From their update email, to those of us who are concerned:
“Welcome to the Save the Census update. We’ve decided to begin sending out an update to keep you informed on the most-recent happenings around the Save the Census campaign. We felt that it was important to remind people about what is at stake, talk about some of our victories and identify some of the challenges going forward.”
As a planning student, this is an issue you do want to keep in mind. Read more about it here: SAVE THE CENSUS
Mark Seasons, Interim Dean for the Faculty of Environment, is now offering transparency through weekly blog updates.
“In an effort to keep everyone informed of the activities originating from my office I’m posting weekly updates at http://environment.uwaterloo.ca/deansupdate.”
Enjoy.
Way to go!
It’s that time of year…students sit pinned down in front of the keyboard and screen while frantically formulating an informed view on a topic enthusiastically chosen at a time less stressful earlier in the semester. Term paper galore.
SimCity
While I tend to enjoy SimCity as a recreational tool for mindless fun and, hopefully, some indirect deeper understanding of basic city planning dynamics, turns out that the popular city-building computer game is indeed a tool for users to increase their perspectives on what an ideal city is as well as their expectations of city authorities. The supporting research published by the Journal of Adolescence is fresh and fun, and the abstract is included below:
SimCity is a system simulation game frequently used in educational settings. This study investigates whether playing SimCity could change Turkish adolescents’ perception of the city they live in. We hypothesized that playing the game would lead to perceptional changes in the players regarding their ideal and real cities. Two hundred forty eight 13-year old Turkish adolescents attending 7th grade constituted the sample. Ninety adolescents played the game for six weeks. Their scores on various perception variables on city issues were compared to those of the control group’s. Results showed that students in the experimental group changed their expectations of an ideal city to resemble the game, expected city authorities to pay greater attention to city issues, and reported higher level of distrust to city authorities at the post-test compared to those in the control group. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential of SimCity in training informed citizens.
Well, enough said. This justifies another night of Enthusiastic Research Procrastination, likely to be educational and fun at the same time. Thanks to Tanya Christidis for passing this article along to fellow UW Graduate Planners.
Starbucks is one of those brands that get a lot of attention for what they do and what they don’t do. Here is a taste of what you might read about them in this regard:
Put down that grande non-fat caramel macchiato or whatever Starbucks concoction you’re drinking. Turns out the coffee giant has a nasty history of being anti-barista, anti-union, and thus anti-Employee Free Choice Act as well. – The Huffington Post
(Image from Adbusters – not the University of Waterloo.)
Now they are making their entrée at the University of Waterloo, securing space in the ‘to-be-completed-March 31, 2011’ and highly anticipated LEED Platinum Faculty of Environment Building #3.
Some questions have been asked.
Meetings have been held.
The minutes from a November 11, 2010 meeting attended by Mark Seasons (Interim Dean, Faculty of Environment), Lee Elkas (Director of Food Services), Jonathan Pinto (Masters Student, School of Planning) and Vanessa Minke-Martin (Vice President, Operations of Environment Students Society) are now available for you to read. Enjoy.
Faculty and staff are conducting a spacing review of the environment building in anticipation of EV3. They are looking for student input and we are hoping that you could all take a minute to fill out this very brief survey so that we can assess what students need and want.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PHZY2M3
Please fill it out before Friday (November 5th) at 4:30pm.
Graduate Student Poster Display event November 19th with Waterloo Unlimited,
a high school enrichment program on campus.
http://www.unlimited.uwaterloo.ca
Grad students will present their research work in a poster style conference
arrangement standing beside their display and answering questions from
grade 12 high school students. This is an opportunity to engage motivated
high school students in the passion that the grad students have for their
particular research areas.
Date: Friday, November 19th
Time: 10:45 – 12:45 includes a complimentary lunch
Location: Environment One, the Courtyard
Please contact Rae Crossman if interested. rae@unlimited.uwaterloo.ca
Position: Project Officers
Type: full-time, 6 month internships with stipend/living expenses (see below)
Organization: Sustainable Cities PLUS Network http://sustainablec ities.net
Location: The Philippines, Mexico, Tanzania, Senegal and South Africa
Number of positions available: 10
Closing Date: Nov 14th 2010
Start Date: February 1st 2011
Internship Length: 6 months
Organization Background:
Sustainable Cities is a Canadian non-governmental organization and registered charity, with a mission to promote sustainable urban development around the world through practical demonstration projects, peer learning networks, affiliations and high profile events. Over the past 17 years, Sustainable Cities has received international recognition for its contribution to addressing the linkages between environmental degradation, poverty and social inequity. Sustainable Cities promotes good governance through capacity building with grassroots community organizations and local governments to improve human settlements and the quality of urban life in cities in the developing world. Sustainable Cities’ projects advance environmental sustainability through participatory multi-stakeholder processes that involve municipal councils, community organizations and the private and academic sectors working together to build sustainable livelihoods and communities.
Sustainable Cities is the Secretariat for the Sustainable Cities: PLUS Network (Partners for Long-term Urban Sustainability) , an international peer learning Network of cities sharing experiences, expertise and tools to undertake long term planning for urban sustainability. To date, the Network is comprised of 40 cities worldwide in Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Asia and Australia.
Project Description:
Please see http://www.sustaina blecities. net for individual postings.
Qualifications:
Funding for this internship requires that all candidates be:
* Between the ages of 19 and 30 as of January 11th 2011;
* A Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
* A post-secondary graduate – graduate of a degree or diploma program from a university, college, post-secondary school of technology, post-secondary institute or a CEGEP;
* Out of school with no coursework to complete;
* Unemployed or underemployed;
* Legally entitled to work in Canada.
Additional criteria for positions include:
* Proficiency in English
* Spanish or French fluency is required for some placements
* Education and experience in urban planning, municipal engineering, environmental studies, GIS, Tourism Development or sustainable development (Undergraduate or Master’s degree in relevant field)
* Education and/or experience in international relations and cross-cultural skills
* Ability to be self-directed and work collaboratively with colleagues, partners and counter-parts in a complex environment
* Demonstrated ability to initiate new projects
* Excellent organizational skills
* Proficiency in use of computer programs including Word, Excel and Power Point
* Strong communication and interaction skills (Public presentation and facilitation skills)
* Excellent research and writing skills
* Professional and personal commitment, flexibility and adaptability to handle new situations and challenges, and the ability to live and work in another culture with an approach that values two-way learning and mutual respect.
Please note: This is not a salaried position; the intern will receive a stipend of $12,000 to cover living expenses and costs related to travel, training, insurance and visas.
Successful candidates must be able to participate in a pre-departure training session January 9th — 14th 2011 in Vancouver, with the expectation of being placed in the field on February 1st 2011. Candidates must also be available for a debriefing session in Vancouver on September 1st and 2nd 2011.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please see sustainablecities. net to learn more about Sustainable Cities and the PLUS Network. Important application instructions are available at http://www.sustaina blecities. net/projects- overview/ youth-engagement /youth-internshi ps
We thank all those who apply, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
CLOSING DATE: November 14th 2010.
When applying, please indicate that you saw this posting at http://www.goodworkcanada.ca
The TD Canada Trust Walter Bean Lecture In The Environment
Dr. Joe MacInnis has led over 30 deep-sea expeditions in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans. From this unique vantage point, Joe will provide a rare glimpse into the devastating impacts of the oil spill. Drawing on lessons from his upcoming book, Deep Leadership, Joe also offers insight into the importance of leaderhsip
in times of crisis as well as some critical lessons we can salvage from the ‘oilstorm.’ Hosted by The Faculty of Environment
Doors open 3:45 pm
Lecture begins 4:00 pm
| In memory of Dr. Stephen Schneider A SPECIAL TRIBUTE 1945 – 2010 |
World-renowned climatologist, Dr. Stephen Schneider, served as Waterloo’s TD Canada Trust Walter Bean Visiting Professor in the Environment in 2010. His impact was profound – as is his legacy of leadership in the battle to save the Earth’s climate. |
Humanities Theatre
J.G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities
University of Waterloo
Thursday, September 30, 2010
For more information contact
dramsay@uwaterloo.ca
Reviewed by Joe Berridge
Nobody loves city planners. They irritate developers because they won’t approve ugly, tall buildings; citizens get mad at them when they do. They frustrate the expediency of politicians by referring to the bigger picture, only to incur the disdain of the chatterati because they don’t think big enough. Kristina Ford has written an interesting and illuminating book on the realities of city planning, and one that speaks to more than just that profession. In The Trouble with City Planning, she uses the experience of rebuilding New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina as a case study on why city planners are in trouble, and what they can do about it.
New Orleans is surely the sweetest, saddest city in the United States. Already in long-term decline after the collapse of its local oil industry, it was dealt a crippling blow by Katrina five years ago. Some 80 per cent of the city was flooded and hundreds of thousands of its citizens forced to leave. Images of residents stranded on roofs or milling in the emergency shelter hellhole the Convention Center became were etched in our collective consciousness. The United States government, under the hapless leadership of President Bush, seemed incapable of any quick, co-ordinated response, nor of understanding the magnitude of the disaster and its associated human suffering; the city government even less so.
The Trouble with City Planning, by Kristina Ford, Yale University Press, 288 pages, $31.67
Kristina Ford had been the director of planning for New Orleans and her story starts after the headlines faded and the reporters left town. The trouble begins with the process of trying to create and agree on a plan for the city’s reconstruction. No fewer than five city plans were prepared in under three years, each a caricature of a particular style or school of planning.
The first was the “perfect plan,” true to the best traditions of the city, with well-designed new parks and boulevards. A new urbanist fantasy, it oddly omitted the provision of anywhere for all those who had fled the city to come home to.
The second, perhaps an inevitable reaction, was the “no plan plan.” Just let the market decide and let the hopeless Mayor Ray Nagin do the deals. But nobody wanted to do a deal in a city still under water.
The third was the “just fix the neighbourhoods in need plan,” do what has to be done so that people can come back home and don’t worry about the big picture. That just wasn’t possible.
The fourth plan promised salvation through “starcitecture.” Enough said.
The fifth plan, “the leave everything the way it was before Katrina so we can get federal funding” plan, was the one finally adopted.
Ford cleverly uses this tragic, absurd and highly accelerated sequence of plans as a case study of the different philosophies and methods of contemporary city planning. What exactly she sees as “the trouble” is a bit elusive however. Sometimes there is not enough community consultation, sometimes too much. Political direction is essential, but planners need to be insulated from political interference. Planners’ professional training is an asset, because it brings objectivity to an urban issue, but it is riddled with un-admitted assumptions. All true, but the great skill of good city planning is to live with all these contradictory notions and still know what to do.
Ford’s subsequent prescription for the optimal city planning process is not the best part of an otherwise interesting and engaging book and doesn’t translate that well to Canada. City planning is not in the same trouble here for a number of reasons. Nothing is more difficult than planning a declining city like New Orleans or Detroit. Our growing cities benefit from a dynamic which, although often unruly and raw, at least provides a direction that can be steered. And Canadian city government, for all its mind-numbing parochialism, does establish a more sober basis for planning than more politically fractured US cities. By temperament a distressingly modest profession, Canadian planners can nonetheless offer up a city like Vancouver, perhaps the best planned contemporary city in the world, a place worth all those troubles.
Would we do better here in Canada at coping with a crisis like Katrina? Mercifully, we have not yet been tested, but the US experience in New Orleans, or in New York after 9/11, or after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, should give us no cause for complacency. The ordered prescriptions of city planning were never intended to be put under such stress. Only then do you discover what your city is really made of.
Joe Berridge is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners and was strategic planning adviser to Manchester after their 1996 bombing.
Association of Graduate Planners (AGP): University of Waterloo 