Universities as Catalysts for Sustainable City Design - 11th March 2010

Are Professors really stuck in their Ivory Tower? Is higher education relevant? Can Universities really catalyze community change?

This talk and discussion will focus on an urgent new role for higher education institutions to be the catalysts for sustainable city design. This event will focus on the Sustainable City Year programme at the University of Oregon (USA), a programme that helps direct expertise of faculty and students toward a single city to help on sustainability issues. In this model of education, students get hands on experience in working with city officials and city officials get a range of new ideas from the next generation of thinkers and practitioners.

This year, the Sustainable City Year program is working with the City of Gresham (Oregon, USA) and is directing 15 faculty, 24 courses, 7 disciplines, and about 100,000 hours of student and faculty effort toward the city's needs. Can this model of higher education work in the UK?

FREE and Open to the Public. Canapes and drinks provided.

Sheffield: March 11 5:30-7:30 Sheffield University, ICOSS Board Room, 219 Portobello
To book a place, please email Judith Eversley

email : judith.eversley@rtpi.org.uk

Speakers:

Nico Larco, AIA, is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Marc Schlossberg, PhD, is an Associate Professor of City Planning. Both co-Direct the Sustainable Cities Initiative at the University of Oregon (USA). Professor Schlossberg is also currently a Distinguished Fulbright Scholar based at the University of Sheffield's Town and Regional Planning Department.

Talks are supported by the Royal Town Planning Institute, Planning Aid, and the University of Sheffield.