Urban Sustainable Design Studio 2009

What might these things have to do with urban sustainability? Well, fair readers, the answer is nothing. They have, however, had much to do with keeping the USDS 2009 participants sane and on track (and perhaps a little entertained, too) during our last full week. With Green Drinks quickly approaching, we had a busy week. Here are some highlights:

Suzanne Malec McKenna

On Wednesday we met with Suzanne Malec McKenna, Chicago’s Commissioner of the Department of the Environment. Suzanne spoke with us about the work of the DoE to promote and enable energy efficiency in buildings as well as the manufacturing sector, and about the complexities of waste management in Chicago. We were impressed with the Department’s development of community based networks and communication models to spread the word about climate change in Chicago’s varied neighborhoods. Thanks Suzanne!

Prairie Crossing

The Prairie Crossing project was concluded this week with a bang-up presentation by Dimitri, Sandeep, and Sonja. They delivered our proposals for community building and public outreach activities to Ben Ranney. Ben seemed quite receptive to our ideas for capitalizing on the many existing assets at Prairie Crossing.

Plastic Bags

For the Plastic Bags group, week 8 culminated in a meeting with Alderman Schulter on Friday afternoon. The team presented various plastic bag reduction plans which focus on voluntary retailer participation, and the Alderman was very supportive. The next steps will include coordinating people in the city to work on this issue and commencing discussions with various local retailers.

Crossing Communities

The Crossing Communities group spent the week compiling the fruits of their research into a logical framework. The team was able to distill the many lessons learned through evaluating projects and programs into four main principles for working in communities outside one’s own. These principles are the basis for a design protocol that now needs to be tested on an actual project.

Michael Berkshire

On Friday afternoon we met with Michael Berkshire, Green Projects Administrator for the City of Chicago.  He spoke about the Environmental Action Plan and the wide role of urban planning in the city of Chicago.    Thanks, Michael!

As we hunker down for these last few days, it’s hard to believe our summer at USDS is almost complete!  We hope to see you at Green Drinks!