NOTE: NEW BLOG SITE FOR PRACTICAL VISIONARIES: http://pennloh.wordpress.com/
Practical Visionaries Workshop
Bringing together university and community to share, learn, and develop strategies for "justainable" cities
Tufts Department of Urban & Environmental Policy and Planning
coordinator: Penn Loh, Professor of the Practice
The Practical Visionaries Workshop brings together Tufts UEP graduate students and emerging community leaders in the Greater Boston area to reflect, learn, and share with one another and conduct projects around current issues and challenges to our communities. The Workshop is founded on three core beliefs:
- Sustainability and justice are inextricably intertwined ("justainability") and must be pursued together.
- Theory and practice must go hand-in-hand if we are make significant progress towards justainability.
- Systemically marginalized communities have the knowledge and experience that, with the support and partnership of university resources, can develop innovations towards more justainable cities.
For community partners, this is an opportunity for leaders to participate in an 8-session learning/reflection series over 3 months and for their organizations to participate in community-based action research. For graduate students, this is an opportunity to learn from and with community leaders and to engage in community-driven research. Goals of the Workshop:
- Community fellows gain access to university resources and the space/time to reflect and learn with other practical visionaries.
- Community partner organizations build capacity through their leaders/staff who develop skills, knowledge, perspective, connections, and inspiration and are able to use the project outputs to further their mission and programs.
- Graduate students develop a deeper understanding and working knowledge of community practice and research, develop community connections, as well as meet various graduation requirements (including receiving 1 course credit, satisfying the internship requirement, and/or helping to finish their thesis)
Spring 2011: Community-Driven Planning and Strategies For a Justainable City
Website for Spring 2011 Workshop
Three reports from spring 2011:
1. Community Control Over Development in Boston
2. Community Green Stormwater Management Guide
Spring 2012: Community Strategies for Building New and Localized Economies in Greater Boston
Syllabus for Spring 2012
Final report: "If Not Walmart, Then What? Envisioning a Different Paradigm for Local Economic Development in Roxbury and Somerville"