Lil Labs for Climate Resilience South Seattle

At a glance

Status: Active

The initiatives described involve the creation of "Lil Labs" across South Seattle, designed to enhance community resilience… Read full summary

Funding received
2024-2025
Grant type
Small
Awarded
$5,000
Funding partners
  • Services and Activities Fee (SAF)
  • UW Resilience Lab (UWRL)
     

The initiatives described involve the creation of "Lil Labs" across South Seattle, designed to enhance community resilience against climate change. These low-cost, open-access stations will provide locally relevant materials and resources, connecting with ongoing community needs identified by Othello-UW Commons. The Lil Labs aim to distribute materials in four categories: tools for climate monitoring and advocacy, safety resources for extreme weather, community knowledge amplification through seasonal zines, and art supplies for personal expression and storytelling.

In collaboration with the Beacon Hill Council, these stations will utilize surplus materials from the University of Washington to minimize environmental impact while fostering artistic expression. Regular gatherings, termed Art Parties, will encourage community engagement and skill-sharing, culminating in a Climate Resilience Art Exhibit that will feature contributions from participants. This exhibit will travel from the Commons to the UW Main Campus, promoting dialogue and connection within the Seattle community.

Seattle residents feel the effects of climate change, with hotter summers and more dangerous and unpredictable weather events year-round, and particularly those living in communities of color in South Seattle. How do we help everyone tend to their needs, as well as the needs of the place they call home, particularly as those needs change along with the climate? We need a highly localized, accessible, culturally relevant network of supplies and knowledge. To achieve this, we propose a collaboration between Othello-UW Commons and the Lil Lab Network. Othello-UW Commons is a community-building space in South Seattle governed by community input, transparency, and mutual accountability with local residents. Meanwhile, Lil Labs take inspiration from the ‘Little Free Library’ model, creating open-access neighborhood hubs of important resources. Together, we will create a network of Lil Labs for Climate Resilience in South Seattle.

These Lil Labs will distribute low-cost, open-access materials, connect people to locally relevant resources, and promote accessible strategies for climate resilience. Each Lil Lab will be one node in a network, providing an important local complement to ongoing need-finding work by Othello-UW Commons. Othello-UW Commons have hosted a series of events to connect with community based organizations and other partners to understand needs of the neighborhood. The staff are looking to host a series of open houses for community members to connect and get comfortable in the space. They have worked in partnership with the Beacon Hill Council to distribute season-specific zines, in multiple languages with relevant cultural anchors, to share potentially life-saving knowledge and accessible ways to respond to dangerous weather conditions.

To extend the reach and accessibility of this work, we propose to place Lil Labs dedicated to climate resilience across South Seattle. These small resiliency stations would complement larger climate resiliency hubs being developed in collaboration with King County by enabling access to low-cost resources and bridging gaps in existing access. The Lil Lab model is based on Little Free Libraries and other successful neighborhood resources, like community pantries and art galleries. Lil Lab materials follow three key guidelines: being entirely open access to community members; being innovative and low-cost to stock; and being locally relevant. In this collaboration focused on climate resilience, we propose 4 categories of materials:

  1. Materials to monitor climate change and empower local advocacy around environmental justice. These resources include air quality monitors, water quality test strips, and soil/pollutant test kits, and enable community members to access the knowledge necessary to self-advocate around environmental health concerns.
  2. Materials for safety in dangerous conditions. These include hand warmers, socks, swamp coolers, ice and cold water, cooling towels, low-cost air filters that can slot onto a box fan, and lifestraws that help enable access to safe drinking water.
  3. Materials that amplify existing community knowledge. Othello-UW Commons distributes summer and winter zines that share strategies for staying safe in extreme weather. Lil Labs has experience with RISO-printing zines at a local studio, and together we can print and distribute these zines widely.
  4. Materials for personal expression and dissemination of lived experiences around climate change and resilience. These include art supplies like watercolor kits and paper.

In alignment with our sustainability ethos, we will rescue surplus and reusable materials from departments and offices in UW’s internal network. By harnessing these existing resources, we bolster our community's resilience to climate challenges while simultaneously nurturing artistic expression within the Lil Labs, all while reducing our environmental footprint. 

These art materials will be the foundation for biweekly Art Parties held at the Commons. Community members have expressed that they want gathering spaces in addition to work and home, which is particularly relevant in providing a safe, reliable environment in a changing climate. Art Parties will provide recurring places for people to gather, create, and express their lived experiences around climate resilience. In addition, we will support community members in developing and leading workshops for specific skills they want to learn and share. 

At the end of the year, we will invite everyone from Art Parties and the larger UW community to contribute pieces for a Climate Resilience Art Exhibit. The exhibit will start in the Commons and then move to UW Main Campus, sparking dialogues and encouraging closeness among the UW and wider Seattle community.

The project involves these departments:
Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Bria Metzger

    Project lead

    briametz@uw.edu
    Affiliation
    Student
    Years
    3 year(s) remaining at UW
    Affiliated groups
    Molecular and Cellular Biology

Request amount and budget

Total amount requested: $5,000
Budget administrator: Maureen Larsen

Measure the impacts

We have three planned strategies to evaluate the success and impact of the Lil Lab for Climate Resilience project. First, each Lil Lab will have a simple magnetic counter that allows us to track the number of times the door was opened, as well as when. We can combine these data with public weather data to gauge impact within a climate change framework. Second, for more personal, qualitative evaluation, we will also ask people to volunteer their experiences and share feedback. Art Parties, in addition to the open community dinners already organized by the Commons, will also give us an opportunity to talk informally with community members. Finally, a QR code on each Lil Lab will bring people to our website, which includes a google form to share their thoughts and experiences. 

With the support of the Resilience and Compassion Seed Fund, we can establish a pilot cohort of Lil Labs, tailor them to community needs, and build out a sustainable network of Lil Labs for Climate Resilience.

Roles and Responsibilities: 

We identify five categories of responsibility:

  1. Organizing Workshops: Biweekly Art Parties will have rotating leads. All participants will work together to facilitate, provide resources and personal expertise, and support guest workshop leaders.
  2. Organizing Lil Labs: Dr. Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong and Bria Metzger will assemble Lil Lab structures and arrange all necessary permitting. All participants will collaborate on resupplying and maintenance.
  3. Advertising and Outreach: Dr. Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong will lead on RISO printing all zines and materials. Nancy Huizar will lead community outreach and engagement, with support from all participants.
  4. Financial Tracking: Bria Metzger will be the primary person responsible for tracking finances and handling requisitions.
  5. Resource Liasoning: Nancy Huizar will connect community members to the relevant regulatory body (or other resource) if they find environmental concerns.

Project lead

Bria Metzger

briametz@uw.edu

Affiliation

Student

Affiliated groups

Molecular and Cellular Biology

Categories

  • Diversity and Equity
  • Resilience and Wellbeing
  • Resilience Seed Grant
  • Education