Earlier this year, we invited fifteen fellows to develop their own web mapping applications, centered on equity and designed with communities in mind, using the SDOH & Place Toolkit. From July to September, we'll feature final fellow applications each week.

App Motivations

Beth created her SDOH & Place project idea, "Hope, Education and ArT," to serve as a model for other national and international projects that are working to provide environmental solutions within communities.

Beth is developing the HEATChicago app to serve as a prototype for this work. It identifies outdoor spaces where art eases the anxiety of difficult climate dialogues and/or be used to express what is happening around us – both the problems and the solutions. It identifies community gardens that invite participation and provide a local food source. It highlights audio storytelling projects that give history to our great city.

The target audience for this work includes members of the Chicago community and Intergenerational conservationists with a passion for promoting Environmental Justice.

Features

It can be used on a computer or a mobile phone. When on a phone, it can zoom into where the user is located to allow them to visit nearby assets.

In addition to visiting the garden, users can click on the link to listen to an audio collection of Living History stories from the neighborhood.

The following curriculum ideas are embedded as links within the assets. Some suggestions include: "More than One Story" activity, which could be used in a gathering space to help the participants get to know each other better.

There is also a link to a Tree Identification Guide in the "Chicago Tree" link, enabling students to explore nearby trees.

Additionally, the "Chicago Sculpture" exhibit links provide ideas for interacting with the "Chevron" sculpture or learning more about the artist behind the "Caminantes" exhibit by visiting the Mexican Fine Arts Museum.

Upcoming Features

Beth and her team are exploring ways the user could click on the neighborhood and add information about either an art installation, or a gathering space, or upload a photo of an environmental concern.

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If you would like to check out Beth's work you can access the application here.

About the Author

Beth Beyer has dedicated her career to helping communities thrive. She works to empower students, teachers, and parents through the use of technology to enhance experiential learning and extend educational opportunities. As the executive director of The Technology Alliance, a small nonprofit organization whose mission is to “open new worlds through technology,” Beth actively directs projects and pursues partnerships with organizations, schools, and community members. Beth's work in collaboration with the Erikson Institute for Early Childhood Development in inner-city Chicago Public Schools earned her recognition and a 3-year Kellogg Foundation Leadership Fellowship program. During her Masters in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University, her research focused on using GIS technologies, including ArcView GIS, Google Earth Engine, Google My Maps, and mapping software prototypes under development. Her thesis explored the use of coloration in mapping and cognitive understanding of how maps work. Recently, she was nominated and accepted into the Alliance for Leadership Fellows, an organization that brings graduates of leadership fellowships together to further their development and work collaboratively to "increase knowledge and skills that lead to equitable and sustainable flourishing within human communities." Beth is currently working on developing and reviewing the Climate Action Plan for People and Nature (CAPN) in collaboration with the Chicago Wilderness Alliance (CWA). This effort brings together community partners, including the Field Museum, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, The Technology Alliance, and more to ensure the success of people and nature. She co-taught a high school seminar on Environmental Justice, where she highlighted the importance of prioritizing communities struggling with air and water quality in future climate planning. Her current SDOH and Place project, HEAT (Hope, Education, and ArT), aims to highlight and celebrate art co-created in these communities to build community, connect with nature, and promote healing.