Welcome
National parks, state and local parks, historic sites, forests, trails, waterways, and other shared landscapes are more than places we protect. They are places where people encounter one another, learn the stories of communities and nations, contribute through service, negotiate differences, and assume responsibility for something they hold in common.
The Center for Civic Lands and Democratic Stewardship at Old Dominion University explores how public lands and shared landscapes serve as spaces of democratic practice, civic learning, and collective care.
Through research, education, dialogue, and partnership, the Center works with public agencies, nonprofit organizations, communities, scholars, students, volunteers, and others to understand and strengthen the civic life of shared places.
What are Civic Lands?
We use the term civic lands to describe shared places where relationships among people, place, and public life intersect.
Some civic lands are publicly owned, such as national parks, state parks, local parks, forests, wildlife refuges, historic sites, battlefields, trails, waterways, and other protected landscapes. Others may be managed through partnerships among governments, nonprofit organizations, communities, and private landowners.
What makes them civic is not simply who owns them. It is what happens there.
Civic lands can help people:
- develop connections to place and community;
- encounter histories and perspectives different from their own;
- participate in stewardship and volunteer service;
- learn about public institutions and shared resources;
- deliberate about difficult questions concerning history, conservation, access, and use; and
- practice the responsibilities associated with caring for places held in common.
The Center asks a fundamental question:
How can the places we share help strengthen the civic relationships we share?
What We Do
Research
We conduct and support interdisciplinary research on public lands, civic engagement, volunteerism, stewardship, democratic practice, community relationships, conservation, and place-based civic learning.
Engage
We bring people together across differences through Civic Lands Dialogues, symposia, workshops, conferences, and other forms of place-based public engagement.
Educate
We create opportunities for students and lifelong learners to study civic life where it happens: communities, landscapes, historic places, and public institutions.
Partner
We collaborate with public-land agencies, nonprofit organizations, communities, universities, scholars, volunteers, and practitioners to address real questions facing shared places.
Why Old Dominion University?
Located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Old Dominion University provides an ideal home for the study of civic lands.
Virginia’s landscapes encompass coastal communities and waterways, nationally significant historical places, urban and rural parks, forests, battlefields, trails, and the Appalachian Mountains.
From Hampton Roads to communities across Virginia, and through national and international partnerships, the Center seeks to connect university knowledge with the knowledge held by practitioners, volunteers, residents, and communities.
Work With Us
The Center welcomes collaboration with public agencies, park and protected-area professionals, nonprofit organizations, community leaders, scholars, students, volunteers, and others interested in the future of shared lands and democratic stewardship.
Whether you have a research question, want to convene a Civic Lands Dialogue, are interested in a student partnership, or simply want to explore an idea, we invite you to connect with us.