Now virtual:

From parklets and quick-build projects to its recent Slow Streets initiative, San Francisco has been a leader in experimenting with remaking its streetscapes. However, these programs and their benefits are often unequally distributed. One such example is the Tenderloin, which had fewer public street amenities than most other neighborhoods before the pandemic and was one of the last to see these types of projects unfold since. And, despite being San Francisco’s most dense neighborhood, with the highest number of unhoused residents, it suffers from a prioritization of automobile expedience over safe neighborhood streets, resulting in the highest number of incidents of traffic violence in the city. However, the efforts of grassroots organizers, advocacy groups and social enterprises are creating new models of ground-up approaches to neighborhood safety, including community policing, block safety and resident corner captains.

Join a panel discussion led by Alison Sant, the author of the new book From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, to examine the ways in which local leaders are shaping the Tenderloin and the initiatives that may provide solutions to our most difficult challenges.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. ET

Cities are experimenting with ways of reintroducing nature to be resilient to the rising tides, floods, and extreme weather events caused by climate change – from restoring wetlands to constructing oyster reefs, and expanding the floodplains of creeks, streams, and rivers. 

This presentation will cover:

• How different types of environments are responding to the climate crisis regionally.
• Links between the natural world and human environments in cities. 
• Nature-based adaptation solutions to the climate crisis. 

This webinar brings together experts in science, community organizing, and design--including From the Ground Up author Alison Sant--in a discussion about nature-based adaptation solutions.

Panelists

• Jessica Dandridge, executive director of the Water Collaborative, New Orleans  
• Robin Grossinger, lead scientist and co-director of the Resilient Landscapes Program at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) 
• Alison Sant, partner in the Studio for Urban Projects and author of From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities

For decades, American cities have experimented with ways to remake themselves in response to climate change. These efforts, often driven by grassroots activism, offer valuable lessons for transforming the places we live. In From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, design expert Alison Sant focuses on the unique ways in which US cities are working to mitigate and adapt to climate change while creating equitable and livable communities. She shows how, from the ground up, we are raising the bar to make cities places in which we don’t just survive, but where all people have the opportunity to thrive.

The efforts discussed in the book demonstrate how urban experimentation and community-based development are informing long-term solutions. Sant shows how US cities are reclaiming their streets from cars, restoring watersheds, growing forests, and adapting shorelines to improve people’s lives while addressing our changing climate. The best examples of this work bring together the energy of community activists, the organization of advocacy groups, the power of city government, and the reach of federal environmental policy.

Transportation accounts for the largest share of emissions in the United States. But many U.S. cities benefit by having dense urban footprints. By expanding low- and zero-carbon mobility options, cities can help to build more equitable transportation systems and increase economic mobility.

Join the Smart Growth Network as Alison Sant, author of From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, Tracey Capers of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in New York City, and Ashwat Narayanan of Our Streets Minneapolis identify how to serve under-resourced communities through investments in walking, cycling, and public transportation.

Participants of the live webinar are eligible for one Equity credit and 1.5 AICP CM credits (live attendance required).

In the Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs wrote, “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody”.

Today, the tactics of reclaiming the street with Parklets, Slow Streets, and Shared Spaces has exploded during the COVID Pandemic. However, these street interventions are not equally distributed. As they have spread in cities throughout the United States, they have exacerbated growing spatial inequalities. How do we reclaim streets from cars to create public spaces that serve everyone? Roads account for more than 25% of urban areas. What are they best used for and how should they be programmed?

Join a panel discussion with Tamika Butler, a national expert on the built environment and equity; Dani Simons, the Director of Public Affairs for the USDOT; and urbanist John Bela, one of the creators of Park(ing) Day, in conversation with Alison Sant, author of From the Ground Up."

Join Harvard Extension School’s Sustainability and Global Development Practice Degree Programs and Dean Nancy J. Coleman as we celebrate Earth Day 2022. This is an online Zoom event with your hosts Mark Leighton, Associate Director, and Lindi von Mutius, Director, Sustainability and Global Development Practice Degree Programs.

Helping communities to thrive in the face of climate change and other large challenges can seem like a daunting challenge. Learn how From the Ground Up author Alison Sant and Sonaar Luthra successfully work with communities using data, technology, community organizing, and a focus on equity. 

Our relationship to water is increasingly defining the design of cities. Cloudbursts overwhelm watersheds, flooding low lying areas, while storm surges inundate coastlines.

How are cities using green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to manage floodwaters while creating jobs and co-powering communities?

This panel will explore the ways in which cities are adapting to the threats of future floods by greening streets, designing adaptive neighborhoods, creating absorbent schoolyards, and restoring habitat. Join this panel discussion moderated by Alison Sant, author of From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities.

Panelists:
Jessica Dandridge, Executive Director of The Water Collaborative in New Orleans
Owen Franklin, Pennsylvania State Director Trust for Public Land
Peter Malinowski, Executive Director, Billion Oyster Project in New York City

Join author Alison Sant, the Natural Areas Conservancy (NAC), and our partners, New York Restoration Project (NYRP) and Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria for a tree planting event on Saturday, October 29 in Highbridge Park, Manhattan.

This event highlights the power of the written word, community engagement, and local nature conservation — and the exciting collaborations that can happen when they all come together! At 9:00 A.M., participants will meet at the Word Up Community Bookshop for a welcome and to meet author and urban planner Alison Sant who recently published her book: From the Ground Up - Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities.

After this short introduction, we’ll walk across the street to Highbridge Park for a walking tour and tree planting. As we walk to the tree planting site, experts from the NAC and NYRP will discuss how we’re working in the park to keep the forests healthy and encourage community stewardship. The group will then have the opportunity to plant a number of native trees and shrubs to improve the forest.

The meeting location for this event is Word Up Community Bookshop/Librería Comunitaria at 2113 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10032. Please come dressed in sturdy boots or shoes, long pants, and clothing that can get dirty. Face masks are required when visiting the Bookshop. Registration is required. Volunteers under 18 must be accompanied by a chaperone.

This event is made possible thanks to generous funding from Con Edison. The NAC’s community forestry program in Highbridge Park is supported by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Hudson River Estuary Program. And the plants and shrubs planted during this event are provided through a grant from the Greenacre Foundation.

All Together Now: Action + Accountablility for People-Foucsed Mobility. Happening in Chicago from May 2 - 4. Alison Sant, author of From the Ground Up, keynoting the conference.  

Funding & Affordability

• How might we sustainably fund the expansion of shared mobility infrastructure the same way we subsidize private car use?
• What are the new and creative ways to expand and sustain shared mobility?
• How can we advance from experimenting with and piloting shared mobility to scaling and replicating projects that enable more people to access more mobility options? 

Tools & Incentives

• How can we support our households and communities to shift to use more shared mobility options available to them?
• What opportunities can we develop to engage and listen to our communities to understand their social, financial, historical and cultural contexts?
• What tools and incentives are currently working to encourage households and communities towards opting for shared mobility options over the private car?

Infrastructure

• What should be standard components of shared mobility in transportation infrastructure?
• How can we equitably connect information between shared mobility services and users?
• What land-use decisions should we prioritize to help shape the viability and feasibility of infrastructure for shared mobility?

Metrics & Outcomes

• How is shared mobility helping households reduce their dependence on private car use?
• What is our standard way to measure the carbon savings from shared mobility and supporting land uses?
• How is shared mobility making our communities and society fairer and less unequal?

Hurricane Ida’s record flooding in 2021, summer of 2023 heat records, and record for worst urban air quality in the world on June 8, 2023, these events demonstrate that climate change is on Philly’s doorstep, and we must respond. What is Philadelphia doing to address the effects of climate change from the parcel, project, and regional scale while addressing historic environmental injustices?

Join AIA Philadelphia and ULI Philadelphia to hear about the creative ways in which our local leaders are responding with solutions that will work in our specific context.

The Urban Resilience Forum will be a half-day program with three sessions featuring guest speakers presenting case studies, moderated conversations, and audience Q&A. Following the program, continue the conversation over a networking happy hour.

Learn about Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), Trust for Public Land (TPL), and Patterson Elementary School’s collaboration to develop a storm water solution that also provides environmental justice and educational opportunities. These projects are featured in Alison Sant's book From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, who will be moderating the panel.

Hear how commercial property owners are making investments at key moments in a building’s lifecycle to improve environmental efficiencies and drive higher returns.

Hear how local government, news outlets, state representatives, community organizers, and infrastructure design firms might approach opportunities to balance regional needs to move people and goods, improve safety, enhance neighborhoods, and decarbonize the built and transportation environment.  

Agenda 

Doors Open at 12:30 PM  

Welcome 12:45 PM  

Panel 1: 1 - 2 PM - Eco-Inclusivity: Ensuring Green Stormwater Practices Benefit All Communities

10 min break

Panel 2: 2:10 - 3:10 PM - Pivotal Points: Capitalizing on Building Milestones for Environmental Gains 

10 min break  

Panel 3: 3:20 - 4:20 PM - Collaborative Roadmaps: Engaging Multiple Stakeholders to Design and Build More Resilient Regional Transportation System 

Closing Remarks – 4:20 PM – 4:30 PM  

Networking 4:30 - 6 PM