The wonder and the harshness of growing up in the desert; being surprised years later by the first leaf that falls on you; feeling overwhelmed by so much green when moving to another country. That clash of landscapes is part of her essence, and understanding barriers has instilled in her a deep sense of wisdom: Daniela Paz Peterson, Community Strategies Senior Advisor at the Trust for Public Land, who chose to train her team with Forest Therapy Hub.
A community engagement specialist, social worker, and advocate, she is the Tennessee Program Director of Belonging Strategies for the Tennessee office of the Trust for Public Land (TPL). She holds a degree in Social Work from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso and joined TPL as a Creative Placemaking Fellow in 2018. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the Footprint Foundation’s Footprint Award (2019), La Paz Chattanooga’s Latino Leadership Award (2017), and TPL’s Will Rogers Fellowship. She serves on the boards of La Paz Chattanooga, ArtsBuild, the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority, and the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga.
Feeling the landscape
“I lived very close to the beach in northern Chile, but I grew up in the Atacama Desert, and it’s a different way of living, like your relationship with water. The first time I saw where I live now, it was shocking because of how green it was. And the first time I experienced rain, around age eight, it was a disaster, people died because the city wasn’t prepared. The desert isn’t for everyone, but that way of seeing allows me to feel diversity”.
“Or the impact of feeling a leaf fall on my head for the first time. Because in the desert there are no seasons. Walking to school, I felt something touch me, and it was a leaf falling in autumn”.
“I was born very aware of all these barriers; I understand them well -family, cultural… And I think that’s why I work at the Trust for Public Land: we recognize barriers, and we recognize connection and its importance. Connection with nature doesn’t happen just because access exists.”
“I’ve always liked physics and biology because I saw them everywhere. In the end, I chose Social Work because it had a bit of everything—not for the degree itself, but because I saw it would expose me to many things. I studied Social Work in Valparaíso, and then we moved to the United States. When I arrived, I applied what I had learned to community work.”
“I started working in neighborhoods, and there was a lot of freedom in what I could do, but I began to see very clear cultural barriers, like food deserts, when an area produces no food or you don’t have access, not even a store. When you have to leave your neighborhood just to find something.”
“So we began organizing events with chefs featuring food from the communities in the neighborhood, because the unknown creates anxiety. People experienced fresh food from other cultures, at good prices, tasting what was available. A DJ, a neighborhood celebration, a sense of place.”
“These initiatives aren’t about resources, but about how we manage them. When I started working in these neighborhoods, I encountered the organization I work for now, and it made complete sense because we design with the community.”
“It’s no longer just about building a park: the park has no meaning unless it relates to the needs and culture of the community that lives there.”
Community connection
“I started in a Placemaking role seven or eight years ago, and now it has become a Community Strategies unit: how we include more communities in everything we do. From that perspective, we rank cities based on green space coverage -how many people have a park within a ten-minute walk. We know many cities fall below the average. But at the same time, having access within ten minutes doesn’t mean people will visit. That’s why understanding barriers is essential.”
“Now access changes completely when you include connection, as is being done through FTHub training. Understanding and communicating how connection can be meaningful in daily life as a community. Many people don’t know what to do in a park.”
“Fortunately, we secured a project where neighbors create nature connection experiences for other neighbors. In this way, neighbors bring other neighbors closer to nature.”
“When I had to design trails and walks, I realized I needed tools to create them. I saw more mystical organizations, but I wanted tools that would prepare me for this work, with scientific evidence and methodology behind it.”
“It moves me to see how strong the need is, not only to connect, but also to talk. From a high school student to a retired woman, it has truly been transformative.”
“At the Trust for Public Land, we work to connect people with nature, and we take that mission very seriously. We do it wholeheartedly, seeking resources and creating meaningful connections.”
Ph: Courtesy Daniela Peterson
共同成长，掌握打造深度自然体验的核心技能。
