LSU Students create change with Just Imagine Project

Originally Published in the American Press by Emma Oertling Feb. 28, 2023, at 4:32 PM CST

The past few years have changed Louisiana’s landscape with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and many major events, which left a lot of room for change in our landscape.

LSU students are working to make that change happen.

“We’re looking for ways to bring life to the community, but also to connect to that waterway and really enhance the experience that it can bring,” LSU student Lindsey Osbon said.

LSU students studying under the Landscaping Architecture major are using this opportunity to make an impact.

“Our main goal is to create something that’s useful for the city and for the community,” Nicholas Serrano said.

The students were divided into teams tasked with developing a map to expand the Bayou Greenbelt Project.

They would later go on to present their ideas to the mayor’s office.

“Six different sites along the Bayou Greenbelt, specifically along Bayou Cutaway are ways that we can interact with the waterway, as well as provide some sort of placemaking on that site,” Osbon said.

For some students, it’s a dream come true to be involved in shaping the city’s future.

“Actually seeing like the process that you go through to get things done, seeing the behind the scenes is like really nice,” LSU student James Roddy said.

LSU professor Nicholas Serrano said none of it’s possible without the Community Foundation of SWLA, a “crucial” part of the whole experience.

“What we’re trying to do this semester is working on a couple of projects that link into that kind of carrying a bit further. Some of the larger scale ideas and the just imagine plan to more site-specific proposals,” Serrano said.

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