Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington partnered with Orange County Community Gardens to create designs aimed at making the community garden more accessible.
The graduate-level course was a part of Sustaining Hoosier Communities, an IU Center for Rural Engagement initiative that pairs IU students and staff with rural Indiana communities on community-driven projects.
Students in the course were tasked with addressing the pathway from the parking lot to the community garden. Community members had said the slope was too steep, making it difficult, and sometimes dangerous, to reach the garden.
The course was led by Assistant Professor Becca Lassell, who worked with four graduate students to help them learn how to incorporate accessibility into community and neighborhood design.
“The hope was that students would learn about those design principles,” Lassell said. “And then actually get experience implementing them in an actual project or design.”
Orange County community partner and board member Brandon Query helped connect the students with community members, who gave feedback on the designs during meetings and discussions.
The students created several design options at different costs. Community feedback helped shape the designs, including changing the original snake-shaped ramp into a horseshoe-shaped design.
“Our main deliverable for the course was providing a design, and then a product, then Brandon can go and apply for grant funding and be able to make the design happen,” Lassell said.
Shanshan Shi, a second-year PhD student who was part of the course, said hearing directly from people with disabilities changed how she thought about accessible design.
“Understanding their needs is very important,” Shi said. “Because in our team, we just think from our minds, and we do not have these big issues.”
The garden designs have not yet been built. Query will work to secure funding for the project, while the course will continue with a new rural community and accessibility project next semester.
“I think it's important as we design things to think about everyone and promoting access for all,” Lassell said. “Because we miss out when a portion of our community isn't able to access or participate in activities or contribute in some way.”
