Peace Garden

Brownsville, BK | Summer 2026

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Through a multiyear partnership with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Hive Public Space develops participatory design and engagement strategies that foster co-creation, strengthen neighborhood identity, and build community belonging.

As part of this work, Hive continues its collaboration with the Brownsville Community Justice Center, engaging NYC youth ages 14 to 24 through the Summer Youth Employment Program. Summer 2026 marked our second collaboration with BCJC and its youth, building on our shared commitment to creating opportunities for young people to shape the spaces and communities around them. The Peace Garden is a youth-driven Design / Build / Care project that explores how young people can actively shape, build, and care for public space. Through hands-on design and making, the project uses gardening as a vehicle for community building, environmental stewardship, and creative expression.

Design / Build / Care

Throughout the summer, youth participants designed the planting beds, selected plants, and chose the quotes and messages to display throughout the garden. The curriculum encouraged participants to move from ideas and drawings into hands on construction, developing a shared vision for the Peace Garden.

The summer curriculum culminated in a planting bed prototype, designed and built by the youth and now housed indoors at BCJC.

This fall, Hive will return to BCJC to build a second planting bed with their Urban Agriculture youth cohort, expanding the project into a pollinator garden and herb garden.

Growing More Than a Garden

Peace Garden positions young people not simply as users of public space, but as designers, builders, and caretakers. Through collaborative decision-making and hands-on making, the project builds leadership, environmental stewardship, creative confidence, and a sense of ownership in the spaces young people help shape. The Peace Garden is more than a garden. It is a process of learning, making, growing, and caring together.