Models of sustainability

Forest Park Park / St. Louis

July 17

By Henry Steinberg
For PlanPhilly

On Thursday (July 16), the Urban Sustainability Forum presented a well attended panel discussion called “Parkland Use and Protection: Striking the Right Balance” at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Opening remarks for the evening were given by Dr. William Brown, president and CEO of the Academy, and Lauren Bornfriend, the executive director of the Philadelphia Parks Alliance.

Bornfriend introduced the evening’s moderator, Graham Finney, the public policy chair of the PPA.

Two presenters, Lucie Springmeyer, the Executive director of Forest Park Forever from St. Louis and Zari Santner of Portland (Ore.) Parks & Recreation, outlined the ways in which they had helped to revitalize and/or invigorate their respective park systems.

Mike DiBerardinis, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Commissioner,  then took the floor and spoke briefly about the state of the parks in Philadelphia while expressing a keen interest in learning some best practice tips from the two guest speakers.

The presentations were followed by a question and answer session which in which the audience participated.

The photographs below represent both the presentations and the question and answer session:

St. Louis presentation slide, Forest Park pre-restoration

 St. Louis presentation slide, Forest Park, post-restoration

Forest Park World’s Fair Pavilion after restoration

Unwanted Traffic at Forest Park

Portland Presentation opening slide

Portland Parks System Graphic

First Portland Parks Plan

Second Portland Parks Plan

The panelists (from left to right): Mike DiBerardinis, Zari Santner, Lucie Springmeyer

Contact the reporter at henst@sas.upenn.edu