Placemaking Spotlight: This Non-Profit Is Empowering Communities To Better Their Neighbourhoods
“What if we could fix our block?”
This question – asked by a group of neighbours in a US town – led to the creation of the Better Block Foundation, a non-profit organisation that enables communities to improve their neighbourhoods through art, crafts and DIY projects; not to mention room for upcycling.
According to the nonprofit’s website, Better Block aims to “educate, equip, and empower communities and their leaders to reshape and reactivate built environments to promote the growth of healthy and vibrant neighbourhoods.” This, the organisation does, through community engagement projects that transform spaces to make them more liveable. It creates beautifully designed elements that activate often unused spaces, and these elements are easy for the community to build themselves. One such example is a small town in Idaho that came together to paint bicycle lanes — a one-day, inexpensive job that makes a hugely positive impact on a community.
Better Block’s strategy towards community improvement excites me because it involves multiple community members coming together with the objective of creating better common spaces - with the transformation being chosen and designed by the community itself.
This placemaking initiative is based on three strategies, namely Open Source, Block Transformation, and Awareness. The open-source model provides a library of resources for communities to better their surroundings. Their Wikiblock resources offers a toolkit of designs for benches, chairs, planters, stages, bus stops, beer garden fences, and kiosks. These designs can be downloaded on a CNC router, and can be cut out of a sheet of simple resources like plywood. According to Better Block, most of these products can be assembled without glue or nails, which cuts costs and the need for specific skills - making it possible for almost any member of the community to get involved if they wish to do so.
Another handy resource includes Better Block in a Box. “All the elements you need for your next placemaking event can now be found in a simple shipping container,” Better Block explains. These containers include a place for people to sit, string lights for a bit of ambience, shade for coverage for sunny and rainy days, and a source of play for young and old. Once emptied, the container can be used for whatever the community’s heart desires; a bar, checking kiosk, or perhaps an inside gallery.
My favourite initiative however is the “recipe library”. This treasure trove of resources features design elements and a list of supplies for community members to implement change in their neighbourhoods. “These pop-up installations give anyone the power to make a difference in their [area].” Lastly, Better Block creates awareness for placemaking through communicating and demonstrating the power of joint efforts through keynote addresses, study tours and design competitions, such as their appearance in The Happiness Lab podcasts, by Dr Laurie Santos.
Better Block is an excellent example of how communities can get together to improve their surroundings, in a fun and cost-effective way. It also goes to show what can be done outside of major infrastructure investments to make positive changes, by encouraging direct citizen participation. Indeed a great way of fostering togetherness in the local community!
