Month: March 2021

Using Data and Visual Display to Communicate Complex Community Realities

Posted on by vbinnin2

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By Anna Shank-Root, Land Use Strategist and Policy Analyst, Port of The Dalles

When I first arrived in The Dalles in September, my supervisor set up meetings with many with people involved in local planning and economic development in the community. One of the themes that emerged throughout those conversations was that there was extremely limited available land in the city. There was a consultancy hired to perform a Buildable Lands Inventory of The Dalles, but the products they presented to the city didn’t resonate with many local residents and professionals. One of my primary projects in my role as Land Use Strategist and Policy Analyst for the Port of The Dalles is to support local efforts to expand the Urban Growth Boundary of The Dalles, which requires demonstrations that land is being used as efficiently as possible.

Screenshot of a map the author describes: a meandering river bisects the image with colorful areas indicating buildable landsUsing data that had been prepared by contracted consultants, I had many conversations with co-workers, board members, and other local professionals to ascertain what adjustments they felt would reconcile their concerns. Their feedback allowed me to update the data with current land uses, and calculate additional statistics that has been useful in explaining numerically the realities that residents know from their experience. Through adapting this data for The Dalles, I was able to create a similar product for the city of Dufur, a small city in the Port district that otherwise would not have access to this content.

This story map will be a legacy I can leave to my community as a useful tool that can be updated in the future, allowing them to adapt a continual inventory of available land for community use.

In turn, this project allowed me to gain a more complete understanding of my own community’s geography and economic realities as I explored the property ownership data. After completing this project, I understood more readily which buildings and projects community partners were referencing, found it easier to navigate my community without directions, and discovered new local businesses. Working on this project also helped me learn and practice data collection, GIS and visual communication skills that will be useful to me throughout my RARE term and beyond.

Map of Dufur, Oregon with vacant lots highlighted in bright colorsWorking my community to construct this map series has been a collaborative way for me to learn in grow in my skills and knowledge, while helping to tell my community’s story.

The full story map is available here, although it is being continually updated and expanded throughout my service term.

 

Photo of the author smiling in the sunshine while wearing a cozy sweaterAbout the author, Anna Shank-Root: Anna graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in Planning, Public Policy and Management and a minor in Spanish. Anna’s long-time interest in Service Learning has resulted in a passion for equitable and inclusive community engagement and economic development which she looks forward to applying to her work at the intersection of economic development and land use planning as a RARE AmeriCorps Member with the Port of the Dalles. A native Oregonian, Anna is excited to explore a new part of Oregon with her dog, Kiwi, during her service year in the Columbia River Gorge.

Interested in gaining community and economic development experience of your own? Are you looking for a life changing experience in rural Oregon? Learn more about serving with the RARE AmeriCorps Program. Applications for Year 28 (2021-22) due April 23, 2021.

Encouraging Community Health and Physical Activity During a Pandemic

Posted on by vbinnin2

Decorative banner with author's photo and name of articleBy Emily Whittier, Community Food Systems Coordinator, OSU Extension Service Wasco County

The food demonstrations, nutrition and physical environment assessments in schools, and the volunteer trainings typically associated with the role of the Oregon State University Cooperative Extension RARE position all came to a halt in March 2020. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, I was in graduate school, moping about canceled conferences, attending classes at the mercy of my professors’ shaky Vermont internet, and wondering what in the heck I was going to be able to do after my August graduation. An alert of Food Systems Coordinator positions caught my eye, and suddenly September found me preparing to be the new Community Food Systems Coordinator for Wasco County Cooperative Extension.

I soon jumped into meetings of all kinds: food access, Coronavirus, physical activity. Fit in the Gorge is a group that brings together community stakeholders who have a role in public health, specifically related to physical activity and fitness. During the first meeting I attended, a project and partnership were born when another AmeriCorps member, the Health Promotion Vista at North Central Public Health District (NCPHD), and I took on a “physical activity passport” project.

Image of Sorosis Park courtesy of NWPRD

Set to make its premier in spring 2021, the passport will bring together physical activity, safe socialization, and local history and attractions. Kiddos and their families can earn points for visiting parks, doing exercises, going to local museums, and completing scavenger hunts. The objective? Making it easy and fun to exercise in the absence of regular physical education classes, sports, and playdates. The incentive? Prizes, of course!

The passport will be a tangible product of collaboration within and across organizations and between AmeriCorps programs. OSU Extension, NCPHD, and North Wasco Parks and Recreation Department all support the project with various resources and ideas. In return, the project helps address community needs and goals. Cooperative Extension and NCPHD strive to promote personal health and well-being, and one of the needs cited in the NWPRD 2019 Master Plan is an increased focus on serving and improving amenities for small children and teens. The passport hopes to address this need by giving these age groups a new reason to go to the parks and providing them with creative ideas for activities to do there.

Image of City Park courtesy of NWPRD

While securing the support of local organizations is crucial, we needed to make sure the most important voice was included: the community’s. Of course, community engagement is a little easier said than done in a pandemic. And parents? Busier than ever. Youth? A crucial stakeholder, but traditional avenues of student outreach—going into classrooms, surveying kids already using a park—were off-limits.  Fortunately, collaboration saved the day yet again when my Extension colleagues invited us to present in a Juntos meeting and let us talk with students in three different 4-H groups. We interviewed local youth from grades 4 through 12 and distributed an online survey, where kids or parents representing toddlers to high school students answered question about the passport and what they would like to see in it (and, even more importantly, if they would use it).

In conjunction with the passport, we are putting together a Google map that allows people to find places based on their features e.g., good walking routes or open fields. The map is a tool for community members to easily navigate the passport, find places to be physically active, and access directions wherever they’d like to go. The map will be hosted on Jump in the Gorge, an NCPHD website promoting opportunities for being active. This will allow the map to be used by anyone at any time.

Over and over again in our conversations with students, we heard that they missed playing with friends, and many—especially the younger kids—had fewer opportunities to be physically active. At the same time, The Dalles is home to beautiful scenery, outdoor space, and a rich history. Our hope for the passport is that it brings excitement and enthusiasm back to physical activity, and encourages the community to utilize the many local parks and open spaces. So, stay tuned for the premier of the 2021 The Dalles Physical Activity Passport! And yes—we are taking suggestions for a catchier name.

Photo of the author smiling at the camera while standing in front of the mighty Columbia RiverAbout the author, Emily Whittier: Emily grew up in New England, where she considers a small town in New Hampshire to be her home. Emily got her start in food watching her grandfather make caldo verde and fava beans, and became involved in agriculture when she joined a 4H rabbit club at 5 years old. The love for food and agriculture never left, and she has participated in several different areas of the food system, including production, food service, and distribution. She got her undergraduate degree at Smith College, where she studied gender, food, and policy. While there, she worked at a food pantry and thought a lot about the emergency food system, which led her to pursue a Master’s in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy. While in graduate school, she worked with the Center for Food and Agriculture Systems at Vermont Law to research food policy in the corrections sector, and she conducted a rural food security assessment after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of her top food system interests include food and land justice, food and incarceration, and food and migration.

Interested in gaining food systems experience of your own? Are you looking for a life changing experience in rural Oregon? Learn more about serving with the RARE AmeriCorps Program. Applications for Year 28 (2021-22) due April 23, 2021.