Randee Humphrey, Director of Education at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden; Alicia Zatcoff, Sustainability Manager for the City of Richmond; Meghan Gough, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at VCU and the Director of the Sustainable Communities Institute
When NYC's renowned garden designer, Lynden Miller, visited Richmond one year ago, she met with interested Richmonders who wanted to be engaged in improving and beautifying their city through the use of green spaces. In the buzz surrounding Miller's visit, organizations connected virtually through the e-newsletter Beautiful RVA, which now involves more than 200 civic and organizational leaders. Beautiful RVA convenes approximately 50 local organizations with missions and resources relating to place-making, design, public horticulture and beautification -- including Venture Richmond, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, the James River Association, and the Partnership for Smarter Growth -- to plan and execute projects. Moreover, volunteer interest in the movement has spread city-wide, and the very idea of the community-based beautification plan emphasizes that the efforts for greening will spring from community interests and be powered by community resources.