New York Botanical Garden
2023 – $15,000 Visionmaker
The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) has been a connective hub among people, plants, and the planet since 1891. We’re rooted in the cultural fabric of New York City, here in the heart of the Bronx—its greenest borough. For more than 130 years, we’ve invited millions of visitors to make the Garden part of their lives, exploring the joy, beauty, and respite of nature. NYBG’s 250 acres are home to renowned exhibitions, immersive botanical experiences, art and music, and events with some of the most influential figures in plant and fungal science, horticulture, and the humanities. We’re also stewards of globally significant research collections, from the LuEsther T Mertz Library collection to the plant and fungal specimens in the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, the largest such collection in the Western Hemisphere.
Amplifying the role of plants in solving the climate and biodiversity crises is a primary focus in our latest strategic plan, Branching Out, which officially launched in January 2024. Paramount to the future of the Garden is our strategic approach to Urban Conservation led by Dr. Eric Sanderson, Vice President for Urban Conservation. In his role at NYBG, Dr. Sanderson is tasked with advancing nature-based solutions to environmental issues and working with New Yorkers to visualize a nature-full city, secure community input on future plans, raise public awareness, advocate on a citywide scale, green the landscape, and ultimately, make New York City more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Core to Dr. Sanderson’s strategy is Visionmaker, a digital tool that enables New Yorkers to better contend with the environmental challenges in our backyard and beyond. Visionmaker is a platform for ecological democracy for the citizens of New York City that strives to empower and embolden everyday citizens to utilize their voice (and technology) for climate change planning. Using the website, users can investigate the city’s ecology in three timeframes: the past, the present, based on the current distribution of ecosystems and lifestyles in the city, and the future, as generated by the user’s imagination and using scientific models to estimate different ecosystem and ecological scenarios. Once a user has created a vision that matches their expectations, it can be shared through the interface with others, who can then borrow and build their vision, thereby shaping an idea of what the future of NYC could look like in the face of climate change.
In this next phase of Visionmaker, Dr. Sanderson and his team seek to take the website to the next level by converting the carbon model in Visionmaker from JavaScript to Python code and testing the digital tool in a new cloud-based server. Following the update, anyone with an Internet connection can contribute their ideas for the future of their neighborhoods more effectively and visualize multiple ecological scenarios related to the carbon cycle, which includes predictions of carbon dioxide and methane and transportation and climate-dependent buildings submodels. Although currently focused on New York City, the online platform is designed for expansion and portability to other cities and for enthusiasts and experts alike. Visionmaker NYC is just one example of how NYBG meets the moment.