Representatives from more than 20 U.S. and Canadian universities — including the University of Hawaii at Manoa — will attend the April 18-20 University of Oregon Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI) workshop for schools interested in adapting SCI’s Sustainable City Year Program to their home institutions.
Nearly 40 attendees will meet in Eugene, Ore., with city staffers from the University of Oregon’s three partner cities — Eugene, Portland and Salem — to hear about how the SCY program works.
“Attendance had been limited to 20, but SCI staff had to double that number due to high demand,” said conference spokeswoman Aria Seligmann.
“Communities across the country face an urgent need to implement sustainable urban design, while local governments lack the knowledge to effectively address the issue,” said Seligmann.
“In 2008, the Sustainable Cities Initiative at the University of Oregon created the Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) to bridge this gap. “SCYP is a nationally recognized, unique service-learning program that connects passionate faculty and motivated students with local governments to revolutionize the way cities are imagined,” she said. “SCYP introduces students to the idea of infusing sustainability into the policies and physical structures of cities. Students gain experience working with real clients.”
Other universities sending officials to the meeting include Arizona State, Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities, Chico State, Evergreen State College, Missouri State, Penn State, San Francisco Foundation, Simon Fraser University, University of California-Davis, University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, University of North Carolina, University of San Francisco, University of Victoria, University of Texas at Austin and Washington State University.
