Category Archives: Uncategorized

Hanff to present at Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference, Bethesda, MD, on April 15th

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Colleges and universwebsite graphic 2013 (2)ities are incubators of innovation, tackling the biggest challenges of society through creative means. The 2013 Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference provides the setting to learn, share and explore how campuses are using their passion for innovation to develop technologies, infrastructure, programs and curricula that address the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges.

Jessica HanffJessica Hfig3-leed-nd-logo (2)anff will be presenting with Jason Hercules of the US Green Building Council on “Using LEED for Neighborhood Development to Create a Sustainable Campus.” Jessica worked for many years on campus sustainability issues while a program coordinator with the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program and is a researcher on campus planning practices. LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) integrates the principles of smart growth, new urbanism and green building into the first national rating system for neighborhood planning and design. This session will serve as a primer for how to use LEED-ND as a tool for sustainable campus development, including requirements and focus areas of the program, and an in-depth look at successful projects.

Study Green Cities Abroad in Russia, Summer 2013

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The GSI Russia Project is a special study abroad course being offered as part of the Virginia Tech Natural Resources program line-up for Summer II 2013. This course and project will be examining the opportunities and challenges for urban greening and sustainability in Russia’s megacities. The course extends over 10 weeks, including 8 weeks of online work and 10 days of travel to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and is offered for 6 credits. Though there are additional costs associated with study abroad, you can apply for financial aid to cover these expenses, plus the university offers a 20% discount on graduate credits for study abroad courses. To learn more and to apply for the project team, visit the Greening of Russia’s Cities Project or contact Courtney Kimmel in CLiGs directly.

Homeland Security Speakers Spring 2013

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Please join use for these Guest Lectures VT SPIA – Open to All

Provided as part of VT’s Center for Public Administration and Policy’s Homeland
Security & Prevention and Homeland Security Certificate program

All event times are 7pm-8:15pm.
Room 304, SPIA, Virginia Tech, 1021 Prince Street, Alexandria
Thomas Conner House Upstairs Conf Room, Blacksburg (by polycom)

RSVP to: Patrick Roberts

April 3 Local Leadership in a Collaborative Environment
April 10 Local Leadership in a Collaborative Environment II
April 17 Disasters and Emergency Management from a Law and
Society Perspective
April 24 Budgeting for Disaster

See flyer for more information.

Final Spring 2013 MI+SPIA Lecture this Thursday, April 11, 2013

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090201_1492_hollander020.CR2Please join us for our final Spring MI+SPIA Lecture Series, hosted by the Urban Affairs and Planning Program.

“Urban Absorption in a Shrinking City: A close examination of depopulation, land use change, and city planning”, A Lecture by Justin Hollander, Thursday, April 11, 2013

In the face of substantial economic decline over the last eight decades, New Bedford (Massachusetts) has changed in many ways.  The most astounding way is how the physical form of the city has shifted in the wake of population loss: factories have been converted to apartment buildings, vacant lots turned into gardens. How has the physical DNA of the city been recoded, who led this process, what worked and what did not?  Through detailed analyses of the history, politics, environment, and planning strategies of the city, Dr. Hollander is writing a book to answer these very questions.  In this presentation, he offers early findings from his research.

Justin Hollander, PhD, AICP, is an Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University and a Research Scientist at the George Perkins Marsh Institute at Clark University.  He is the author of Sunburnt Cities: The Great Recession, Depopulation and Urban Planning in the American Sunbelt (Routledge, 2011) and two other books examining the challenges of planning for post-industrial, shrinking cities.

Host:  Professor Joe Schilling, Director, MI+SPIA, Virginia Tech

Facilitator:  Professor Maggie Cowell, Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech

Respondents:  Professors Sherry Lee Linkon and John Russo

Thursday, April 11th

6:30 to 7:30 pm (presentation); 7:30-8:30 (discussion)

Virginia Tech Research Center

900 N. Glebe Road

Ballston Room

Arlington, VA

RSVP by 4/11/13

6:00 – 6:30 PM Q&A Session for potential Urban Affairs and Planning (UAP) graduate students

Light refreshments will be served

See flyer to more information.

Hope to see you there!

Planning the Bottom Line – A New Approach to Smart Growth and Local Economic Development

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Virginia Tech’s New Metropolis Lecture Series Old Town Alexandria Campus, Urban Affairs and Planning Program

Planning the Bottom Line – A New Approach to Smart Growth and Local Economic Development, A Lecture by Peter Katz, Thursday, November 8th

Peter Katz has been at the forefront of recent planning innovations such as the New Urbanism, form-based codes, and now linking urban design and development regulations to the emerging discipline of fiscal impact analysis. He will share insights and strategies about how new planning and development models—especially those that are structured around public transit— can achieve greater equilibrium between municipal costs and revenues.

For the past six years Katz has worked on the front lines of regional and local planning with Sarasota County, Florida and Oceanside, California, ensuring that local development policies and proposals address market demands, create livable communities and balance budgets. Before working in local government, Katz was the founding executive director of the Congress of New Urbanism, and later was a co-founder of the Form Based Codes Institute. In the early 2000s, he was an adjunct professor in Virginia Tech’s department of Urban Affairs and Planning and a resident of Alexandria, Virginia.

Katz returned last year to the Washington, DC region, to serve as director of Arlington County’s planning division, an agency that is known for its exemplary Smart Growth development. He has since returned to consulting, providing services to a range of local and national clients. As part of his presentation, Katz will share his impressions of current development practice in several Northern Virginia communities along with other examples from around the United States.

Thursday, November 8, 2012
7:00 – 8:00 PM (presentation); 8:00 – 8:30 PM (discussion)
School of Policy and International Affairs
Urban Affairs and Planning Program
Virginia Tech
1021 Prince Street, 3rd Floor
Alexandria, VA

Light refreshments will be served

Contact: Tina Whaley, Metropolitan Institute
703-706-8100

Summer 2012 internships

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The Metropolitan Institute is currently seeking interns for two programs – Policy Informatics and Sustainability. Internships with the Metropolitan Institute provide opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the research enterprise at Virginia Tech. Interns can contribute to research projects, assist in media outreach such as blogging, and work with out team to organize events and roundtables.

Undergraduate students (especially juniors and seniors) and graduate students majoring in public policy, urban planning, public administration, information systems, and management, or related fields are encouraged to apply.

Please review the complete description of the positions for more information.