Open Spaces Sacred Places Award – An Extraordinary Opportunity

Stone circle with Japanese maple. Photo by Naomi Sachs

Stone circle with Japanese maple. Photo by Naomi Sachs

National Awards Initiative for Integrated Design and Research –
First webinar is tomorrow, 6/16!

Open Spaces Sacred Places (formerly the TKF Foundation) has announced its final spend down program, the national Open Spaces Sacred Places Award Initiative.

This new award program will fund the creation of significant Open Spaces Sacred Places that are designed specifically with the intent to study and communicate the impact of a specific type of urban public greenspace on users. Grants will be awarded from a total funding pool of $5 million. Funding will be provided to cross-disciplinary teams that conceptualize, plan, design and implement a physical space, conduct associated research study(s) and disseminate findings. This Request for Proposal (RFP) launches the first phase of the national awards program and will provide funding for planning grants.

This unique funding opportunity has two pieces: Optional planning grant award opportunities will be determined later in 2011, and then, in 2012, the actual full award opportunity for the visioning, collaborative planning, and creation of a significant new Open Space Sacred Place. This new program is unique in that  it includes a defined research component as an integral part of the project from the beginning. Visit their new website,  Open Sacred, for more details.

Two informational webinars will provide an overview of TKF and details on both pieces of the award program and will include plenty of time for Q &A. Sessions will be archived for later viewing.

The first webinar is tomorrow, 6/16/11, from 2:00-3:00 EST. You must register in advance for this webinar – click here to do so. All questions and responses from the webinar will be posted to the website.

The second webinar is on 7/19/2011, from 2 – 3 pm EST.

This is truly an extraordinary opportunity. I hope that our members of the Therapeutic Landscapes Network will spread the word and go for it!