Gowanus Canal Conservancy
"Landscape architecture is a way of seeing systems, of understanding how the world works, and how it is changing. It provides the tools we need to adapt to the world's most pressing problems, including the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. But in order to do this work equitably and effectively, these tools need to be accessible to all, from students to community members to local governments. By embedding landscape architecture in public education and community process, we will prepare the next generation to understand and adaptively manage the dynamic systems we rely on."
Gowanus Canal Conservancy (GCC) is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit founded in 2006 with a mission to advocate and care for ecologically sustainable parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands while empowering a community of stewards.
For almost two decades, GCC has been working toward a vision of the Gowanus Canal and surrounding urban environment that is clean, resilient, diverse and alive. We care for rain gardens, street trees, and green spaces throughout the neighborhood, and empower stakeholders in stewardship of their local landscapes through in-person events and resource sharing. We equip K-12 students with place-based science, ecology and design skills and knowledge so that they can be advocates and stewards for the local environment. We hire, train and inspire BIPOC youth, especially those living in public housing, to lead change in the environmental sector and their own communities. At our mission-driven Lowlands Nursery, we propagate, grow, and distribute urban-adapted native plants to local gardens, schools and community members. We are the stewards of the Gowanus Lowlands Masterplan, a community-based vision for the public realm, and are developing an innovative Improvement District for maintenance and programming of the emerging 20-acre network of parks and public spaces centered on the Gowanus Canal.
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