Geography meets urgency: Manchester hosts international Spatialising Urban Crisis Workshop

Convened by Dr Cristina Temenos, a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow based at The University of Manchester, the event took place in June and served as a dynamic forum for exchange at the intersection of academic research and real-world practice. Participants shared innovative approaches and strategies cities are adopting to address challenges ranging from climate disruption and social inequality to care infrastructure under strain.

IOC 10th Anniversary Celebration

BU’s Initiative on Cities celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 1 at the Center for Computing & Data Sciences. Featured were highlights from the past decade of supporting urban research and avenues for students to connect and excel as leaders. Speakers shared future goals and initiatives, including the Urban-H research agenda, launched in spring 2023, the cornerstone of the IoC’s work for the next five years.

Former Governor Charlie Baker and Coauthor Talk about Their Book Results

Charlie Baker (center), former Massachusetts governor, and Steve Kadish (left), his former chief of staff, discussed their book Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022) during a panel discussion moderated by Siobhan Dullea (CAS’91) (right), Innovate at BU executive director, at the BUildLab November 2. Results is a manual for government and business leaders interested in results-oriented problem-solving. With several examples—spanning from rural broadband access to reform of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to the COVID-19 pandemic—Republican Baker and Democrat Kadish show how to move from identifying problems to achieving results in a way that bridges instead of exacerbates divides.

Four at-large candidates take up the issues at BU Democrats forum

Nestled in womb chairs on a platform, four of the eight candidates seeking at-large seats on the Boston City Council in the Nov. 7 election fielded questions last Tuesday night (Oct. 3) from more than eighty students at a forum organized by Boston University College Democrats. The topics ranged from housing needs to climate change to the city’s ongoing crisis over drug use and recovery.

City council forum highlights need for accountability and transparency at institutions of higher education

Candidates running for Boston City Council At-Large gathered at Boston University on Oct. 3 to participate in a forum hosted by the Boston University College Democrats (BUCD) and the Boston University Initiative on Cities. Candidates fielded questions from a panel, which included Sean Waddington, president of BUCD, and Dhruv Kapadia, BU’s student body president, focusing on college students’ experiences and how candidates plan to hold higher education institutions and their administrations accountable to the public.

BU College Democrats Host City Council Forum

With this year’s Boston City Council election coming up on November 7, BU College Democrats invited candidates running for at-large seats to a candidate forum on October 3 at the Center for Computing & Data Sciences. Candidates Julia Mejia (from left), Erin Murphy, Henry Santana, and Ruthzee Louijuene responded to moderator questions and questions from students. The 13-member City Council is made up of 4 at-large councilors representing the entire city and 9 district councilors representing specific areas.