What is learned in youth is carved in stone
SATURDAY’s GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading
The Battle Over What Public Space Means
In the last week, protesters all over the country have come to see their barely walkable cities the way New Yorkers always have seen theirs, as a matrix of public space that must be fluid, free, and safe for everyone at all times. The freedom to walk outside and shout is a bedrock of American democracy. Yet in many places, exercising that right means fighting the city’s layout and design. – New York Magazine
Sowing seeds of happiness: Emotional well-being while home gardening - Princeton Environmental Institute: As civic leaders and urban planners work to make cities more sustainable and livable by investing in outdoor spaces and recreational activities such as biking and walking, Princeton researchers have identified the benefit of an activity largely overlooked by policymakers — home gardening. The researchers found that, across the study’s population, the level of emotional well-being, or happiness, reported while gardening was similar to what people reported while biking, walking or dining out, according to a study published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning. Home gardening was the only activity out of the 15 studied for which women and people with low incomes reported higher emotional well-being than men and medium- and high-income participants, respectively. “This has implications for equity in food action planning considering that people with lower incomes tend to have less access to healthy food options,” said corresponding author Anu Ramaswami, Princeton’s Sanjay Swani ’87 Professor of India Studies, professor of civil and environmental engineering and the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI). “Gardening could provide the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, promote physical activity, and support emotional well-being, which can reinforce this healthy behavior.”
The benefits of gardening on happiness were similar across racial boundaries and between urban and suburban areas, said first author Graham Ambrose, a research specialist in Princeton’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. In addition, whether people gardened alone or with others made no difference, and people who kept vegetable gardens reported a higher level of average emotional well-being than people who worked in ornamental gardens…”
Dancing In The Streets For George Floyd And Racial Justice
The Electric Slide in Harlem and the Cupid Shuffle in Newark; the bomba in Puerto Rico and voguing in Chicago; Ojibwe and Nuhua dances in Minneapolis and haka in New Zealand — those are just a few examples of dancing at recent protests that have been making the rounds on social media. “Some came to the streets with the purpose of dancing. Others were moved to dance more spontaneously, and surprised to find themselves seen by millions online.” Reporter Siobhan Burke talked to several participants “about what it has meant to them to dance in protest.” – The New York Times
Facebook incorrectly removes picture of Aboriginal men in chains because of ‘nudity‘ Guardian. Kevin W: “Facebook also blocks users from sharing Guardian Australia’s story based on its use of the image.”