Evaluate Progress

The Green Schoolyards District Design Guidelines is a product of over a year-long collaboration with a group of cross-sector leaders working towards systemic change in the way we think about and use the outdoor spaces surrounding a school. This publication is intended to support and inspire school district staff in creating their own school design guidelines – tailored to meet the needs of your region and community and endorsed by your district. Our goal is that your school district creates procedures that meet the needs of your students and staff, align with your district priorities, and benefit members of all ages in your community. The content of this publication was written with input from experts in the field, including academics, professional landscape designers, and district-level staff from across the country.

This toolkit helps cities measure their progress towards increasing equitable access to nature. It offers two resources to help your city understand and advance systems change, including the Systems Change Outcomes Tracking Tool and the Systems Change Internal Assessment Tool.

This Placemaking Assessment Tool can help a community turn underused places into ones that attract people and activity, and support economic development in alignment with a community’s goals.

This simple one-page how-to guide provides fill-in charts to assess how many children and how much physical activity can be accommodated in an existing playground design.

Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board uses equity-driven metrics for selecting projects in neighborhood parks.

Wintermission Leadville is led locally by the City of Leadville, Get Outdoors Leadville!, and Lake County Recreation Department, with key support from many local partner organizations and community members.

A tool to support planning for long-term success of partnerships, policies and programs that promote equity in nature access for children

This survey was created to measure whether and how children have access to nature on early San Francisco education sites serving ages five and under.

Tools and a process for identifying indicators and measures of success in connecting children to nature.

The Urban Biodiversity Inventory Framework (UBIF) is a tool tthat help cities make appropriate management decisions to protect and enhance urban biodiversity.

Austin’s Nature Equity Score is a data-based decision-making tool that helps city and community leaders determine where to pilot green schoolyard projects.

This tool was created to conduct an audit of attendance and amenities usage at a park and green schoolyard to help decision-makers plan for redevelopment.

How-to guide for using the Bridging the Gap Park Observation Form for Understanding Community Obesity Measures.

The Bridging the Gap Community Obesity Measures Project aims to improve understanding of policies and environmental factors that likely determine healthy diet, physical activity, and obesity in youth.