Parks in public parking : empowering community members to reintegrate nature into the city

Abstract

This research explores how community leaders could use Corbett’s Spectrum of Environmental Ideologies (2006) to analyze the ideologies of communication campaigns before adopting one into a community. In this research, a mixed age class of elementary students and local artisans created two “parks” in public parking spaces and participated in an arts contest in Nelson, BC. This action research used analytic coding to reflect on participants’ relationship with nature based on their response to: international Park(ing) Day and Transition Nelson. Additionally, participant recommendations for greening Nelson’s downtown core were compared with four models of social change for generating ecocentric solutions. Ecocentric solutions stem from the belief that humans and nature are interdependent. Found to be key were nurturing participants’ nascent ecocentric values and investigating the campaign materials deeply. Additionally building motivation, exploring alternatives, problem-solving, partnerships and improved organizational communication are important elements of social change.