SCARP Speaker Series' first season is concluded, and while our talks have already involved extraordinary insights and laid a solid groundwork for networking and community building in the planning world, we're even more excited for the next chapter in this series, which will involve special invited guests with global contexts and lenses.
In SCARP's Speaker Series, we welcome students, faculty, alumni, and planners and friends near and far, to hear new perspectives, network, and ask the pertinent questions of the day. Each talk has new insights and best practices for equitable cities, climate resilience, community partnerships, and more; with implications between innumerable fields.
While many were unable to join us, we gladly promised to record these talks for all to hear. Here's what's happened so far!
Dr. Heather Campbell discusses the recent report she co-authored, "Knowledge that Matters: Realising the Potential of Co-Production", created for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and funded by the N8 Research Partnership's study to explore new models of 'co-production'. Campbell explores how universities need to change to facilitate better working between academic and non-academic communities. Moreover, Campbell elaborates on the crucial human side of every issue to tackle, of having needed conversations, never afraid to push against boundaries and privilege but always approaching discussions with humanity.
From the lens of her research and insights in transportation and land-use planning, Kelly Clifton describes how complex and specialised concepts can be communicated through comics and other visualisations. This talk more broadly has implications for how more accessible and relatable discussions of planning can and should be, and remind us all that planning isn't an obscure nor incomprehensible pursuit, but regards the everyday experiences of people and communities, and how decisions in planning have tangible benefits to which we all relate.
How do land-use-based greenhouse gas reduction strategies reorder the local geography of risk for urban residents? Connolly challenges the notion that urban climate planning is primarily focused on risk reduction, focusing instead on the ways in which it is directing the spatial distribution of risk – or creating a new riskscape pattern – within cities. This process, which Connolly calls 'urban risk shift', has deep implications for the efficacy of contemporary plans and the future directions of urban climate planning.
Dr. Julia Harten provides an overview over her various research projects centering on data innovation for housing and inclusive urbanization and housing strategies of marginalized groups. As an example of her work, Harten deep-dives into an ongoing project that explores the role of gender in the shared housing, drawing on data collected from Craigslist in Los Angeles. Harten deep-dives into the ramifications of gender disparities in seeking housing.
Dr. Maggie Low shares findings from a study conducted in partnership with AHMA on how BC municipalities respond to urban Indigenous housing needs. Low also dives into how narratives and assumptions of what it is to have housing are restrictive to narrow definitions that sometimes belie many Indigenous realities. How can BC municipalities better support Indigenous-led processes on urban housing?
Discussing themes from her newest book, Dr. Leonie Sandercock, one of the leading figures in community planning and dedicated to social, cultural, and environmental justice, discusses how we may find purpose and hope in community planning. Even more-so, Sandercock gave a heartfelt reflection on her extraordinary career in planning and how her life's journeys have shaped a unique lens she has spent many a year sharing with us all.
SCARP Speaker Series now has a home on a new webpage of the site, which will only grow, and include not just this speaker series, but amazing talks to come by SCARP faculty, SCARP students, and valued friends of SCARP.
- Spotlight