New Year’s Greetings,By now, everyone knows about the work of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy and our master’s degrees in Urban and Regional Policy, Law and Public Policy (PhD also) and closely affiliated MPA program. And of course, everyone knows about the Open Classroom (Climate Change. Challenges. Solutions. started this week). This month I’d like to tell everyone about impact we are having that you might not know about.Northeastern Students4Giving (NS4G) is part of our Human Services undergraduate program. NS4G engages students in real-dollar grant making that enables them to explore social change from the funding and implementation perspectives. This year, students have chosen post-incarceration reintegration and community mental health as their funding priorities. As part of its Social Impact Lecture Series (funded by the Arthur K. Watson Charitable Trust) NS4G hosted Emmanuel Jal on December 6th. The Northeastern News described his story as “a harrowing journey from child soldier in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in the late 1980s to international hip-hop star and humanitarian of the Internet age.”
This spring, NS4G’s 2013 Social Impact Conference will focus on philanthropy’s role in policy, advocacy, and systems change. The group is also looking forward to the launch of GivingwithPurpose, a massive open online course (MOOC) on effective charitable giving developed in partnership with the Buffett family’s Learning by Giving Foundation. The course will feature interviews with Warren Buffett, his sister Doris, Cal Ripken, Jr., and other well-known philanthropists who will share lessons they have learned through their personal giving. To learn more about NS4G, please visit www.northeastern.edu/ns4g. We’re really proud of NS4G and the innovative work it is doing in student philanthropy.
SPPUA also hosts visiting scholars in residence. This fall we welcomed Catherine Tumber, author of Small, Gritty, and Green: The Promise of America’s Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World (MIT Press). Since coming to SPPUA, Catherine published a book review in The Nation in December and just published an article on the importance of midsize cities in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Here’s the link: http://www.democracyjournal.org/27/the-medium-apples.php.
Finally, I’d like to report on an interesting capstone project a group of our students worked on last semester in Quincy. Nine students completed a series of plans for the redevelopment of the Quincy Center T station, which lies adjacent to the $1.6 billion New Quincy Center redevelopment project, one of the largest downtown redevelopment initiatives in the country. The garage structure above the T station was condemned this summer due to structural problems. Students examined alternative visions for redevelopment of the station and garage, partnership arrangements for financing the redevelopment, and the future role of parking on the site. Their final presentation at Quincy City Hall was attended by officials from the Mayor’s Office, the MBTA, and Streetworks, the lead developer in the New Quincy Center project. The project was guided by Professor Gavin Shatkin. We are always looking for clients for our capstone projects—do let us know if you have a project that might be relevant.
These are just a few examples of how the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs is making a real impact in academics, research and even philanthropy. I look forward to telling you about new projects in 2013 as they unfold.
Best Wishes for the New Year,
Joan Fitzgerald
Interim Dean, School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Open Classroom – Spring 2013
Climate Change. Challenges. Solution
  
Led by Matthias Ruth, Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Civil and Environmental Engineering; Joan Fitzgerald, Interim Dean, School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and author of Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development (Oxford Univ. Press); and Douglas Foy, President of Serrafix Corporation and formerly President of the Conservation Law Foundation.
Climate change is back on the public radar screen, yet how we respond to it remains controversial. Among the questions we will address are: How much do humans influence climate change? To what extent will greenhouse gas emissions need to be curbed, and how? Or, is it too late to make a difference and should we begin to adapt to new climate conditions? What is the relative role of renewable and nuclear energy as clean alternatives to fossil fuels? How is the military responding to the threat of climate change? This course will explore these and many other questions about climate change – from the perspectives of science, technology, policy, law and ethics and through the voices of leaders from the research and practitioner communities.
Faculty Highlights
Congratulations to Professor Barry Bluestone on receiving The Boyle Award at the Labor Guild’s 46th annual Cushing-Gavin Awards
On Friday, December 7th, Barry Bluestone and 3 other awardees were recognized for their excellence in labor relations. Sponsored by The Labor Guild of Boston – Archdiocese of Boston, the Cushing-Gavin Awards are a “salute to the labor relations community.”
Professor Barry Bluestone, founding Dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and founding Director of the Dukakis Center, received The Boyle Award in honor of his countless contributions to labor relations.
The Reverend Edward F. Boyle Award recognizes individuals in a wide range of professions and roles in the labor relations field including arbitrators, academics, public agency personnel, and support professionals.
Click HERE to view the program and learn more about the awardees.
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| Recent Faculty Blog Articles
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Upcoming EventsWednesday, January 16
Open Classroom Series: Climate Change. Challenges. Solutions.:
The Governance Challenge
Sonia Hamel, An advisor to governments and foundations on energy, transportation, and climate change policy. Past director of Air Policy and Planning in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and special assistant in the Office for Commonwealth Development
Bill Moomaw, Professor of International Environmental Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
6:00 to 8:00 pm
In the NewsHow will the fiscal cliff compromise bill affect you?
MassLive.com | January 3Brighter outlook for Mass. businesses in 2013
The Boston Globe | December 30
Brookline hostess prides herself on her parties
The Boston Globe | December 25
Top 10 Myths About Mass Shootings
The Chronicle of Higher Education | December 18
New journal explores urban climate change
Northeastern News | December 11
From child soldier to hip-hop star
Northeastern News | December 10
Manufacturers and businesses struggle to find skilled workers
MassLive.com | December 10
Mass. has the vision to fix transportation
The Boston Globe | December 9
Declaring peace in teacher contract talks
The Boston Globe | December 8
No single cause in state’s economic slowdown
The Boston Globe | December 7
Forecast sees slow economic growth in New England
Bloomberg Businessweek | December 5
Bay State projected to return to pre-recession employment levels by mid-2014
Boston Business Journal | December 5
CitySMARTS
CitySMARTS (Students Making A Revolutionary Transformation in urban Society) is a graduate student group founded by members of the MURP program.
CitySMARTS provides a forum for students – both in and outside of the Policy School – to get together and discuss classes, share research ideas, work on projects to improve the community, and get to know each other better. For instance, a research project that a public policy student is working on can sometimes benefit from the input of an architect or civil engineer. Similarly, a student may not know that he or she is applying to a job where another student works. CitySMARTS attempts to provide linkages between students that would be otherwise unavailable.
The group also has a community service focus. Many members are connected to programs that have a focus on public policy or public service, and therefore the students tend to be interested in community improvement initiatives. Some students have attended local campaign events together, while others have organized community projects such as a massive recycling drive when students move back on campus in early September. One of the strengths of the group is its interdisciplinary nature, assuring that almost everyone will find shared interests with others.
• Nathan Peyton, President
• Michelle Lydenberg, Vice President
• Zak Patten, Treasurer
• Lindsay Morgia, Communications Rep
email: CitySMARTS.Northeastern@gmail.com
Opportunities
| Jobs, Fellowships and InternshipsDid you know that we regularly receive and post job, fellowship, and internship opportunities?Click HERE to see the listings. |
| Upcoming Fellowship Application DeadlinesLincoln Institute of Land PolicyC. Lowell Harriss Dissertation Fellowship Program
Application due date: February 1, 2013
The Rappaport Fellowship
Public Policy Summer Fellowship
Application due date: January 18, 2013 |
The School of Public Policy & Urban Affairs is part of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University.
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