Through workshops and conversations with Detroit Future City and a network of over 50 stakeholders, we collaboratively defined green infrastructure in a manner that was easy to understand, and clearly outlined ways the practices will benefit Detroiters. Working with the stakeholders over the course of a year, we identified sample lot treatments that could be easily replicated, and we developed customizable hands-on activities, including ones for residents to partner with friends and neighbors in brainstorming uses for vacant lots, mapping, and exploring lot designs.

We paired the language and activities developed in these workshops with fun, colorful illustrations to produce a visually impactful tool that anyone can pick up and use. This tool, Working with Lots: A Field Guide, is an in-depth workbook that helps prepare residents with the information and approaches that they need to shape land use. The type is large and the bright color palette helps guide people through the workbook. In order to make this resource widely available, it can be downloaded and printed in black-and-white as well as color, without losing its functionality. Since beginning its Working with Lots Program in 2016, Detroit Future City has awarded grants to 50 different organizations, and the workbook has been a valuable resource for grantees.