Making Authentic Nature a Priority Posted on October 26, 2018 by wpengine It can be hard to find refuge in nature when you are living in an urban environment. According to the United Nations, over half of all the world’s population (55%) lives in urban areas, a statistic that is expected to rise to 68% by 2050. As the world continues to urbanize, it is more important than ever to design sustainable and intentionally authentic greenspaces that invite active involvement in one’s natural amenities. This is especially true for children. A recent…Read More
Incorporating the Natural Landscape in Greenspace Design Posted on October 19, 2018 by wpengine Incorporating the natural landscape into the design of a project is a key element for us here at Grounded Strategies. A popular trend in natural landscape design that has evolved over the past decade is to adapt the slope of an existing hill or embankment into a surface intended for a slide. Author Jeff Link outlines the benefits of integrating the natural environment into a landscape design in his article Hill and Embankment Slides Mark a Golden Age for Playground Slides.…Read More
Attention to Detail Posted on October 5, 2018 by Grounded Strategies The quality of your environment is one of the greatest and most overlooked sources of happiness. CommunityCare stewards carry around butter knives so that they can clean the cracks in the sidewalks. LandCare contractors compare techniques because they take pride in their work. These examples illustrate the importance of community members playing a central role in greening their communities. When residents are the actors, greenspace maintenance takes on new meaning. It's not just about getting a job done, it's about making…Read More
Grounded in East Hills Posted on September 24, 2018 by Masoud Sayles As part of our investigative process, Grounded Strategies is exploring East Hills for further intervention. Having recently installed rain gardens in the Park Hill Drive Community, we're now working with the East Hills Consensus Group (EHCG) to help them advocate for improvements in the entire East Hills neighborhood. The main focus points for EHCG in terms of community strategy are Stormwater, Public Safety, and Community Beautification. During our tour of the neighborhood, it became apparent just how important…Read More
Pitt 1st Years are Grounded in Homewood Posted on September 17, 2018 by Masoud Sayles As part of their orientation process at the start of the fall semester, first years at Pitt joined Grounded in Homewood for a day of service. We worked together on a litter cleanup, while engaging in thought provoking discussions about the ties between refuse, home abandonment, poverty, and access to green space. Our litter cleanup also served as a walking tour of the neighborhood, to show areas where Grounded has already built a presence, as well as areas…Read More
Sweet Serenade Posted on September 11, 2018 by wpengine My time at Grounded strategies happened purely by chance and man was it a stroke of good luck. I heard of Grounded from a Facebook advertisement after I had recently expressed interest in wanting to work on community gardens. The event was called a “Land Lab”: in which they go to different neighborhoods they want to invest in and give neighbors and stakeholders details of all the programs/resources they have to offer. After an hour of questions, jokes and heartfelt…Read More
See You Later! Posted on August 29, 2018 by wpengine I’ve been putting off writing this blog post because I’m sort of in denial that my time here at Grounded has come to an end. I started here last year at the very beginning of my grad program in Social Work and Public Administration at Pitt (seriously, I started before orientation because I just couldn’t wait). I really was not sure what I was getting myself into, but thought it would be fun. A year later and it has turned…Read More
Arianna makes her mark on Grounded Posted on August 22, 2018 by shequaya Bailey During my time as in intern at Grounded Strategies, I had the opportunity to meet the amazing people that work to make Pittsburgh a better place. I started out not knowing much about green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and most of what was going on in the office went over my head. But after some time, I started learning a lot about Pittsburgh’s stormwater management issues and exactly what Grounded was doing to help. While I was there, I got to…Read More
Following a rain drop at Park Hill Drive Posted on August 21, 2018 by Masoud Sayles Grounded continues its Green Stormwater Infrastructure work in the Park Hill Drive community in East Hills. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) design and implementation are just one of the services we offer here at Grounded Strategies. As we plan each such project, we consider the fate of rainwater as it encounters the built environment. Let's follow a raindrop through one of our GSI facilities in the Park Hill Drive community! The first thing that a raindrop is likely to encounter in…Read More
Katherine’s Internship Experience at Grounded Posted on August 17, 2018 by wpengine My name is Katherine and I am an incoming junior Environmental Engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh. This week concludes my six-week internship at Grounded Strategies. I have enjoyed spending the past six weeks contributing in various ways ranging from working on online research to designing and building a “Gnome Home”. This internship has provided me with a wide variety of learning and career development opportunities. As I performed research for Grounded’s Gnome Messaging Project, I had the opportunity…Read More
Grounded in Clairton Posted on August 8, 2018 by Masoud Sayles Grounded Strategies continues to support the Clairton Community as part of our ReClaim Ambassador program. Recently, we’ve been working with our Ambassadors Toni and Felix on sprucing up their sites. After a winter with lots of temperature fluctuations, Felix’s doorways at Communications Park had shifted, so we gave them a little love, squaring up their sashes and priming the ground for his sunflower walls. Just down the street at Clairton CommUnity Garden, Toni has been hustling and bustling getting the…Read More
Grounded #StormwaterStories – A Workday in Homewood Posted on July 19, 2018 by Ariam Ford "You all better get some food before we get started!" Zinna raised her voice slightly to be heard over the sizzle of hotdogs on the nearby grill. Volunteers put their gloves down and picked up a plate. They had been patiently waiting under the Grounded Strategies tent to get started with the planting of a newly excavated rain garden. The garden sits on the corner of Rosedale and Hill and is the newest addition of its kind to the Homewood neighborhood. Before…Read More