Professor David Prosperi, alumna Maribel Feliciano, second year MURP student Karl Bursa, and SURP's Planning Abroad course are all featured at the 45th ISOCARP Congress held in Portugal this October

The 45th International Congress of the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), under the theme Low Carbon Cities, was held in Porto, Portugal in October, 2009.  FAU’s School of Urban and Regional Planning was a major contributor to the event, and was, in fact, the largest presence of any U.S.-based planning school.

SURP faculty, alumni, and students all played a major role in this congress.  Two academic papers, by Feliciano and Prosperi and by Hirschler and Prosperi, were selected for Track 5 – Management of Low Carbon Cities.  The first paper, co-authored by recent alumna Maribel Feliciano, “Potentials and Pitfalls in Planning for Low-Carbon Cities:  The Case of Broward County Florida” addresses the role of local governments and the experiences of Broward County, Florida and is based on Feliciano’s recent MURP Planning Project titled “Incorporating ‘Energy Conservation and Climate Change’ into the Conservation Element of the Broward County Comprehensive Plan” completed in May, 2009.  The second paper, co-authored by Petra Hirschler of the Center of Regional Planning and Regional Development, Department of Spatial Development and Infrastructure and Environment, Vienna Institute of Technology (VIT), “Thinking Long-Term About Post-Carbon Society” is a synopsis of the Planning Abroad courses Post-Petroleum Planning conducted jointly by FAU and VIT in the spring and summer of 2009.  The paper reviews the proposals developed by four groups of combined FAU/VIT students described as “Bubble Villages”, “Regiopolis 2050”, “Alternative Energy Conspiracy”, and “The Future! This Way!”.  FAU Students who participated include current MURP students Karl Bursa, Cara Capp, Joann Skaria, recent MURP student Feliciano, two current BURP students Diana Mendoza, Cliff Sherley, and FAU undergraduate student Mikal Jakimowski.

Second year MURP student Karl Bursa was selected, from a large international pool, to be one of 18 Young Planning Professionals (defined as under the age of 32).  The Young Planning Professionals conducted a separate workshop in the Duoro (port wine growing) region of Portugal aimed at developing proposals for renewable energies.  The YPP program is sponsored by a number of international organizations including the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM).  Professor Prosperi was one of the coordinators (appointed as the official ISOCARP representative) of the YPP experience.  His “team” of YPP’s included individuals from Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Iran, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland in addition to two local planning professionals from Portugal. 

See the results of their workshop here.

Dr. Prosperi was also a member of the ISOCARP awards review committee which this year selected two projects from China and one from Dubai for ISOCARP Awards for Excellence.    The awards were presented in Gdansk, Poland on World Town Planning Day: November 8, 2009.