Resilient & Sustainable Communities
Units: 12
This course examines past and current community development topics and trends associated with creating and/or maintaining resilient and sustainable communities. Such topics include sustainable development, community equity, creative capitalism, regional planning and visioning, environmental justice, governance, regional equitable development, sustainable business practices, green/clean tech, smart growth and smart transportation, carbon management, resource conservation, local living economies, energy systems and strategies, dynamics of neighborhoods, among other topics. Emphasis will fall on how these various dimensions need to strategically align to promote sustainable communities amidst their complexities.
The class will also delve into a variety of community development practices to provide frameworks for integrating just, equitable, and fair community development practices with sustainable development practices. The class takes lessons from the past (both what has worked and what did not work) as well as appropriate, current practices and explores how to apply them to a variety of community situations and conditions.
The focus is on urban communities in the U.S and worldwide, both large and small. The course includes experiential, hands-on learning (projects, case studies, analyses, presentations, field trips, and guest lectures) as well as reflective components (readings, discussion, and papers).
- Learn and deploy equitable, fair, just, resilient, sustainable and green development practices and how to integrate these techniques into community development strategies;
- Evaluate and design various public planning and policy initiatives on the formation of places; and
- Engage with communities with appropriate processes and strategies to align with their resilient capacities as they face equity-informed, environmental, economic, and social challenges.
Graduate Enrollment or Permission of Instructor