Healthy Places GSD
Healthy Places GSD is a student group uncovering the agency of planning and design practitioners to promote healthier communities. We take an equity-focused and cross-disciplinary approach, bringing together students and faculty across campus with practitioners to raise the visibility of research, projects, and advocacy on health and the built environment. Our group hosts panel discussions, hands-on workshops, and on-the-ground site visits to further our shared knowledge and skills.
Follow us on Instagram to keep up with upcoming events and ongoing initiatives.
Students Leaders 2025-2026
- Alessandra Rodriguez, MUP ’26
- Fatima Tajammal, MUP ’26
- Alyssa Kawano, MUP ’26
- Mu He, MLA ’26
Stay Connected
The Healthy Places student group meets once a month at the GSD. If you’re curious about collaborating or are a Harvard GSD student interested in joining, feel free to contact Alessandra Rodriguez ([email protected]).
Stay connected by joining our WhatsApp group (scan the QR code in the image) to receive updates, opportunities, and event reminders.
Events
Do No Harm: Dilemmas in Planning for Health
A conversation on ethics, data, design, and health equity in the built environment.
Feb 11 | Feb 25 | Apr 29
10:30–11:30 AM
📍 Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Room 124
Open to the public.
Soberfest
Thursday, Nov 6, 6:30PM
Surviving midreviews?Join for Soberfest, our (fashionably late) take on Oktoberfest, featuring make-your-own mocktails and cute recipe cards you can take with you.
Beers’n Dogs
Friday, Sep 26, 6:30PM
Join us for a Healthy Friday with healthy food and outdoor dancing.
Welcome meeting
Thursday, Sep 18, 6:30PM
Join us to discover Healthy Places GSD and learn about all the activities we do.
Past events / initiatives
April 2025 – What is The Orange Tray?
A two-week pilot project that is part of a year-long collaborative effort to explore and support students’ experiences with food environments at the intersection of health and community. Serving as a shared space where you can hang out and enjoy FREE ORANGES, The Orange Tray aims to foster meaningful social connections and tap into the creative, fresh and bright vibrancy of the trays.
Acknowledgments: The Orange Tray is made possible through generous funding from the Healthy Places Design Lab at the GSD, Office of Student Affairs at the GSD, Harvard Culture Lab, and Broadway Marketplace. Special thanks to Professor Ann Forsyth for her guidance, support, commitment, and contributions which have been instrumental in making this vision come to life. Many thanks as well to Ryanne DePuy from Student Life for her dedicated partnership and efforts along with the Events Committee and the Facilities & Campus Operations Team at the GSD for their hard work in bringing this space to the community.
April 2019 – Evidence-based design has focused on the patient experience, but what is the impact of architecture on those delivering care? In April 2019, Healthy Places GSD hosted a lunchtime talk with Dr. Diana Anderson, a healthcare architect and board-certified internist to discuss the emerging fields of practice connecting architecture and medicine.
March 2019 – Healthy Places GSD hosted the Boston premiere of Why We Cycle, a documentary about Dutch cycling culture. The standing-room-only event included a panel moderated by Lily Song of the Harvard GSD, featuring Michelle Cook of Roxbury Rides, Angela Johnson of Transportation for Massachusetts, Cara Seiderman of the City of Cambridge, and Anne Lusk of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
December 2018 – Healthy Places GSD co-hosted the Students Rally for Climate Action with ORCA (Organizers for Radical Climate Action) and other organizations at Harvard and the local Boston community. This rally, which took place during Harvard’s Program for Newly Elected Members of Congress, called for support of the Green New Deal.
November 2018 – Do you have the right to peace and quiet? To piano-filled or piano-free enjoyment? In November 2018, Healthy Places GSD hosted a lunchtime lecture with Erica Walker, a researcher on community noise at the Boston University School of Public Health.
April 2018 – Healthy Places GSD organized a cocktails, dinner, and conversation event investigating the meaning of food systems planning. Loeb Fellow Johanna Gilligan moderated a discussion featuring Julie Guthman of UC Santa Cruz, Cassandria Campbell of Fresh Food Generation, and Nicole Negowetti of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic.
February 2018 – Healthy Places GSD co-organized Harvard’s first annual Urban Environmental Justice Conference with student groups at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS). Our panel featured Lily Song of the Harvard GSD, Magdalena Ayed of Harborkeepers, and Alexie-Torres Fleming of Access Strategies Fund.
Healthy Places GSD has also co-sponsored a student rally for climate action, created space for discussion of relevant topics, and toured local urban farms.