September 10-21, 2007
Towards Urban Sustainability: Cities for the Future
The course will be led by teachers with practical experience of planning, initiating and implementing large-scale urban sustainability projects at the cutting edge of new thinking. They will introduce participants to live projects and the ideas and issues emerging from them, allowing them to see the big picture in the context of their individual and practical reality.
STUDENTS: CLICK HERE FOR LEARNING RESOURCES FOR THIS COURSE
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Artist rendering: Arup
Course Overview:
The need for more homes in the UK is hard to challenge. However, those living nearby and those wishing to protect countryside and biodiversity fiercely resist new buildings. But what if proposed new towns and developments were ecological and sellable?
Dongtan in China is being established as a city as near to 100% carbon-neutral as possible. The speakers on this course, all closely involved with the project, will discuss energy and water technologies, transport, planning and community agendas. Using the example of Dongtan, this course will help participants explore a range of technologies and strategies for application in new developments and housing projects.
With limited scope to build from new, the big challenge is to “retrofit” our cities so they can radically reduce their carbon footprint, dealing creatively with the consequences of decades of sprawl.
Participants will learn about a range of existing ways that urban areas across the globe have reduced environmental impact using dedicated land, transport and economic planning. Areas of study will include Curitiba in Brazil; London, UK; and Portland, Oregon which has reduced its carbon emissions to below 1990 levels whilst still flourishing economically.
This course is intended for planners, architects, local government representatives, transport planners, engineers, community development workers, housing activists and others interested in sustainable urban and rural development.
Herbert Girardet, Peter Head, Alejandro Gutierrez
The teachers on this week of the course are all closely involved in the Dongtan project and will share their in-depth knowledge of the different areas of work involved, as outlined below.
Timetable:
Monday: Arrival by 1 pm. Introduction to each other and College: Gaia theory and Schumacher philosophy.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Herbert Girardet
Thursday: Peter Head
Friday: Alejandro Gutierrez
Course content:
China has the world’s fastest growing economy and most rapid urbanisation, as well as having 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world and CO2 emissions which are fast catching up with the US. But it is beginning to take its environmental problems seriously, and this course will look at one ground-breaking example which could set new patterns in China and across the world. Dongtan Eco-city is probably the most substantial sustainable development project being implemented anywhere on earth. Designed to be a diverse, mixed-use urban environment, it will consist of compact villages set in parkland and intersected by canals and lakes. It is intended to be carbon-neutral and zero-waste, as well as providing employment, schools and health care within each urban district. The first phase, a town of some 30,000 inhabitants, is already under construction and due to be completed in 2010.
Arup, the global design and consulting firm, is responsible for the integrated master planning of Dongtan, providing services in the areas of:
Hank Dittmar, Maggie Brenneke, London representative TBC
Timetable:
Sunday evening: Arrival and introductions
Monday & Tuesday: Hank Dittmar
Wednesday: Maggie Brenneke
Thursday: Representative from London TBC
Friday: Action plans – Taking what’s been learned into the workplace
Mon/Tues – Hank Dittmar: The fundamental premise of this part of the course is that cities are in fact part of nature, as is humankind, and that thinking of cities as artefacts of natural processes can inform the way we plan and design. What are the implications of such an approach for the quality of people’s lives?
This approach means a fundamental rethinking by environmentalists about cities. Traditionally being green has been about embracing wilderness, about opposing development, and cities were seen as soul destroying, noisy, smelly and dirty places. But a closer look reveals that if we look at cities and towns in terms of per capita climate burden, rather than on an area wide basis, they are far more environmentally friendly than sprawling suburbs. And this leads to the design of places to maximise accessibility to other people, to goods and to services – what might be called location efficiency.
We will begin by defining the properties of healthy ecosystems, and look to apply those properties to the conscious process of city making. A series of attributes emerge from the study of complex systems: basic typologies which change slowly, but are highly flexible and adaptable, built in redundancy as a way of ensuring reliability, and feedback loops as a way of responding to change. The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment has begun to evolve tools and techniques for urban design and community involvement that embrace the twin challenges of sustainability and improved quality of life, and simultaneously respond to the challenges of a changing marketplace. These new tools will be presented, along with evidence that demonstrates that urbanism is at the heart of any truly sustainable response to the problem of climate change.
Wed – Maggie Brenneke: In 1993, Portland became the first local government in the United States to adopt a plan to address climate change. Its local action plan identified key strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in six areas: land-use planning, transportation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, solid waste and recycling, and urban forestry. Maggie Brenneke will talk about the successes and challenges the city has experienced, with particular reference to energy issues.
Thurs – speaker to be confirmed: This speaker will discuss how London is addressing the challenges of climate change and the kinds of strategies large cities can follow to achieve maximum effectiveness in reducing their carbon footprint.
Friday – Action plans: On the final morning, participants will work with the course facilitator to reflect on the insights and understanding they have gained, and how this can translate into effective action within their workplace or community.
Departure after lunch.
Can be taken as a one or two week course.
For businesses: One week £1,100. Two weeks £1,700
For individuals, NGOs & Educators: One week £900. Two weeks £1,400
These include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.
How to make an application – click here
For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College
To provisionally reserve a place for 5 days, email us your contact details and the name of the course admin@schumachercollege.org.uk
NOTE: We will hold the place for five working days for reservations – three weeks before a course or earlier. After five days we will automatically offer your place to someone else if we have not received your application.
