CannonDesign’s Associate Vice President Monica Pascatore, AIA, LEED AP, will be leading a session for the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD titled: “Designed to Thrive: Three Key Components for Community Buy-In”.
The NRPA is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of public parks, recreation and conservation. Their annual national conference draws hundreds from across the country to discuss not only parks and recreation, but also conservation, health, landscape architecture, city planning and more.
Having recently joined our Baltimore office this year, Monica brings a breadth of experience with civic clients including Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, the National Park Service and the World War I Centennial Commission in Washington, DC. Her portfolio spans a number of unique typologies including recreation centers, cultural centers, visitor centers and nature centers. Monica has been a design leader for conceptualization efforts on multiple building projects, including interviews, feasibility studies and value engineering workshops.
A short description of her session is below:
Inspiring public projects have a presence – an essence – something that ties us to that site and inspires a strong sense of community. This isn’t magic, it’s not arbitrary or random, nor is it easy; it involves getting to know one another, asking difficult questions, pushing, challenging, and genuinely hearing. Both community input and stakeholder flexibility are essential factors in going beyond designing a functional space to one that inspires the community it’s rooted in. Upon completion, participants will be able to identify and utilize the three key components for successful community engagement: planning, engagement and follow-up. The session will focus on a case study in an underserved community within Baltimore City.