春水堂视频

Empowering neighborhoods through tree plantings and pop-up design are just a few topics to听be covered听at a university conference focusing on building resilient and innovative communities.听
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On听Friday, Oct. 19, local experts will discuss sustainability, creative industries,听green infrastructure听and citizen and youth engagement in city design听at听the second听annual听Community Building Colorado-Style conference. The event, which is sponsored by听CU Boulder's Community Engagement, Design and Research听(CEDaR) Center, The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and Downtown Colorado Inc.听is听open to the community, and is required. CEDaR is a听collaborative of faculty and students that works with cities and other local partners to build vital, equitable and sustainable communities; CNU is听an international nonprofit organization that works to build vibrant and well-designed communities.

During the conference, faculty and student work, as well as the work of many others involved in community engagement, will be presented, says Brian Muller, CEDaR director and associate professor in the Program in Environmental Design.

"The conference is听an opportunity to develop new partnerships between the university and cities, as well as听to address the changing needs of Colorado communities," he says.

Conference topics include Denver's green roof ordinance,听children and youth in community engagement, and听green and affordable sustainable communties.听 Workshops linked to the conference are also being held that week on creative districts and mobile home/manufactured housing communities.

Christopher Hawkins,听an听urban conservation program manager with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), will discuss the community-led, block-scale tree planting initiative in North Central Denver鈥檚听Globeville,听Elyria-Swansea (GES) neighborhoods, which are located by the highway and plagued by听environmental risks. The inclusive model allows residents to drive the agenda, he says.听听

鈥淭his is not an organization coming in and dropping off a bunch of trees,鈥� Hawkins says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the community鈥檚 vision for itself.鈥澨�听

Hawkins says the model, which involves the Conservancy,听the听GES 鈥撎鼵oalition, a听community-based organization,听and the nonprofit The Park People (TPP), allows the听organizations to听learn about neighborhood issues on a block scale and听to "work听deeply鈥� with block leaders, who encourage residents to also engage in the project.听听

In another presentation,听Ken Snyder, programming director of Radian,听will discuss his听nonprofit鈥檚 work utilizing pop-up design and temporary installments to help Denver-area and rural Colorado communities visualize ways to enhance their community鈥檚 public spaces with areas that encourage biking or walking and connect people with nature.听听

The听architecture and urban design organization focuses on increasing social equity within communities by working with residents and local stakeholders to carry out their neighborhood visions.听Utilizing the 鈥淭iny Wonderful,鈥� a trailer equipped with听pop-up听design materials, landscapes are transformed from a day to a month: parking spaces become sidewalk cafes, roads expand to include protected bike lanes and playgrounds are added.听听

鈥淧op up design is a great technique for civic engagement and experimenting with听the听design听of streets and public spaces,鈥� Snyder says. 鈥淚t brings people into the discussion who would normally not be part of it. It also helps听communities听experiment with things that would be costly to install more permanently.鈥澨�听

For example, a few years ago Boulder residents reacted to a new bike lane constructed on Folsom Avenue, and as a result, costly modifications were later made.听

鈥淲ith pop-up design, you can experiment ahead of time and get a sense of what works and what doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� he says.听

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Community Building Colorado-Style is supported by CU Boulder's听Office for Outreach and Engagement, the听Program in Environmental Design, and the听Research & Innovation Office. For more information about the conference, contact Susan at susan.glairon@colorado.edu.