This course explores the ethics and methods beyond the conventional town-hall meeting to gather insights from communities on planning issues. Topics will include more traditional methods of qualitative research such as focus groups, interviews, charrettes, participatory action research, and scenario planning, as well as strategies like asset mapping, visual preference surveys, games, art-based visioning, and participatory budgeting. A field trip to New York City to learn from the Center for Urban Pedagogy and the Hester Street Collaborative will also be planned if there is student interest.

            This spring we will focus our final projects on the production of tools that enliven community engaged design and planning practice. The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative is working with UVA Arts to create a mobile community design engagement center that could serve as a resource to both UVA and community groups hoping to meaningfully engage community stakeholders wherever they are most comfortable. Students will collaborate to craft dynamic engagement tools that present new strategies to solicit feedback on design and planning concerns.

Time: Tuesday/Thursday 2- 3:30

Credits: 3

Requirements:  Students will draft a series of hypothetical research instruments (10% each) as we learn about each approach, host exercises in class to test methods on their peers (10%), participate fully (20%), and craft a prototype for use in the UVA Arts/Bridge mobile community engaged design center (30%)

Readings will be drawn from a variety of sources and made available on Collab, with the exception of one required book: Wates, Nick. 2014. The Community Planning Handbook. Earthscan: New York