Gina Sofola

In response to the heightened awareness of racial injustices happening locally and across our nation, more diversity and inclusion topics have been spotlighted in built environment professions. Professionals are having discussions, trainings, and more on how to reckon with its role in inequity challenges while learning best practices on how to promote a more just future through the built form. The profession hasn’t done a good job at telling everyone’s story, and it is more important now that even to understand how to integrate diversity and inclusion into community practices to develop more inclusive and culturally aware cities.

• Deep, reflective listening and intentional engagement strategies are key in building trust with residents. It is critical to help residents understand process and how their hopes and desires can realistically be honored and translated. • Be able to identify assets along with communities and work within their context. Strive to understand why certain aspects of their culture is important to them and how that can inform your plans and designs • Identify unique engagement methods that help residents feel comfortable and make the process enjoyable. • Be transparent and educate on expectations, and how the community’s voices will inform plans and outcomes. • Understand the importance that culture has in validating people’s identities and lived experiences.

Each day we walk around in environments that reflect euro-centric culture and history. When culture is erased from the built environment it sends a message that these cultures don’t matter and that they don’t belong. • Cities are in competition for residents and resources. With heightened mobility through technology, people can be more selective about where they live, work, and play. Identifying opportunities to create unique experiences through diversity and culture can help cities economically thrive and compete with other cities.

• NE OK Storytelling Project engaged NE OKC residents on how to share their stories and preserve them digitally. The digital stories will become a resource for people who want to do work in NE

OKC and help them understand cultural context • Lusaka, Zambia. Lack of community engagement caused significant design and programming challenges for the Family Tree that stripped residents of their cultural identity. Through community engagement the team was able to help better inform the second phase of their development while providing a cultural context.