Could Humboldt become one of America's next Biophilic Communities?

Who am I?

Hello, my name is Meilin Storm, and I'm currently a high school student at Northcoast Preparatory Academy. Growing up alongside the redwood forests, I've developed an appreciation for the environment and Humboldt's rich history and legacy in preserving our old-growth. However, I want to take it one step further and integrate our cities alongside their pre-existing ecosystems. I am planning on studying environmental design and engineering in the future, focusing on sustainable designs for larger-scale landscapes. While I will be specifically exploring the potential for biophilic development in Humboldt in this blog, in the future I would like to explore further expanding this movement beyond.

What is Biophilic Urbanism

Biophilic urbanism is a transformative city design framework that embeds nature, natural systems, and green infrastructure directly into everyday urban spaces. Instead of isolating nature within parks, this approach embeds living ecosystems directly into homes and workplaces using green roofs, wildlife corridors, and urban forests.

The concept of biophilic urbanism and its foundation are thanks to many authors, yet the main cornerstone of biophilic design stems from E.O. Wilson’s biophilic hypothesis, introduced in 1984. Wilson argued for the importance and need for humans to connect with nature. His contributions prompted new generations of architects and urban planners to reimagine urban nature integration, as well as how these natural elements could enhance public well-being and environmental connectivity.

The official global community for this movement is called the Biophilic Cities Network, which was initially launched in 2013 and founded by Tim Beatley, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. The Biophilic Cities network offers a structured pathway and resources for integrating sustainable designs and planning. It connects partnered cities, organizations, and individuals and offers a structured pathway/ resources to integrate into design.

Source: A Methodology for Evaluating Sustainable Building Technology to Raise the Efficiency of Urban Clusters: Analytical Study

What will the blog focus on?

This blog serves as a creative space for exploring the massive potential of biophilic development, what it looks like from a small to a grand scale, and what we can do as everyday environmental enthusiasts to ensure the well-being of ourselves, others, and our environment.

While Biophilic Urbanism developed specifically to enhance the connection between nature and big cities, there are many biophilic elements which would benefit smaller towns as well.

Questions and topics I will be writing about  (subject to change)

• What if cities were designed around nature and not simply just next to it? (Imaginary+ deep dive)

• Could Humboldt become one of America’s next biophilic communities?Is Humboldt already Biophilic? (Comparison piece)

• The value of Biophilic Urbanism for Humboldt (economic value, health well being, climate— deep dive)

• Five goals for a more biophilic Humboldt (Straightforward)

• What do Humboldt residents think? (opinions/ video)

• Challenges and future directions for biophilic urbanism (deep dive)

• Could Humboldt join the networks? (Final statement)

My goals:

Through this blog, I want to spread awareness of the potential of biophilic development, while gaining momentum and support to potentially draft a proposal for Humboldt to join the Biophilic Cities Network. 

A special thank you to my social media internship supervisor, Cecilia Rodriguez, for her leadership, and to Jeny Davis, who spearheaded the Biophilic Fountain Hill project, for giving me the confidence to draft a proposal to join the Biophilic Cities Network. I am deeply grateful to the entire staff and contributors at EPIC for providing me with this opportunity to share my passion!