{"product_id":"dream-play-build-hands-on-community-engagement-for-enduring-spaces-and-places-9781642831498","title":"Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe room is dim, the chairs are in perfectly lined rows. The city planner puts up a color-coded diagram of the street improvement project, dreading the inevitable angry responses. \u003cbr\u003e Jana loves her community and is glad to be able to attend the evening meeting, and she has a lot of ideas for community change. But she has a hard time hearing, and can't see the diagrams clearly. She leaves early. \u003cbr\u003e It's time to imagine a different type of community engagement - one that inspires connection, creativity, and fun.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e People love their communities and want them to become safer, healthier, more prosperous places. But the standard approach to public meetings somehow makes everyone miserable. Conversations that should be inspiring can become shouting matches. So what would it look like to facilitate truly meaningful discussions between citizens and planners? What if they could be fun? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For twenty years, James Rojas and John Kamp have been looking to art, creative expression, and storytelling to shake up the classic community meeting. In \u003ci\u003eDream Play Build\u003c\/i\u003e, they share their insights into building common ground and inviting active participation among diverse groups. Their approach, \"Place It!,\" draws on three methods: the interactive model-building workshop, the pop-up, and site exploration using our senses. Using our hands to build and create is central to what makes us human, helping spark ideas without relying on words to communicate. Deceptively playful, this method is remarkably effective at teasing out community dreams and desires from hands-on activities. \u003ci\u003eDream Play Build \u003c\/i\u003eoffers wisdom distilled from workshops held around the world, and a deep dive into the transformational approach and results from the South Colton community in southern California. While much of the process was developed through in-person meetings, the book also translates the experience to online engagement--how to make people remember their connections beyond the computer screen. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Inspirational and fun, \u003ci\u003eDream Play Build\u003c\/i\u003e celebrates the value of engaging with the dreams we have for our communities. Readers will find themselves weaving these artful, playful lessons and methods into their own efforts for making change within the landscape around them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames Rojas is an urban planner, community activist, educator, and artist who runs the planning, model-building, and community-outreach practice Place It!. He is an international expert in public engagement and has traveled around the US, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and South America, facilitating over 500 workshops, and building 100+ interactive models. His research has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDwell\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePlaces\u003c\/i\u003e, and in numerous books. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e John Kamp runs the landscape, urban design, and engagement practice Prairieform. He has developed innovative tools to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in both design and the natural world, with two decades of experience leading hands-on interactive workshops with James Rojas of Place It!. He frequently translates the findings and outcomes of those workshops into designs for inclusive and livable streets and neighborhoods that leave room for all residents to improvise and help create a more welcoming public realm\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Island Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50861993427218,"sku":"9781642831498","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_49b2f9b4-8de4-4f16-bd82-605d6bdd1401.jpg?v=1737609783","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/dream-play-build-hands-on-community-engagement-for-enduring-spaces-and-places-9781642831498","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}