Be Your Change Festival

Green space, park access, and trees

West LA City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Los Angeles faces significant green space inequities, with many residents—particularly in lower-income communities and communities of color—lacking adequate access to parks, trees, and outdoor areas. Existing green spaces are often underutilized due to safety concerns, poor maintenance, or lack of programming. The initiative seeks solutions that increase availability, expand equitable access, encourage frequent use, and inspire creative interaction with outdoor spaces. This includes both infrastructure improvements (more parks, tree planting) and innovative programming that reimagines how residents engage with green spaces, ensuring all Angelenos can benefit from their health, environmental, and community advantages.

Be Your Change Festival will address green space underutilization and inequitable access by transforming Los Angeles's parks into vibrant intergenerational gathering spaces through outdoor film screenings, photography exhibitions, workshops, and music performances. The festival will activate underused green areas with free, multilingual cultural experiences focused on positive change, encouraging regular use by diverse communities. We'll showcase architectural gems near LA parks and incorporate craft and artisan traditions from LA's multicultural migrant communities, celebrating their cultural savoir-faire. Younger generations will help curate and create festival content, ensuring youth voices drive programming. The festival includes workshops on urban gardening, environmental stewardship, and community activism, directly connecting participants to ongoing green space initiatives. This approach addresses both physical underutilization of existing infrastructure and social barriers preventing equitable access, while fostering creative interaction and community programming needed for sustained engagement with outdoor spaces.

If successful, Los Angeles County will have transformed underutilized parks into vibrant community hubs where residents of all ages regularly gather for cultural experiences. Green spaces will serve as bridges connecting diverse generations and cultures, no longer segregated by demographics. Young people will be empowered as cultural leaders, curating content reflecting their communities' stories. Parks will showcase rich artisan traditions from LA's migrant communities, celebrating cultural heritage while fostering cross-cultural understanding. Residents will view green spaces as accessible, welcoming places for learning, creativity, and activism. Most importantly, LA will have a generation of residents who see themselves as active contributors to positive change, equipped with tools and community connections needed to build a more equitable future.