Civic Engagement

Bringing the field to the academy and the academy to the field

Penn is widely recognized as an innovator in forging meaningful university community connections. The Institute seeks to build on this reputation by engaging the University and the public around issues of urban challenges and opportunities in order to inform public discourse and influence urban policy.

Penn IUR's past initiatives in civic engagement have included: New Downtowns: A Conference on the Future of Urban Centers, Poor Young Black & Male: A Case for National Action, Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina, the Mayors' Institute on City Design, the Franklin Conference, and the Public Interest Series.

New Downtowns: A Conference on the Future of Urban Centers

On April 21, 2006, the Penn Institute for Urban Research and Princeton's Policy Research Institute for the Region hosted a conference on the evolution of downtowns. The conference focused on the changing economics or downtowns, the changing politics of downtowns, and what influence these factors should have on the design of these areas.

 

Poor, Young, Black & Male: A Case for National Action?

Penn IUR, in conjuction with Professor Elijah Anderson and the Penn Sociology Department, hosted "Poor, Young, Black & Male: A Case for National Action?" on April 20-21, 2006. This conference addressed the worsening situation of the poor, young, black man as a first step toward identifying solutions.

 

Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina

On February 2-3, 2006, the Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted "Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina." This interactive symposium brought together scholars and experts from around the country to discuss issues related to rebuilding the urban communities along the Gulf Coast.


The Mayors Institue on City Design

On November 16-18, 2005, Penn IUR hosted the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD). The three-day conference is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.


The Franklin Conference

In 2004, Penn IUR sponsored the Franklin Conference Schools Forum 2004.

Penn Praxis and the Graduate School of Education's Center for School Study Councils have developed the Franklin Conference, a model civic engagement format that stimulates meaningful public discourse across a broad spectrum of urban issues.

This program explores a proposed urban project, pairing expert opinion, often from university scholars, with citizen deliberation, through conferences, seminars, newspaper articles and other methods. It develops and publicizes guiding principles and other recommendations for the project's execution and makes them available to the public and to those charged with executing the project.


Public Interest Series

Penn IUR conducts the Penn IUR Public Interest Series to highlight timely topics that join members of the university and public policy communities in discussions of critical urban policies. Building on the success of the Urban Studies Program's Public Conversation Series, the Penn IUR seeks to expand the opportunities for discussion of urban-focused research and topics.

Past series events have included:

The Institute will sponsor several Penn IUR Public Interest Symposia annually. The selection of speakers and topics is based on consultation with the Institute's Advisory Board and Executive Committee and on in-house knowledge of current issues. Penn IUR works closely with the Urban Studies program to ensure that the series is complementary to the Public Conversations program and builds on the growing interest in the complexity of urban issues faced by practitioners and academia. If you have ideas about speakers or topics for our Public Interest Series, please email jnewton2@pobox.upenn.edu.

For information about upcoming forums and symposia, visit our upcoming events list.