GW Sustainability Research Fellows: the Woonerf Group!

In the 2023 cohort of GW's Sustainability Research Fellowship program, undergraduate students from diverse academic disciplines came together to learn about and tackle sustainability issues on campus. The group researched and implemented projects in 2 main areas: composting and outdoor spaces.

We are the group that focused on outdoor spaces on campus after noticing that GW's Foggy Bottom campus lacked places where students could gather outside to study, eat, host events, or just hang out. Our 5 members are:

• Alia Jamil- Public Health, class of 2025
• Julia Collum- Biology and Environmental Science, class of 2024
• Matthew Hernandez- Political Science, class of 2023
• Hagan Leeds Richman- International Affairs, class of 2023
• Mia Rosenblatt- Environmental Studies, class of 2023

Let us show you what we've been working on for the past year & our plan for the future!

We also took a tour of GW's existing sustainable features led by Kimberly Williams, the Office of Sustainability's Engagement Lead. While GW has made strides in sustainability landscaping and urban planning in recent years, our group saw opportunities for improvement in the Foggy Bottom campus's outdoor spaces to make the most of the areas.

We were particularly inspired by Square 80, an urban park and plaza on campus that reclaimed green space from an old parking lot and service alley when its construction was completed in April 2010. Tucked between 2 dorms, the park offers relaxation, connection with nature, and a break from busy city life. It houses a number of sustainability features and is one of the campus's most exciting projects and spaces!

Inspired by the well-designed space of Square 80 and troubled by the lack of usable green space on campus, we decided to focus on how GW could use its limited area on an urban campus more efficiently to maximize the benefits of outdoor community spaces.

Next, we had to choose what exactly we were going to do to solve this issue. As part of the brainstorming process, we created several project proposals, including transforming the School of Business corridor, increasing the number of GroW Gardens on campus to adding pop up infrastructure to underutilized campus spaces, revamping the front of Funger Hall, and adding more plants to create secluded study spots outside of Gelman.

We decided that to narrow down our focus, we had to observe existing outdoor spaces on campus and determine what does and doesn't work. After taking notes on several spots at different times on different days, we came to a few key conclusions:

• People used tables much more than benches because they were often eating or studying, so in new green spaces, adding tables and chairs should be prioritized.
• Depending on the temperature, people would stick to either sunshine or shade, so both are needed to facilitate year round use of a space.
• On days with nice weather, outdoor spaces were crowded and usually had no open tables, chairs, or benches, suggesting that people enjoy spending their time outside.

Our main takeaway so far was that GW needed more usable outdoor space. Physical space is limited on a city campus, so we looked for ways to make more efficient use of that space. We noticed that H St. NW between 21st and 22nd St. NW is one of the most crowded streets and could be considered the "heart of campus" because of its central location and proximity to some of the school's most important buildings.

Students were constantly crossing the road, but often vehicles were trying to make their way through, causing traffic and some close calls with cars. We saw an opportunity to both improve pedestrian safety and make more efficient use of an outdoor space by redesigning the street to focus on people, not cars. Thus, the woonerf idea was born.

While each woonerf is unique, they do share some key features that share the same goals.

Shared streets have numerous safety, environmental, and social benefits.

Numerous woonerfs have already been implemented across the country, including in Washington DC. Check out the map below to see some of these shared spaces!

We wanted to look into turning H St. NW between 21st and 22nd St. NW into a woonerf, but first we needed to see what other students thought of the idea. We conducted 2 focus groups, where we asked students their thoughts on campus safety, sustainability, and woonerfs, after giving a brief presentation on the idea. Here is a summary of our results:

• Overall, people were very enthusiastic about the idea.
• People wanted more walkability on H St., even without any prompting, so safety was seen as the main benefit of this concept, while sustainability was an added bonus.
• People liked that the woonerf would provide more usable outdoor space.
• Marketability was a common theme, as the woonerf would make Foggy Bottom feel like more of a campus, so it would attract new students who are hesitant about the city.
• However, there were some concerns, including:
  • Getting approval from GW's administration
  • Traffic flow in the surrounding area
  • Construction disrupting normal school activities
  • Ensuring the street is accessible and disability-friendly

We took the results of this survey and used to guide our planning and action in the next semester.

We began working as Research Assistants to put what we learned and prepared for into practice. We submitted a budget proposal to GW and in the meantime, took more action to make the woonerf a reality.

We contacted the Urban Design graduate program at GW, offering payment to people who could render images of a proposed woonerf based on the charette plans. We wanted to visualize what a woonerf could actually look like and have included the best images here:

To show H St. would benefit from becoming a woonerf, we needed to get a firsthand view of traffic patterns on campus and collect data on what we saw. We sat on in Kogan Plaza across from District House for 3 hours and recorded data on pedestrians and traffic.

• We counted 17 near hits of pedestrians by cars.
• There was approximately a 1:2 ratio of jaywalkers to cross walk users.
• Cars tended to go faster than the speed limit and only came to rolling stops when pedestrians were close.
• A truck disregarded for pedestrians by parking in the crosswalk.

George Washington University hosted the DC Climate Justice Teach-In in spring 2023. This event "brings together all of the universities in the area to display and discuss climate-focused initiatives and promote the sharing of these ideas, with a particular emphasis on engaging the students of these universities", according to their website.

One of the topics of the DC Teach-In was "Green Spaces", so we were able to talk with a variety of people interested in sustainability on campus, which spurred ideas of what we can do better.

Using our feedback from the focus groups, ideas from the charette, observations of H St., and the digital renderings, we created a survey that we sent out to the GW community. We also tabled at GW's EcoBash to spread the word.

• A number of highly motivated and interested undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, and professors responded.
• 67.8% of respondents had been hit or nearly hit by a car on H St. between 21st St. and 22nd St.
• 53.6% of respondents had seen or heard about someone getting hit by a car on H St. between 21st and 22nd St.
• Respondents valued Pedestrian Safety most when planning the redesign, followed by Plants and Native Vegetation.

We hope to get more information from the 24% of respondents who left their emails for further follow-up.

We reached out about the project to on-campus media outlets to get some buzz about the woonerf ahead of budget decisions. Both GW Today and The Hatchet covered our woonerf project. Read their articles below!

As we continue to work to make this idea a reality, we are researching traffic safety and patterns, finding funding, and creating a feasible and detailed implementation plan.

We are excited about the woonerf project and the potential to maximize outdoor space!

Please reach out if you are interested or would like to contribute:

 ajamil@gwmail.gwu.edu 

 jcollum24@gwmail.gwu.edu