Portland, OR | 2024

Metro is developing a master plan for the Willamette Cove Nature Park in Portland, aiming to create a space where nature can thrive while providing equitable access for the community to connect with the land and water.

Cascadia Partners, teaming with Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting, was selected to co-lead the community engagement process for the Willamette Cove Master Plan with Knot Studio as the design lead. Our approach prioritized true collaboration and co-creation, built on principles of reciprocal engagement, trauma-informed care, cultural humility, and equity. Cascadia Partners has successfully completed engagement activities for two of the four phases of planning and design including Phase 1 (Imagining the Park) and Phase 2 (Design Alternatives). These activities included interviews with community-based organizations, online community surveys, in-person and virtual workshops, and tabling at local events. Activities were focused on building relationships and ensuring diverse voices, particularly from Indigenous communities, communities of color, and people with disabilities, were central to shaping the vision and design.

Outcomes from the engagement process underscore the community’s deep connection to the site and their aspirations for its future. Key values consistently voiced include acknowledging and demonstrating accountability for past harms (including colonization), incorporating Indigenous perspectives and knowledge, creating access to nature for everyone, especially historically underserved communities and people with disabilities, and centering resilient infrastructure, wildlife, and habitat restoration. Feedback gathered through diverse methods has directly informed the development and refinement of design alternatives for key park elements like trails, water access, gathering spaces, and habitat.