The power of participatory story mapping: Advancing equitable development in disadvantaged neighbourhoods

Community developers and planners have long recognized the value of storytelling to engage communities. Yet, in working with disadvantaged communities, they are often challenged to meaningfully engage residents and uncover place values that can help drive community development strategies. In a case study of Langley Park, Maryland, a neighborhood comprised of largely low-income Latino immigrants facing potential displacement from a new transit line, this article investigates the potential of new story mapping techniques and technologies to assist communities in leveraging everyday place meanings and values to advance greater equity in the process of neighborhood redevelopment. It demonstrates how participatory story mapping can empower traditionally marginalized voices and encourage more complex place narratives within community development and planning.

Where PYD Meets CBPR: A Photovoice Program for Latino Immigrant Youth

Community engagement in identifying issues of collective concern to address health disparities is an approach that is central to conducting community-based participatory research. It is particularly important for youth to be engaged in dialogue around issues that affect their lives. Participation of this nature is understood, within a Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach, to be an element of primary prevention vis a vis health risks. Photovoice has been an increasingly used methodology to enable youth to identify and address issues relevant to their daily experiences. We implemented a six-week Photovoice project guided by a PYD approach with Latino immigrant youth (n=12) from Langley Park, MD. This article describes the experiences of facilitators in implementing the program, testing a new curriculum, and also presents results related to changes in PYD assets among participants. We also offer recommendations for future Photovoice programs with similar populations and aims.

Picturing Adelante

We applied Photovoice, an innovative methodology, in order to enhance participation by Latino youth living in Langley Park, MD in community-based participatory research (CBPR) and in the ongoing Adelante Positive Youth Development intervention. This study sought to: 1) expand our understanding of current needs and experiences of Latino youth and update our information on the evolving Marketplace; 2) involve youth in the process of developing CBPR intervention and social marketing components; and 3) build skills in photography, critical thinking, and community activism among Latino youth. Using Photovoice, we engaged twelve Latino youth, including six recently arrived to the U.S. and six second generation immigrants, in a dialogue about peer, family, community, and health issues affecting Latinos. Through six sessions, participants developed photography skills, used photographs to stimulate critical thinking and discussion, and suggested solutions for emergent issues. Sixty pictures selected for group discussion all corresponded to one of the three main domains of inquiry: 1) Strengths and needs of Langley Park, 2) Latino youth experiences, and 3) Community health assets and risks. Participants organized a photography exhibition and community forum to raise awareness about important findings. Both recently arrived and second generation Latino youth have important perspectives to share that guide and refine ongoing targeted CBPR interventions. Findings from this study shed light on the most relevant topics for community-based interventions, advocacy, and social marketing campaigns needed in this community. Photovoice is a useful tool for social marketing formative research targeting immigrant youth sub-groups.

Where PYD Meets CBPR: A Photovoice Program for Latino Immigrant Youth

Community engagement in identifying issues of collective concern to address health disparities is an approach that is central to conducting community-based participatory research. It is particularly important for youth to be engaged in dialogue around issues that affect their lives. Participation of this nature is understood, within a Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach, to be an element of primary prevention vis a vis health risks. Photovoice has been an increasingly used methodology to enable youth to identify and address issues relevant to their daily experiences. We implemented a six-week Photovoice project guided by a PYD approach with Latino immigrant youth (n=12) from Langley Park, MD. This article describes the experiences of facilitators in implementing the program, testing a new curriculum, and also presents results related to changes in PYD assets among participants. We also offer recommendations for future Photovoice programs with similar populations and aims.

V.—Notes on Some Sarsden Stones

I. Concretionary with Calcareous Cement.—Last autumn the Rev. John Adams, of Stockcross, kindly took me to see the interesting specimen of Sarsden Stone in situ at Langley Park, north of Newbury, Berks, which he described in the “Transact. Newbury District Field Club,” vol. i. 1871, p. 107, and in the Geol. Mag. Vol. X. p. 200; and which has also been described by Mr. W. Whitaker in the “Memoirs Geol. Survey,” vol. iv. p. 193. This concretionary Sarsden Stone, belonging to the “Woolwich and Reading” series, consists of quartz grains with a Calcareous cement. This is an unusual circumstance for “Sarsden Stone”; and points to the former presence of Shells, perhaps, or of calciferous waters, in that portion of the Lower Eocene series.