DISES: Addressing dynamic landscape inequalities in human well-being and bee health by greening

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This project seeks to learn whether front yard pollinator gardens can be designed to simultaneously promote ecological health and human well-being over time. This project was co-created with community organizers from lower income suburban neighborhoods near a legacy city characterized by high property vacancy rates. Vacant lots are greenspaces that provide valuable habitat for urban bees; however, they are also a visible indicator of instability, and undermine the perceived and actual safety of communities. Coordinating with community groups, this project establishes and evaluates the impact of approximately 40 front yard pollinator gardens on the health of residents and the urban ecosystem. As part of the projects, the researchers build a network of local gardening mentors, create educational materials and curricula, and hold gardening workshops. Through these partnerships this project aims to address longstanding barriers to sustainable participation in conservation activities among lower income residents of color.This study utilizes “cues to care” (CTC) theory, which describes landscape characteristics including vividly flowering plants as visual cues that meet cultural and local norms for home landscape appearance. CTC theory suggests that human well-being and bee health must be aligned by design rather than assumed to be understood or appreciated by residents. In this study, a network of CTC front yard gardens is installed in neighborhoods that range from low to high concentrations of property vacancy. Within this network, the project examines how vacant land and CTC front yard pollinator gardens interact to influence bee health and human well-being as well as the long-term trends in front yard greening across the community. This focus on front yard gardens addresses a major theoretical knowledge gap in socio-environmental scholarship: how legacy cities can sustainably support and increase pollinator health together with human well-being in communities of color. The project also contributes to the education and training of multiple students and postdoctoral scholars who are involved in the research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.