Green School Grounds As Neighborhood Centers

The Rise of Community Loved Third Spaces

This is a phenomenon that we have seen a lot of in Portland and I assume your communities have seen the same. The rise of coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and friendly meetings in park and plazas.

Third space is an informal shared public space that is not home (first space) or work (second space). “Third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.” ~ Wikipedia

 

Why can’t our schools be part of this growing movement? They are centrally located in most neighborhoods, often have a lot of surrounding land and they could use our help building and maintaining features that reflect the neighborhood. Developing a network of green schools would strengthen our communities by creating a web of third places.

The Intertwine Alliance has convened a group of interested parties from education, health, and community design to talk about greening our schoolyards. I will keep you updated if any great new movements or ideas come out of the coalition.