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Environment and Community

(Research projects are listed alphabetically by last name of principal or lead investigator under the primary research focus.)



The Veggie Project

Darcy Freedman, Principal Investigator; Mary Kate Mouser, Shavaun Evans, Courtney Williams and Shacora Moore

An applied and exploratory ethnographic research project focused on examining the politics of food access through a materialist praxis research methodology wherein farmers' markets are used as a tool for systematic research, reflection and action processes. This project spanned two years, 2007-2008, and involved four Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee.
Funding: Baptist Healing Trust, Center for Community Studies, Vanderbilt Women's and Gender Studies Program, Vanderbilt Center for Health Services, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Staff Advisory Council.
Partners: Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee, Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee, Nashville Urban Harvest.

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The Nashville Street Life Project

John Vick

A grassroots movement of practitioners and scholars initiated the Nashville Street Life Project to assess public spaces in downtown Nashville, on both physical and social dimensions, to determine how those spaces were being used and which features are necessary for them to be successful public spaces. The Nashville Street Life Project aimed to influence the creation and improvement of public spaces in downtown Nashville, including parks, plazas, streets, sidewalks, alleys and any other space that fosters the social relationships that build communities. The long-term viability of Nashville's downtown depends on the creation and maintenance of successful public spaces. As a pilot project and a means to begin a dialogue about the importance of public space, The Nashville Street Life Project conducted a study of Church Street Park, located in the central business district of downtown Nashville. The research team used a mixed-methods approach in the assessment of the park, including behavioral mapping, surveys and pedestrian counts. The interdisciplinary research team included planners, architects, landscape architects, food vendors, students and downtown residents.

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Read the report

For more information about the placemaking approach to public spaces, visit Project for Public Spaces at www.pps.org

Community Impacts of Hurricane Katrina

Courte Voorhees, John Vick and Douglas Perkins

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and caused the largest displacement of whole communities in U.S. history. An interdisciplinary research team based in the Center for Community Studies conducted a study to examine which factors determine the form, duration and success of community rebuilding -- both socially and physically -- following disasters and other forced relocations. We examined what neighborhood elements citizens want preserved, what they want changed and who they feel should have control over the rebuilding process. In terms of socially defined community, we examined loss of community, social disconnect and neighborhood identity in the wake of disaster. Preliminary analysis of the interview responses indicated that the greatest difficulty people faced related to housing. One surprising finding was that jobs were easy to find; there were more jobs than people to hire. Most people wanted to have some type of input on how their neighborhoods and New Orleans as a whole are rebuilt, but few had specific plans of action. The two things people wanted most to change as a result of the rebuilding process were leadership and crime. Nearly everyone interviewed wanted a change in leadership, mostly on the local level. As a result of the disaster, people said they would like to become, or have already become, more active in their community, even those who were highly active before the disaster. People also emphatically stated that individuals in their communities pulled together and helped each other out during and after the storm. Some general trends found across interviews were a strong place attachment to homes, neighborhoods and cities; a strengthened sense of community after the storm; resilience and positive attitude of those back in the city, contrasted with depression and anxiety of those still displaced; and the media not being an accurate source of information during and after the storm.

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