Seeing Green Space Differently: A Conversation with Dr. Maiya Block Ngaybe

Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method that allows people to document and represent their lived experiences through photography. Instead of us coming in as the researchers, we’re trying to work with community members so that they are the researchers in the project, and they’re responsible for collecting the data that they think is important.

Maiya stated that in this project, participants explored a central question: How do green spaces impact our health and our community here in Tucson?

They [the participants] take pictures of their lived experiences, write narratives and captions to go along with those pictures … and then we have a photography exhibition to showcase the pictures and stories.

That is the event being held on March 31. This exhibition is not simply about displaying images. It is designed to foster dialogue.

We’ll invite collaborators to the table … and see what we can do to advocate for better health for our community.

Green space and health have been studied extensively, but much of that research comes from regions where green infrastructure looks very different from what we see in the Sonoran Desert.

Maiya discussed how our environment provides unique challenges when trying to address greenspace and health.

The main goal is trying to understand not only how green spaces impact health which has already been studied pretty extensively—but specifically what the benefits are of arid region green spaces. We have certain limitations, like water resources are limited, and so we want to understand the specific nuances.

Even defining “green space” in Tucson requires reframing expectations, given our arid environment. 

She further explained: Green space … it sounds like a green place that looks green. But the definition is pretty different in the literature … and obviously here in the desert, where our green spaces don’t look quite as green as it might look like in Michigan … we might be seeing very different types of definitions.

Participants’ photos and narratives are helping redefine what green space means in a desert city facing rising heat and water constraints.

The project intentionally centered communities experiencing heat vulnerability and limited access to green infrastructure. Maiya discussed the way communities were selected and the benefits of diverse representation.

We explored communities that might have a higher likelihood of being exposed to heat using the heat vulnerability index as one of our guides.

Participants include individuals recruited through the Lived Experiences Council of the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness (TPCH), who have lived experience of being unhoused, as well as residents from the Amphi and Elvira neighborhoods, communities with very different green space realities.

One group has lived experience of being unhoused, bringing a critically important and unique perspective. And then we also have communities that are actively working to maintain or build green spaces. It’s been powerful to see the opportunity for the two groups to meet and learn from each other.

A surprising theme has been tension around what “good” green space looks like. We have some mixed feelings about grass. A lot of people prefer real grass… but also there’s this feeling of, "Do we really want to have grass in this desert climate?" There are worries about pesticides, water use, allergies.

Maiya further noted that participants raised deeper questions about belonging and design and how green space design can either foster inclusion—or quietly signal exclusion.

Is there a way that we can make these spaces welcoming for all, but also find a way for it to be safe for everybody as well? I think there needs to be a balance. There’s definitely been an expression in the group of a need for more of these kinds of spaces … the calm and serenity that they bring, referencing another theme — that of joy and restoration.

The March 31 exhibition is intended to spark conversation that extends beyond the gallery. Maiya shared her thoughts on the broad impacts the exhibition may have.

We’re definitely seeing an interest in having more green spaces and the very positive benefits that are coming from projects already in the works, but there needs to be more considerations of where we build spaces so that everybody can benefit.

Participants also highlighted the value of food-producing landscape.

Fruit trees … might consume a little more water, but they serve an added benefit of connecting people to the land and providing some food. People seem to want plants that can provide food.

But this isn’t just about building something new. Participants emphasized that community stewardship matters just as much as infrastructure in preserving the health benefits of a greenspace.

Even just picking up a little bit of trash along the road makes a huge difference … every little bit counts. Perhaps the project’s impact may begin with something simpler but equally powerful: a shift in perspective. At the very least, everybody will have the chance to see their environment differently. Even being part of this project, you start to see things differently. And I think that’s beautiful.

I just really hope folks will be able to make time to join us so they can see this for themselves.