Course Description

In this planning applications course, students will participate in community engaged design and/or research activities that help better connect people with their environments. Although a range of approaches to strengthen that connection will be discussed, including civic environmentalism, greening urban infrastructure, climate change education, environmental justice, and guerilla urbanism, each year we will focus considerable energy on applying one or more of these concepts by partnering with a community group or mission-based organization.

This spring we will focus on opportunities for civic environmentalism locally and serve as resource allies for the Piedmont Housing Alliance (PHA) as they begin a resident-led sustainable community design process for the redevelopment of Friendship Court in downtown Charlottesville. This 11.75-acre site is home to more than 250 children, and PHA hopes to deeply engage those important constituents as experts in the process and as owners of the final plans produced. In this course students will work with project stakeholders to craft platform for empowering these younger resident leaders in the revitalization process. As resource allies, we have two primary tasks: 1) we will work with PHA to help develop a community training to empower the residents with a knowledge of the basics of land use planning and then, 2) propose aspects of a two year curriculum to deeply engage the youth as leaders in the redevelopment and expose them to STEAM educational and job opportunities.

Learning Objectives

• Become more empathetic professionals
• Hone skills of sustainable land use through translation/education
• Develop an awareness of structural inequalities and how they manifest in the built world
• Practice serving as a useful resource ally in community engaged projects
• Cultivate an appreciation for the challenges of balancing principles of ecology and equity
• Learn how to develop and sustain productive partnerships