As part of a Colorado MetroLab project, CU Boulder's environmental design students presented on May 1 their design ideas around enhancing downtown Longmont鈥檚 public areas to city officials and interested residents.
The city of Boulder and a group from CU Boulder led by the Community Engagement, Design and AV名湿 Center (CEDaR), are hosting a high-profile conference听focusing on technology, data and design partnerships.
MetroLab 鈥� a national network of 40 city-university partnerships focused on urban innovation 鈥� is holding听its听annual summit in Boulder Sept. 19 - 20. The听national event attracts leading policy-makers, academics and relevant industry and nonprofit professionals.听
The conference provides听an opportunity for researchers and city staff from across the country to听explore city-university partnerships听similar to those听developed between CU Boulder and听surrounding听cities and counties, says Brian Muller, associate professor of environmental design and CEDaR's director.听As part of the Colorado partnerships, the university serves as a research and development arm while the city serves听as a test听bed for technologies and policies, and students benefit from real-world experience.听
"At the heart of CU Boulder's听MetroLab initiative is a听relationship-building philosophy,"听Muller says.听"University听researchers and local policymakers learn about each other鈥檚 priorities, which helps faculty tailor their research around tangible, urban issues, current policy discussions and benefits to Colorado citizens. At the same time Metrolab projects are designed to inspire student research through seminars, thesis projects and sponsored internships, which simultaneously strengthens the University's teaching mission.
Julia Richman, the City of Boulder Chief Innovation and Technology Officer, said the city is excited to co-host MetroLab Network鈥檚 annual summit.
鈥淲e are lucky听to have a world-class university in our community and benefit from our partnerships with their professors and students on a regular basis," Richman said.听"We cannot wait to share our successes and lessons learned on our path to making Boulder a hub for innovation.鈥澨�
Who: Leaders from local governments, universities, industries听and nonprofits
What:听MetroLab Annual Summit, a national convening of city-university partnerships.听
When: Sept. 19-20
奥丑别谤别:听), CU Boulder,听4001 Discovery Dr.,听听Boulder听
贰迟肠:听听Among other panels at the summit is a听Colorado-focused workshop,听"Climate Change and AV名湿 Needs of Local Governments:听 CU Boulder and Colorado Cases."听 Participants will discuss climate change research priorities in local and state government and related research partnerships.
Colorado MetroLab
The national MetroLab Network, a collaborative of 45 cities, six听counties, and 61 universities, was launched听in 2015 by 21 founding city-university pairings as part of the Obama administration鈥檚 Smart Cities Initiative.听
With the support of CEDaR, CU Boulder has entered into MetroLab memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the cities of Denver, Boulder, and Longmont as well as Boulder County, and a number of research projects have been initiated under these MoUs.听Local governments听collaborate with students and faculty to do research, develop and deploy technologies and design policy approaches to address challenges within听urban areas.听
Colorado MetroLab's projects are diverse, ranging from innovations in policy and spatial analysis to new uses of building materials and design, Muller says.听All focus on building vital and efficient cities and addressing issues of equity, affordability and community involvement.
Through Colorado MetroLab's partnership听with the city of Denver, the partners developed听the Green Infrastructure Decision Tool, an innovative, data-rich forecasting and decision-making听tool that assesses the effects of growth and climate change on built and natural urban surfaces.
Sarah Anderson, green infrastructure program manager for the City and County of Denver, says the听collaborative effort resulted in an impervious cover听forecasting model that looked at the rate of impervious cover change, the drivers and potential impacts as well as mitigation tools.听
鈥淭he partnership with CU Boulder through MetroLab has been incredibly valuable to the City and County of Denver," Anderson said. "Based on the data and recommendations from CU Boulder, Denver鈥檚听Green Infrastructure Group is moving forward with policy change recommendations that address the actual problems and drivers versus a more traditional trial and error approach."听听
"I anticipate this partnership with CU Boulder and听MetroLab lasting for many years to come," she adds.
The Boulder campus has a similar relationship with the city of Boulder and Boulder County around housing, including听technology and policy for manufactured housing. Initially CU Boulder students performed an analysis of the sustainability of mobile home parks in Boulder County. Then environmental design (ENVD) students and faculty re-engineered an existing mobile home as a demonstration of energy efficiency. Four interdisciplinary seminars were conducted to assess strategies for retrofit of mobile home parks. Building on this experience, CU and local governments co-sponsored two statewide and regional conferences on manufactured housing.
Seed funding for these projects comes from the city of Boulder, CU Boulder's Office for Outreach and Engagement, the AV名湿 &听Innovation Office and the Program in Environmental Design. These efforts have led to two National Science Foundation proposals and a major foundation grant, submitted in collaboration听with local governments, engineering and business faculty, Boulder Housing Partners and others.
"This project follows听CEDaR鈥檚 philosophy," Muller says.听"It鈥檚 about relationships built over long periods of time that flow from project to project."