Nashville Youth Voice Exhibition

July 25, 2024

The Nashville Youth Design Team is a diverse group of high school interns across Davidson County working to make Nashville's neighborhoods more supportive of youth well-being. The group follows a Youth Participatory Action Research process in which they conduct community research with young people in Nashville to learn how their neighborhoods affect their well-being. After conducting the research, they design and implement solutions to address the identified issues.

This summer, the group has been working on community research and designs for the Looby Community Center and surrounding campus that address the need for more safe community spaces for youth, including path infrastructure, community pool renovations, athletic facilities, teen lounge, and concessions upgrades.

Catalyst's Landscape Architect, Shuangwen Yang, led and mentored a group of students in this year's design competition. Four groups presented their ideas to the community and their peers at the exhibition. After the presentations, attendees voted on which design would be implemented at the community center later this year.