Join a Johns Hopkins Study on Parks and Green Spaces
Join a national effort to learn what helps U.S. local governments make parks and green spaces more equitable, resilient, and responsive to community needs
Key points
Join a national Johns Hopkins study anytime from January 5 – April 30, 2026 to share your professional insights and experiences on how your local government plans and delivers equitable parks and green spaces. You can take part by completing an online survey and/or joining a virtual interview.
This study is open to anyone 18 or older who works with U.S. local governments (city, county, or township) on parks, green spaces, climate, sustainability, or related community issues.
When you participate, you’ll receive a gift card ($$$) for completing the online survey, the virtual interview, or both (you can also choose to donate it). You’ll also get a summary of national findings you can use in your work, an optional customized report showing your organization’s readiness to advance equitable, upstream green space initiatives, and authorship credit in published results if you’d like.
What is this study about?
Across the United States, cities, counties, and townships are investing in parks and green spaces as essential infrastructure to improve community health, equity, and climate resilience. But what helps local governments make that happen and what gets in the way?
This study looks at both sides of the equation:
Internal readiness: how prepared local governments are to deliver equitable parks and green space policies and practices
External pressures: the outside factors that influence that work, from funding to political priorities
In addition to hearing from government practitioners, we’re also reviewing park and green space policies from cities across the country to learn how equity shows up in practice.
This research is part of a doctoral dissertation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, led by student researcher Elham Ali, MPH, PMP, under the supervision of faculty advisor Jill Marsteller, PhD, MPP (IRB00034299).
The Johns Hopkins Institutional Review Board has reviewed this study and determined it is “not human subjects research.” That means we’re asking about your professional insights and experiences of your organization, not private or personal information. Your responses will stay confidential.
When is this study happening?
The study will run from January 5 through April 30, 2026.
You can join at any time during this period and participate once or in both parts (survey and interview) depending on your availability.
Who can participate?
We’re looking for people who:
Work in a U.S. city, county, or township government
Are 18 or older
Work on parks, green spaces, climate, sustainability, or related community issues
We encourage three or more people from each organization to join so we can hear different perspectives but we also know that many environmental, climate, and sustainability offices are small. Even if you’re a team of one, your voice matters.
Why should I join?
Your insights of your organization can help shape how local governments across the U.S. deliver parks and green spaces that are fair, effective, and community-centered.
When you participate, you’ll:
Share what your local government needs to make parks and green space equity possible
Receive a summary of the national findings you can use in your work
Get a customized snapshot of your organization’s readiness to advance equitable, upstream green space initiatives
Receive authorship credit if you’d like
Get a gift card ($$$) for completing the online survey, the virtual interview, or both. We can send gift cards digitally, by mail, or donate it to a charity of your choice
How can I get involved?
You can participate in one or more ways:
- 📝 Take the online survey (15–20 minutes)
- 💬 Join a Zoom interview (30–45 minutes)
- 🤝 Recommend colleagues who might want to take part by emailing Elham Ali at eali6@jhu.edu.
- 📣 Share this study webpage with your networks
Have questions?
Contact Elham Ali at eali6@jhu.edu.
Questions about participant rights? Contact the Johns Hopkins BSPH IRB at bsph.irboffice@jhu.edu or 410-955-3193.