How do we involve the participation of a local community in a design process?

In November 2014 CALL organized a WORKSHOP in West Harlem with community members at SoHarlem. Arising from the workshop, it was evident the one of the community's biggest concerns was being prepared for emergency situations, like they experienced during hurricane Sandy.

In 2015, WeACT for Environmental Justice published the Northern Manhattan Climate Plan, a strategy to confront the impacts of climate change by addressing long-standing disparities in political and economic power.

Over the past four years, CALL and WeACT have collaborated on an intensive community-driven design process to propose a structure that could serve as a site for community activities around emergency preparedness and urban sustainability, inspired by the Northern Manhattan Climate Plan. This structure would also be an essential hub for information and support before, during and after an environmental crisis like a hurricane or mass power outage. This design process has involved extensive workshops, community meetings and awareness campaigns.

The result is Elliott Maltby’s proposal, below, for a Emergency Preparedness Hub that could be located within the Manhattanville Houses.

In addition to the design proposal, CALL has continued to conduct a variety of public walks in and around the neighborhood examining community gardens, cultural identity, and wayfinding.