3.22.2011

Local Stories, Global Audiences: Sharing Ideas in Urban Sustainability

Cities are increasingly crucial players in the quest for human health and global sustainability. The long-popularized notion "Think Globally, Act Locally" has matured from inspirational mantra to core operating principal for many planners, designers, policy makers in cities across the globe who understand that human survival is predicated on cooperation and collaboration. How does this cooperation and collaboration occur? In part, global discourses on planning, design, and sustainable development are influential in expanding knowledge and integrating efforts at the local level.


Jay Coalson, CEO Green Building Services, meets with PSU's Planning Club 

Recently, First Stop Portland hosted a conversation among Jay Coalson, CEO Green Building Services, First Stop Portland Student Ambassadors, and PSU's Masters of Urban and Regional Planning students to discuss the opportunities and challenges of presenting local places to international audiences. In addition, they explored the potential role(s) for planners and programs like First Stop Portland in this global knowledge exchange.

Several important observations emerged from this discussion: