The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) recently announced the 2022 Deb Mitchell Research Grant project winner, which will receive a $25,000 research grant.

 
The annually awarded grant is given to a research project that is relevant and impactful in landscape architecture.

Engagement by Design: Intergenerational Communities to Promote Social Equity and Healthy Aging in Place was awarded because investigators Chanam Lee and Sinan Zhong will utilize interviews, focus groups, and surveys to "identify essential physical elements and features of intergenerational communities and their associations with intergenerational interactions, age-related social equity, and health among older adults and children" in communities near Austin, Texas.

"With the pandemic shining a spotlight on issues of mental health, social isolation, and age-related vulnerability, this research topic is very timely. Providing better support for an aging population and intergenerational interaction is a less-studied aspect of design and planning," said Michael Johnson, a member of the LAF Board of Directors and Research Committee and Principal/Urban Design Practice Co-Director at SmithGroup, which augmented the generous bequest from Debra Mitchell, FASLA to establish the grant, "With the potential for findings that are highly useful to professional practitioners, this proposal represents an emerging area where landscape architects can take a leading role."

https://www.lafoundation.org/news/2022/04/2022-deb-mitchell-grant-winner