Engaging and Empowering Youth

This is a sponsored event by Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs.

Myra Kraft Open Classroom, Spring 2021: Inspiring Design

Featuring:

• Ann Yoachim, Director and Professor of Practice, The Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design at Tulane University
• Julian Wellisz, Transitional Spaces

After a popular makeshift skatepark in New Orleans was demolished, Transitional Spaces, a volunteer-based group of young skaters, approached Tulane University’s Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design for help with developing a new one on city-owned land beneath a highway overpass. Join Small Center Director Ann Yoachim and Transitional Spaces’ Jullian Wellisz for a conversation about how the university-based community design center engaged neighborhood residents, skaters, School of Architecture students, engineering and design professionals, and public agencies in a collaborative design/build process that created Parisite Skatepark (2019 RBA Silver Medalist), the city’s first public skatepark. They’ll discuss how community-engaged design approaches empower and build capacity of people and communities, influence the next generation of designers and practice, and shape the future of cities.

Learning Objectives

• Understand and describe how investment in recreational amenities can address community welfare and affect economic, environmental, and social change.
• Discuss the value of engaging in collaborative partnerships in the planning, design, and development of inclusive, community-driven projects.
• Describe community-engaged design approaches and practices and how they empower and build the capacity of people and communities.
• Discuss how university-based design centers are resources for cities, educate the next generation of designers, and influence the future of practice.