Conferences

The Planners Network Annual Conference

Click here for a listing of all the PN Conferences

Planners Network National Conference 2013
Beyond Resilience: Actions for a Just Metropolis

June 6 – 8, 2013, New York City Metro Area
Please visit http://justmetropolis.org/ for more information and registration.

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:

Thursday night screening of “My Brooklyn,” and a discussion with the filmmaker.
A dialogue with community groups and residents at mobile community workshops.
A Friday night celebration of justice and action at Pratt Brooklyn’s historic Higgins Hall.
A full Saturday of diverse conference panels, interactive workshops, and plenaries.
A Saturday evening performance by the dynamic 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 did not have a national conference in 2012 but will had an event in Los Angeles at the time of the American Planning Association Conference in late April. More details will be provided as we have them.

PLANNERS NETWORK ACTIVITIES AT THE 2012 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION MEETING IN LOS ANGELES AT LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER – PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

Saturday, April 14, 2012, at 3:00 pm
A People’s Planning Tour of MacArthur Park

Tour meet-up spot: Mama’s Hot Tamales, 2122 W. Seventh St., Los Angeles, CA 90057

From LA Convention Center: Leave Mobile Workshop departure area at 2:30 pm
RSVP here: http://bit.ly/ze938U

Located just east of Koreatown and just north of the largely Latino and Central-American Pico Union neighborhood, MacArthur Park sits at the crossroads of countless racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities. Although it is historically associated with gang violence and, more recently, with clashes between police and demonstrators, the park has become an incubator for some of LA’s most innovative and successful social justice initiatives. The tour will highlight efforts by residents, labor, and community groups around MacArthur Park to support immigrant entrepreneurship, improve working conditions for low-wage workers, advance public safety for youth and families, create equitable transit-oriented development, and more. After the tour, we will head to La Cita Bar in Downtown LA for happy hour. The UCLA Planners Network chapter and UCLA Urban Spelunkers are hosting this tour.

Planners Network Dinner and Panel
Insurgent/Advocacy Planning – Los Angeles and Beyond

When: Sunday, April 15, 2012, at 6 pm.

Where: El Cholo Restaurant, 1037 S. Flower Street. This famous Mexican restaurant is at the intersection of 11th and Flower, several blocks north of the APA meeting.

Cost: The dinner is a no-fee event, and those attending can order from the El Cholo menu; however, the restaurant requires we pay with one check.

Parking: If you are driving, there is inexpensive parking on Hope Street, one block east. 1028 Hope Street charges $5. Two lots between 11th and 12th are slightly cheaper.

Program: Introductory remarks by Marie Kennedy, co-editor of PN’s journal, Progressive Planning, and report by the PN Chapter at UCLA. Followed by panel with several local activists engaged in major planning disputes determining the shape and character of Los Angeles and many other US cities for decades to come:
1) Sandra McNeill, Trust South LA, on community opposition to the nearby USC master plan and specific plan.
2) Doug Haines, East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, on the campaign to stop the high density/low amenity Hollywood Community Plan Update.
3) Jim O’Sullivan, Fix-the-City, a party to law suits against the City of Los Angeles for failing to maintain and monitor its legally required General Plan.

RSVP/Contact: Dick Platkin, dick.platkin@gmail.com or 213-308-6354, to establish a head count for the restaurant, give directions, and answer questions.: Sunday, April 15, 2012, at 6 pm.

2011 Planners Network National Conference Promoting Economic Development through Regional
Cooperation, Planning, and Development

May 18 -21, 2011, The University of Memphis

Highlights:

National Speakers on Progressive Strategies for Rebuilding Our Economy
18 Community-Based, Resident-Led Planning Charettes in TN, AK, and MS
View and Meet the Producers of the Award-Winning “I Am A Man” – a film exploring the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and Join of Discussion of Contemporary Labor Rights
Enjoy an Evening of Music, Dance, and Discussion on the Role of Culture in Economic Development at the STAX Museum of American Soul Music (Just Think: Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Booker T and the MGs, Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and Isaac Hayes)
Tours of the National Civil Rights Museum, Kayaking on the Wolf River, Visits to SUN Music, and Graceland!

For More Info: www.memphis.edu/plannersnetwork/

2010 Planners Network Conference
June 16 – 20, San Francisco Bay Area

The information for the 2010 Conference, co-sponsored Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR), New Village Press, Planners Network (PN), Young Planners Network, Association for Community Design (ACD) and The Center for the Living City can be found at http://justmetropolis.org