Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build strong communities. We are the central hub of the global placemaking movement, connecting people to ideas, resources, expertise, and partners who see place as the key to addressing our greatest challenges.
Project for Public Spaces seeks interns for Summer 2019 (June-August) for three different projects.
Transformative Placemaking
Inequality on a global scale has reached unprecedented heights. In 2018, 26 people owned the same as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world’s population. In the United States, issues of inequality are particularly acute. The need for evaluating placemaking’s impact on the surrounding community has never been greater. Governments are looking for tools that can help make societies more inclusive, and less stratified. Project for Public Spaces seeks to identify a framework by which to assess the economic impact of placemaking projects for inclusivity.
Main Street
Through a collaborative partnership, Project for Public Spaces and the National Main Street Center are in the final stretches of developing a transportation toolkit aimed at Main Street leaders, community advocates, transportation professionals, local officials, and everyone in between. The goal of the toolkit is to increase the understanding of streets and transportation, placemaking, and engagement and partnership building techniques that will support place-based economic health and resilience.
In the next phase of work technical assistance modules will be developed for a pilot state-wide training that will support urban and rural communities’ efforts to improve their street system. Through this pilot statewide effort, Project for Public Spaces will leverage lessons learned and the additional resources created throughout the process into an ongoing transportation technical assistance program for Main Street communities.
Healthy Places
In 2016 PPS released The Case for Healthy Places—a report of peer-reviewed research that offers evidence-based guidance, recommendations, and case studies to which health institutions, community organizations, and other partners can refer in order to create and support healthy placemaking initiatives. This important study focuses on five key areas: Social Support & Interaction; Play & Active Recreation; Green & Natural Environments; Healthy Food; and Walking & Biking.
This internship is part-time, and successful applicants will be paid a stipend.
We’re not fully sure whether this role is open to international candidates. If you would need visa sponsorship or work authorisation, we recommend checking directly with the employer before applying.