CCS had the pleasure of attending the annual Louisiana Smart Growth Summit this November in Baton Rouge hosted by the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX). In the face of "environmental changes occurring quicker than anticipated and social and economic disparities widening" the Smart Growth Summit aims to address the challenges facing Louisiana and imbue a sense of urgency on planners and decision makers. CCS was especially excited to attend this summit because of the working relationship the officers have formed with the CPEX team through our projects with UNO-CHART: Louisiana Strategic Adaptation for Future Environments (LA SAFE), Global Round Table, and a post-disaster redevelopment plan for Jean Lafitte.
The principal theme of the Smart Growth Summit was 'resilience'. Panel topics on this themed ranged from the opening plenary "Louisiana: On the Frontier of Resilience" to "Adaptation Strategies for the Future" to "Front Lines of Resilience: A look to Miami". The Summit hosted two workshops revolving around this theme, one titled "Resilience in Action" and "Regional Watershed Management". Panels touched on other topics too, such as "Smart Towns, Big Character", "Ethics in Planning", "The Future of Transit and Mobility", and others.
The Summit hosted a bevy of big name planners, researchers, and decision makers. Among them were Louisiana Governor, John Bel Edwards himself, Abita Springs Mayor, Greg Lemons, and President & CEO of the East Baton Rouge Development Authority, Christopher Tyson. Joyce Coffee, the president of Climate Resilience Consulting spoke on a panel and ran the 3 hour long "Resilience in Action" workshop where participants were encouraged to speak their minds about the state of Louisiana's resilience framework. Richard Rothstein, author of the 2017 book "The Color of Law", gave a powerful speech about the "forgotten history of our government segregated America" and the myth of "defacto segregation". Mr. Rothstein's speech was followed by a panel discussion that included Johnathan Leit of Alembic Community Development who previously gave UNO PLUS students and alumni a tour of Dryades Public Market during the Alumni Social Hour hosted by the Crescent City Shapers.
The 2018 Louisiana Smart Growth Summit provided CCS and other UNO students in attendance with a fresh perspective into the planning world, as well as good networking opportunity. The summit inspired us, and it reaffirmed our commitment to cities and their citizens.
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