likened to a poem…

Each month in our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders and ideas advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This week we examine the aesthetic and poetic elements of civic sacred.  “The city has been likened to a poem, a sculpture, a machine. But the city is more than a…

Urban Green Spaces: Bridging Differences

Each month in our Nature Sacred blog we share insight from leaders and ideas advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This December we examine the concept of “civic sacred”.  Public discussion about the experiences and emotions of religion and the Sacred may be challenging. Although Civic sacred is not limited…

Civic sacred: person, place, process

Each month in our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders and ideas advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This December we examine the concept of “civic sacred”.  People readily recognize the importance of positive relationships with friends and loved ones.  Relationships with places are also important aspects of…

Act on Your Gratitude

This week we are reminded to express gratitude for the abundance of friends, family, and food we may take for granted. Last week we discussed the benefits of mindfulness in green spaces and the personal outcomes that experience provides. What about the role urban green spaces play in bringing your friends and family together? Providing places…

Overcoming the Mountain Pass: Community Resilience

For the Lee family, their community garden represents Arirang (아리랑), a stirring Korean folk song with a message of overcoming an obstacle big as a mountain pass.”We were handing out flyers about an upcoming workshop and I saw the Lee family putting in a new garden sign. Mr. Lee sang the song to me. It…

"Just for today I am grateful for being alive and to have this quiet space."

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