Community First Toolkit
Embedding equity in all phases of park planning
Community First Toolkit
Embedding equity in all phases of park planning
The Community First Toolkit is an initiative by the High Line Network — in conjunction with the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Urban Institute — providing “a structured process to understand the influence and impact of infrastructure reuse in the community and set forth an equity-based action plan.” Decimal was asked to design its printed toolkit as well as create the corresponding online experience.
- Visit Site
- toolkit.highlinenetwork.org
- Client
- High Line Network
- Type
- Editorial
- Product
- Industry
- Nonprofit
The Toolkit
The toolkit aims to address inequities caused by systematic racism by putting community first during all phases of park planning. We translated the toolkit into its digital form, creating a website that provides a structured process to understand the influence and impact of infrastructure reuse.
The Toolkit is supported with stories and case studies of Network member experiences, showcasing how the Toolkit can and has been used to tackle real-life park organization challenges. Additionally, the website offers an interactive start guide, helping the users understand where in the process they are and what to do next.
Using line art and a simple three color palette we created a library of over 25 icons to act as visual guides through the process of building an equity-based action plan. The playful graphics also serve to lighten and brighten the often dense sections of text, making the site a fun and approachable journey through a daunting but incredibly important task.
Decimal does not accept anything less than excellence in what they do, their project management is impeccable, and the result is beyond what we could have imagined on our own.
Asima Jansveld
Interim Chief Program and Engagement Officer
Friends of the High Line
The Start Guide
This toolkit is not intended to be linear as each user is inevitably at a different stage of embedding equity in their organization. The challenge for the web thus became to help the user understand where they are at in the process and where to get started.
To guide the user we created an interactive quiz, directing individuals to different sections and tools depending on their results.
The Booklet
The toolkit is also available as a printed booklet, providing an overview and historical context of systematic racism. It also frames definitions, goals, and stories around the Network’s processes of creating equitable impact. We designed the entire book — including the cover — in tandem with the website, ensuring it could easily scale from digital to print.
Download the booklet here.
Team
- Decimal
- Allie Heesh
- Kiko Peláez Fort
- Kirsten Holland
- Joshua Levi
- Gabrielle Harlid
- Guillermo Brotons
- Juan Solano
- Julio Salas
- Jeff Bolton
- The High Line Network
- Ana Traverso-Krejcarek
- Asima Jansveld
- Harish Bhandari
- Janine White
- Julie Heffernan
- Korly DeVries
