Events & Resources

News & Events for Urban Affairs and City Planning

"The Edge: Urban and Regional Conversations at Boston University"

"The Edge" is an initiative designed to encourage constructive and reflexive debate among academics, practitioners and students on pressing urban and regional issues.

The series is comprised of four distinct lecture-workshops organized and hosted by the BU City Planning and Urban Affairs programs over the course of the Fall 2009 Semester. The lecture-workshop format is meant to disseminate information and engage the audience in discussions that further our collective understanding of urban and regional issues, as well as generate new insights on planning and urban policy.

"The Edge" series will take place at 6pm on the following dates:

Monday, 28 September 2009:

"Creating a New Massachusetts Highway Department”

Speaker:

•Terry Regan, Head of MASSDOT Highway Integration Team and Adjunct Professor of Transportation Planning, Boston University

In response to recently enacted state legislation, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is in the process of creating a new Department of Transportation. This session will discuss the issues concerning the integration of the MassHighway Department, The Massachusetts Turnpike, Massport's Tobin Bridge, and a portion of DCR's roadways and bridges into a single Highway Division. The discussion will examine:

• What were the events that lead up to the reform legislation?

• What does the legislation require?

• How should one organize a highway department for the 21st Century?

• What are the difficulties involved in merging four transportation agencies, each with different cultures?

• What are the public policy issues that should be addressed?

Tuesday, 20 October 2009:

“Planning for Climate Change, Planning For Disasters: Local and International Perspectives” Organized by the BU UA/CP Student Association"

Speakers:

•Adenrele Awotona, PhD. Professor & Founding Director, Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters (CRSCAD)

•Ivy Frances, Chief Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch- FEMA Mitigation Division

•Bradford V. Washburn , Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator, Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management

•Anuradha Mukherji, PhD, Boston University Adjunct Planning Professor will moderate and act as discussant for the panel.

Description:

The second session of The Edge looks at the arc of issues and practices related to environmental management, climate change and post-disaster recovery and planning. The panel discussion will start off by focusing on coastal and flood plain management in Massachusetts within the context of climate change prognostications. The role of local and Federal regulation, as well as technology will be highlighted. The panel concludes with a broader discussion on the ethics and approaches to post-disaster community development and planning. This is a unique opportunity to grasp the ways in which ecological studies, planning practice, theory, the local, and the global intersect and produce the major planning and policy challenges of the 21st Century.

Thursday, 19 November 2009:

"Innovations In Sustainable Architecture and Planning: The Earthships Biotecture Model in the USA and Abroad"

Time: 6 to 9 pm

Place: Rm. 110 in the School of Hospitality Administration, 928 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215

Speakers:

•Matthew Paneitz, Founder and Executive Director, Long Way Home

•Ericka Temple, MA, Lead Architect, Long Way Home

•Adam Howland, Construction Manager, Long Way Home

•Jennifer Stacy, BU MCP Student and Earthship Biotecture 2009 Intern

Description:

Architects, planners, environmentalists and community organizers are joining forces to change current construction, housing, regulatory and community development paradigms in the USA and abroad. The use of recycled materials like discarded tires in home construction is more than an act of responsible environmental stewardship—it is also a call to rethink land use regulations and community development strategies.

The Edge is proud to sponsor a movie-lecture featuring the BU screening of the acclaimed Oliver Hodge documentary“Garbage Warrior” , the story of Earthship Biotecture and its founder Michael Reynolds.

The screening will be followed by a lecture-discussion session with Matthew Paneitz, Ericka Temple and Adam Howland of Long Way Home, a non-profit community development organization that promotes the dissemination of knowledge and technique for sustainable community development in Central America. Echoing the principles and techniques promoted by Earthship Biotecture, Long Way promotes the use of locally available, recycled materials in the construction process in rural Mayan communities.

Wednesday, 2 December 2009:

Politics in Boston: The 2009 City of Boston Mayoral and Council Elections

Speakers:

•Tomás González, At-Large Candidate for City Council, Tomás' Website

•Andrew Kenneally, At-Large Candidate for City Council , Andrew's Website

Description:

The 2009 City of Boston mayoral and council elections were touted as historic--an unprecedented run for a fifth mayoral term and the most diverse list of candidates for the Boston City Council. Another reason this 2009 election made history: two of the candidates for the At-Large Council seats have direct ties to the Boston University Programs in City Planning

The final session of The Edge will be a "fireside chat"-style discussion with BU MUA student, Tómas González, and BU MUA Alum, Andrew Kenneally. González and Kenneally will discuss their personal journey and thoughts on running for City Council, as well as provide us with their insights into Boston politics in retrospect and as we look to the future. This is an opportunity to learn first hand the reasons that inspire people to run for public office, how campaigns are run, and what it means to jump into the political game in Boston. The candidates' campaign staff will also be present to discuss the race from their perspective.

For questions on "The Edge" series, contact ersilva@bu.edu

***"The Edge" series is open to the general public.

***BU MCP/MUA Students registered for classes on the date "The Edge" is held are required to attend the lecture-workshop. If MCP/MUA students have questions about attendance and participation in "The Edge", they should consult their professor(s) and/or the Graduate Adviser.

"Radically Sustainable Living"

Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30

Place: Seaport World Trade Center, Boston

MICHAEL REYNOLDS a self styled “biotect” based in New Mexico will speak about his design/build “earthships”, which are carbon neutral homes built with recycled materials such as tires, bottles and cans.

MATT PANEITZ will speak about how Long Way Home is utilizing similar techniques to build a vocational + elementary school in rural Guatemala.**All proceeds of the event will directly support the school’s ongoing construction**

See the website for registration