Both Marc Schlossberg (PPPM) and Nico Larco (Architecture) were recently invited to present at a Fulbright-sponsored Academy on sustainable cities and sustainable development, to be held in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, from September 30 to October 3, 2012. The pair will address the UO's cutting-edge Sustainable City Year Program and other research projects of the Sustainable Cities Initiative, which the two professors co-direct.
Marc Schlossberg is an associate professor of planning, public policy and management and also serves as the associate director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC). In addition, he leads a UO Global Seminars program, the Sustainable Bicycle Transportation Planning Field School, held in Denmark and the Netherlands each summer. His work focuses on the use of GIS personal digital assistants (PDA) for public participation, understanding walkability of the built environment, transportation planning, and safe routes to school for children.
Nico Larco is an assistant professor of architecture and also serves as a faculty adviser for designBridge, a student organization that links the UO and the surrounding community by offering design and design-build services to local organizations that need design assistance but lack the resources to hire professional design services. His work focuses on fringe urbanism (suburban design) and the connections between globalization and place. He also served as a guest lecturer and participant in the UO's first-ever Barcelona Urban Design program in summer 2012.
The Fulbright Academy is intended to bring together innovative thinkers, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and other global leaders to discuss what sustainability means in a global context. The conference's organizers intend to have an effect on how cities and environments are designed, planned and administered in the future and to help foster a shared global vision of sustainability. The UO's solid representation at this global event demonstrates the truly international reach of the research and practice that is undertaken by our faculty members, research centers, and students.