Public Private Partnerships: The Learning Landscapes Program

Recent research offers evidence that the challenges presented by urbanization are best addressed by broad-based collaborative community partnerships. Joint use agreements between schools and communities are a promising way to increase physical activity opportunities for under-served communities.

This proposal aims to share lessons learned in collaborative community planning and joint use from the implementation of Learning Landscapes (LL). LL is a successful collaboration between multiple stakeholders that since 1998 has transformed 52 neglected Denver elementary school playgrounds into multi-use playgrounds and public parks that are tailored to the needs and desires of the local community, increase physical activity, and build neighborhood civic engagement.

With a budget of approximately $450,000 per playground, University of Colorado Denver landscape architecture students and professors work with school officials, teachers, students and community members to design new school grounds that respond to the cultural makeup of the neighborhood, the aesthetic tastes of its residents, and the developmental needs of children. Due to the success of this initiative, in 2003, and 2005 Denver city voters passed bonds totaling over $20 million to fund the redevelopment of these elementary school yards. The schoolyards are open to the community for use after school.

Presenters will share the steps of the collaborative planning model utilized to engage students, parents, community members, teachers, and school and community officials in the design, build, and upkeep of the playgrounds. They will also discuss the steps needed to gain political support at the highest level of the Denver and Boulder school districts.