The Canadian Institute of Planners Climate Change + Communities Conference will bring together
planning professionals from Canada and other countries to address the transnational planning issues of
climate change.
Through presentations and workshops, participants will share their experiences in working in
climate change adaptation programs, develop creative strategies, acquire the tools for action, and learn
how to measure success. This multi-disciplinary, international conference will provide essential
information on the science of climate change as it relates to planning practice.

“Corralling storm water for good use is immensely appealing in a city that’s still dubious about leaving its safety in the hands of the levee builders. Drainage structures designed to fit into neighborhoods could make the city infinitely more attractive. And the building could be in manageable chunks.

“I don’t see this as a 5-year plan,” said Waggonner, “but a 50-year one.”

Elements of Waggonner’s living-with-water proposal have been included in the city’s masterplan, which is close to adoption, and the idea has the backing of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. Yet his vision could vaporize, as so many post-Katrina plans have.

Its unique power is the promise that New Orleanians need no longer cower in the shadows of their endless, dispiriting levee walls. They could begin living gracefully with their age-old aquatic enemy.”

At left, the Old River Control Structure prevents the Mississippi from jumping its channel into the Atchafalaya stream.

“Five years after Hurricane Katrina, this administration remains committed to ensuring the vitality of the Gulf Coast, the prosperity of its economy and the health of its residents. Our work continues today, and will carry on until the area is back on the path to prosperity. One of the valuable lessons we’ve learned is that building safe, healthy communities means rebuilding and revitalizing the wetlands that are at the heart of the Gulf Coast.”

View the complete article here.

David Waggonner will participate in a round table discussion called Project Eco-Delta: Design for Coastal Cities at the Venice Biennale 2010. The discussion, initiated by the Van Alen Institute and Environmental Defense Fund, will also include delegates from AECOM, ARO, ARCADIS, and Ove Arup.

“On August 29th, 2010, Van Alen Institute and Environmental Defense Fund will host a roundtable discussion examining the environmental challenges faced by Coastal Cities in the 21st Century. We will convene at the US Pavilion to discuss with leading experts in the fields of design, engineering, and science, the innovative ways they are addressing the needs of fragile deltas and the communities living in them.

Van Alen Institute has been working for the past year on a major design initiative in the Lower Mississippi River Delta with Environmental Defense Fund. This case study will be presented as a starting point for discussion of potential approaches to natural systems restoration, the integration of livable communities and productive landscapes, as well as infrastructure adaptability to the ongoing changes in the region.”

Van Alen Institute is an independent non-profit architectural organization whose mission is to promote inquiry into the processes that shape the design of the public realm.

“The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) is a non-profit organization that coordinates urban, rural and regional planning efforts in Louisiana. We provide best-practice planning models, innovative policy ideas, and technical assistance to individual communities that wish to create and enact master plans dealing with transportation and infrastructure needs, equitable housing opportunities, environmental issues, and quality design for the built environment.  CPEX brings community members and leaders together and provides guidance as they work toward a shared vision for future growth and development.”

Derek Hoeferlin, Senior Lecturer at the Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University in St. Louis, presented his Gutter to Gulf studio’s related work on water planning created in collaboration with the University of Toronto.

“I think New Orleans is in a process of adaptation.  The changes we need to make are fundamental.  But I believe they’re conceivable and I believe they’re achievable in time.  I hope that we can learn from the past, that we can have some sort of ecological and communal memory of what’s happened and that we can learn from these events.  I hope we can accept the fact that we’re part of this earth.   I believe that New Orleans has to be rebalanced.  I think that if it is rebalanced, if its place at the bottom of this American watershed is reinforced, if the vitality of the river is appreciated, then we have in urban design terms an achievable challenge.  Where we no longer waste soil and ignore water, but start to say these are the most valuable things.  And from that rebalancing this culture can grow back with new strength.  I do hope that is the future for New Orleans.”

Listen to the full podcast and find additional Katrina Anniversary commentary from the APA here.

Waggonner will address the idea of Living with Water, including how New Orleans is a “water city that has denied itself” and how the embrace of water in practical and symbolic terms is crucial to sustainable delta urbanism.  Other presenters include New Orleans’s Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, restaurateur John Besh, Tulane President Scott Cowen, and leaders from environmental and cultural advocacy groups in the region.  All presentations will be available online following the event at tedxnola.com.  The event will take place on Friday, August 27th at 9 am.  Additional event and ticket information can be found at the organizer’s website.

“In short segments hosted by John Goodman, Shearer speaks candidly with local residents about life in New Orleans. Together, they explore the questions that Americans outside of the Gulf region have been pondering in the five years since Katrina: Why would people choose the live below sea level? Why is it important to rebuild New Orleans?”

More information, including a trailer, can be found at The Big Easy and on Harry Shearer’s website.