What’s Next Alexandria? Second Community Dialogue Set for January 29, 2013

From the City of Alexandria:
 
"What’s Next Alexandria? Second Community Dialogue Set for January 29, 2013

For Immediate Release: December 14, 2012

Approximately 165 Alexandrians participated November 15 in the first What’s Next Alexandria Community Dialogue. The results of the community’s work at the meeting, as well as the presentations and meeting evaluations, are available on the What’s Next Alexandria website.
Please mark your calendars! Two upcoming activities (online and in person) will build on the civic engagement work done so far and begin the next steps in the process.

• January 2013: Online engagement activity to refine the principles of civic engagement begun on November 15 and in the community poll. The online work will take place over two weeks in early January. Details on how to participate will be sent closer to the date.
• January 29 at 7 p.m., Second Community Dialogue: The community will wrap up its work on the principles of civic engagement and then discuss potential methods for achieving those principles, including the range of engagement formats and approaches identified by the community in the recent poll. Meeting location to be announced. Childcare and simultaneous Spanish translation will be available. 

For more information, visit alexandriava.gov/WhatsNext or contact Carrie Beach, project manager, at 703.746.3853.

Call for Papers - ACSP-AESOP Panel Proposal

Resilient Urban Regeneration--Comparative Policy and Planning Lessons from and for UK and US Legacy Cities

Within the literature on urban regeneration, leading examples have emerged in part thanks to the UK's intricate policy web of regeneration initiatives. Cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool have experienced regeneration differently as they worked to become more resilient and sustainable cities. In contrast the US framework for regeneration focuses mainly on physical transformation of the built environment while separate policy frameworks guide social, cultural and environmental initiatives. As they continue to experiment with predominately one dimensional redevelopment and revitalization policies and programs, many of the well known Legacy cities in the US, such as Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo, continue to lose population and struggle with their regeneration efforts.  At the same time, other US cities such as Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Indianapolis seem to be on the rebound, incrementally gaining population as they transform their communities with perhaps a more holistic blend of policies that tend to mirror elements of the UK regeneration legacy.

We are seeking to recruit 3-4 scholars from the US and UK to participate in a panel at the ACSP/AESOP Conference in Dublin, July 13^th-18^th, 2013 that would showcase a series of comparative case studies on the regeneration of UK and US cities. For this session we propose to create a regeneration policy typology through the conceptual framework of urban resilience. The typology will illustrate that different city types occupy different stages within the resilience cycle. A synthesis of the case studies will identify different regeneration city types and highlight how different types of cities can orchestrate core elements or ingredients to take a more strategic and resilient approach to the infusion of regeneration policies and programs. Although our comparative analysis is within the context of US/UK urban regeneration policies and programs, we are also open to scholars with case studies from Ireland (since it’s the site of the conference) and perhaps other major cities in Europe who have compelling regeneration stories.

In order to prepare the panel for formal conference submission, please submit proposals to us by January 8, 2013. All proposals and questions should be sent to Maggie Cowell, mmcowell@vt.edu or Joe Schilling, jms33@vt.edu

 

Thank you.

Virginia Tech convenes third international conference to explore community response to crisis and disaster

by Barbara L. Micale

"The Center for Community Security and Resiliency (CCSR) convened its third annual Conference on Community Resilience in Davos, Switzerland. Cosponsored by the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech, the conference was held immediately prior to the Global Risk Forum, the world largest meeting on risk assessment and consequences, also held in Davos. Both the CSSR and the Metropolitan Institute, whose emerging research is focused on resiliency in metropolitan regions, are located in the National Capital Region."  Read more at http://ncr.vt.edu/highlights/Highlight-112912.html.

Save the Date: 2013 Ridenour Faculty Fellowship Conference

The Ridenour Faculty Fellowship Conference 2013 will take place April 25th-26th in Blacksburg, VA

This year's topic is: "Governing Possibilities And The Possibilities Of Governance"

Stay tuned for additional details about the program in the next few months!

To learn more about the Ridenour Faculty Fellowship Conference and view videos from last year's program on distressed cities, please visit http://distressedcities.wordpress.com/.

Call for Abstracts: HPD Special Issue on the Community Development Block Grant Program

"Given that 2014 is the 40th anniversary of the CDBG program, this is an opportune time to both take stock of the program’s evolution, accomplishments, shortcomings, and potential and propose program changes to better address the needs of low- and moderate-income communities in the 21st century. To facilitate this endeavor, Housing Policy Debate is organizing a special issue on the CDBG program at 40, to be guest edited by Bill Rohe of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and George Galster of Wayne State University. See the details for abstract submission at: http://tinyurl.com/c9jlren

Tom Sanchez, Professor

Urban Affairs & Planning, Virginia Tech

http://tomsanchez.wordpress.com/"

Registration extended for energy, sustainability conference at VCU

Via the Virginia Municipal League Newsletter

"Early registration has been extended until Dec. 19 for the VCU Energy & Sustainability Conference to be held Jan. 30 and 31 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

VML is accepting submissions from local governments to receive special recognition at the conference.  The conference will have tracks specifically designed for local and state governments, as well as higher education, manufacturing, healthcare, commercial real estate, and public and private K-12 schools.

The government track will include sessions on: How Sustainable Energy Development Can Drive Economic Development; Incorporating Energy Plans into the Comprehensive Planning Process; Strategies for Energy Infrastructure Improvements; The Benefits of the Life Cycle Approach to High Performance Buildings; and Creative Strategies for Energy Resource Management in Public Buildings.

On the evening of Jan. 30, there will be an Awards Dinner recognizing organizations for their efforts. VML and VACo will participate in the dinner.  To be considered, send a one- or two-page executive summary of your organization's efforts to Joe Lerch at jlerch@vml.org  and Larry Cummings at larry.cummings@trane.com.

For more information and to register for the conference, go to: www.vsbn.org/vcu-esc2013."

Urban planning studio works with Arlington County to explore ways to evaluate public art

by Barbara L. Micale

Artists are designing a more attractive
replacement for this 1600 foot long fence in front
of the Water Pollution Control Plant along
Arlington's Four Mile Run
(photo by Chase Williston)

"Twelve students from five countries and three different Virginia Tech programs joined in an urban design studio, “Exploring Evaluation for Public Art: Arlington County as Laboratory,” to analyze past studies on public art and then develop the most effective methodologies for two case studies: Four Mile Run Water Pollution Control Plant Fence Enhancement and Arlington County: Long Bridge Park Phase I."  Read more