Thrivance Values 

 

Thrivance theory calls on practitioners to observe and analyze power through a cultural-spatial lens that elevates solutions and responses to interlocking systems of oppression–through interlocking systems which lead to holistic thriving. Believing in the constant evolution of the notion of dignity, Thrivance Group is always revisiting what it means to assert the values of dignity and thrivance. As communities consistently evolve, the efforts and visions of Thrivance Group continue to evolve.

Currently, these values guide Thrivance Group’s work, partnerships, and organizational culture:

  • Decommodifying land - Promoting equitable access to land and housing through partnerships, social assemblages, and collectivity

  • Anti-displacement - All development, revitalization, and planning efforts can happen without displacing residents and to facilitate the return of those who’ve been displaced

  • Freedom of movement and access to mobility - Assertion of the right of people to travel and establish their own notions of “home” without hostility, threat or criminalization

  • Decarceration - De-promoting institutionalization as a response to community-level challenges and, instead, promoting direct services and harm-reductive safety nets 

  • Food justice - Policy, design, and processes should remove barriers to access to fresh, healthy, locally grown, and culturally appropriate food

  • Environmental justice - Environmental injustices are rooted in racism and the urban planning sector’s legacy of hostile land acquisitions, redlining, and disinvestment

  • Youth leadership development - Resolve the crisis of representation by developing planners, engineers, architects, and practitioners that are from impacted communities

  • Reparations - Respond to and atone for the urban planning sector’s primary contributors to the legacy of slavery and racism in the United States 

  • Cultural assertion - Assert and protect ideals, dialects, genders, spiritualities, and cultural notions that are impacted by decisions about spatial use, design, and allocation