June 2013 NYC International Planners Network Conference!

Planners Network Forum 2012 is over, but check out 2013 Planners Network International Conference in New York City. Pretty close to Ithaca, relatively speaking!

Beyond Resilience: Actions for a Just Metropolis
June 6 – 8, 2013, New York City Metro Area
Registration Open! Please visit http://justmetropolis.org/

Cataclysmic events across North America and throughout the world such as Hurricane Sandy lay bare the ongoing crises in low-income communities: unemployment, foreclosures, homelessness, and service cutbacks. However, community-based organizations and activist networks are mobilizing, networking, and filling the gaps left by the failure of local and federal responses. This organizing continues beyond simple resilience, toward building a more just collective future. The conference includes:

• Screening of “My Brooklyn” and a discussion with the filmmaker.
• Dialogue with community groups & residents at mobile community workshops.
• A celebration of justice and action at Pratt Brooklyn’s historic Higgins Hall.
• A full day of diverse conference panels, interactive workshops, and plenaries.
• An evening performance by Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.

Featured speakers include John Davis, Burlington Associates; Mindy Fullilove, NY State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University; Rachel LaForest, Right to the City Alliance; Erminia Maricato, University of São Paolo; Peter Marcuse, Columbia University; Marla Nelson, University of New Orleans; Miguel Robles-Durán, Parsons/New School; Tony Schuman, New Jersey Institute of Technology;Aixa Torres, Smith Houses Resident Association; and dozens more!

Co-sponsored by Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility and Association of Community Design.

2012 Planners Network Forum is over, but we expect to continue using new networks we’ve made, keeping in touch with students and practitioners from other cities and working with our local community partners next fall! We hope Planners Network will continue to have a strong presence in Upstate New York!

We want to thank everyone involved: Our partners in the community, all of the speakers who made long trips just to share their insights, Planners Network for helping spread the word and encourage students to visit the rather difficult-to-get-to Ithaca, Tellez Mexican Grill and Catering, Ithaca Bakery, and Taste of Thai Express for delicious food, our sponsoring organizations, and all the student and faculty help!

We’re excited to announce Kirby White, the expert in all things Community Land Trust, will join our housing panel! This’ll be a great time to talk about how neighborhood housing associations can form partnerships across the community.

We’re pleased to announce Ray Bromley from SUNY Albany will join us to speak about “College campuses and surrounding neighborhoods:  NIMBY, gentrification, degeneration, or redevelopment?”

In addition, we’re honored to host Laura Saija and Antonio Raciti from Università di Catania, speaking about mobilizing residents, officials, and environmentalists from an entire river valley in Sicily to successfully oppose a Mafia-connected incinerator.

Please stay tuned for an updated program and further announcements.

Find an updated program under “Forum Program“. In addition, we’ve partnered with Econo Lodge and have couchshare volunteers, learn more under “Lodging/Travel Info.” We’re waiting on confirmations from a few folks, and we’ll update with more plenary speakers as soon as we get them! But with Chester Hartman, Ken Reardon, community workshops, and more than twenty practitioner, faculty, and student panelists, do you need any other reasons to attend?

We’ve opened registration! Click “register” on the menu above and follow the steps listed!

In other news, we regret that Dr. John Davis will be unable to attend the conference as previously planned. Look forward to an update on new plenary speakers soon!

This 2-day conference provides a forum to share strategies community-level planners, nonprofits, and activists are using to cooperate to achieve regional equity goals, even in the face of shrinking budgets and political opposition. Hosted at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, the conference will include planners, activists, students, and academics from all over the United States and beyond.

Featured Tracks Include:

• Equitable Housing and Community Land Trusts
• Sustainable and Equitable Planning for High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing and Other Challenges
• Food Systems: Urban and Rural, Land to Plate

Featured Activities:

• Plenary Sessions
• Panel and Paper Sessions
• Mobile Workshops and Charrettes in Greater Ithaca area
• Skill-building Sessions
• Social Networking Events in the Community

Click on “Forum Program” for more information or “Call for Panels and Workshops” to learn how you can help. Mark the date; registration will open soon!

Questions? Please email plannersnetworkcornell@gmail.com.

Special thanks to our sponsors:
Organization of Cornell Planners
Cornell Department of City and Regional Planning

This event is funded in part by the Cornell GPSAFC and is open to the public, including the entire Cornell Community.