The Ohio Land Exchange is an action-research project that seeks to test the feasibility of a new collaborative site-planning framework, in which community groups and other stakeholders jointly develop and design new approaches to vacant land reuse in cities with high levels of vacant and abandoned land. Lima was the first city in Ohio in which this new framework has been tested.
The OH/LEX team is currently collaborating with OSU Extension to explore the possibility of bringing this program to other jurisdictions in Ohio. On May 25, a workshop will be held to introduce interested staff members from OSU Extension and County Land Banks to the tools developed in Lima. It will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Knowlton School on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.
The workshop will consist of an overview of the results of the pilot test in Lima, a training session on basic methods to assess soil quality and health on vacant urban sites, a participatory negotiation simulation that can be used to engage community stakeholders and a discussion of the potential for implementation of these tools in other jurisdictions.
If you are curious about vacant land reuse and/or community engagement in legacy cities in Ohio, please consider attending this free, one-day workshop. Complete information, including agenda and directions, can be found on the flyer. Registration link.
Please direct your questions to Nancy Bowen-Ellzey (bowen-ellzey.1@osu.edu / 419-203-4148).