The Institute of Urban Studies and the International Institute for Sustainable Development present
A live webcast Munk Debate on climate change featuring
Elizabeth May, George Monbiot, Bjorn Lomborg and Lord Nigel Lawson debating the proposition,
"Be it resolved that climate change is mankind’s defining crisis, and demands a commensurate response.”
Continue reading "IUS Co-Sponsors Munk Debate on Climate Change" »
The Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that the Qualico Group is planning a major residential and mixed-use development in Winnipeg's Exchange District. According to the article,
"Sources said three of the buildings are located are on the north side of Market Avenue, east of Lily Street. They include the former Athletes Wear building at 145 Market. That building used to house a Nygard Fashion World store and is now the new home of Brick's Fine Furniture. The other three buildings are on the south side of James Street, also east of Lily Street."
For context, the reporters spoke to IUS Director Jino Distasio:
"Jino Distasio, director of the University of Winnipeg's Institute of Urban Studies, also called for a mixture of residential and commercial units. 'We want to look at some balance so there's an opportunity for all different kinds of people to get into this very exciting area,' he said. 'And the greater the level of diversity, the easier it is to market them.' He said it's also great to see a major developer like Qualico trying to find a new use for some old downtown buildings, noting Winnipeg has one of North America's largest collections of heritage warehouse buildings. 'We have this great asset and we need to save it.'"
The Institute of Urban Studies, in partnership with the City of Winnipeg, is hosting a series of Housing Consultations in October. The aim of these consultations is to help inform housing policy and provide input into the CityΓÇÖs OurWinnipeg planning process. We invite you to attend this session and welcome your input.
Date of Session: October 22, 2009
The Masonic Memorial Temple at 420 Corydon
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Light refreshments provided
Background:
Housing is a major issue in Winnipeg, and is an important consideration of the City of
Winnipeg's planning and development. WinnipegΓÇÖs policies and strategies must address both current and future residential needs, because housing is an integral part of the communities in which we live, work and play.
Through a process known as SpeakUpWinnipeg, the City has embarked on a considerable public consultation process in its endeavour to create a new plan for the City's future called OurWinnipeg. Citizens of Winnipeg will have a powerful voice in this plan and in determining how our city will grow. Housing will continue to be an important component of this growth.
To say we need more housing is not enough. To optimize growth, we need to plan for
where, what kind, what size, what price, and what tenure of housing will be needed.
We need to better understand needs and desires from various segments of our
population, from developers and investors to homebuyers and tenants. We need a
plan that addresses the housing needs of Winnipeg's diverse population. And we
need to focus on maintaining the housing that already exists in our city.
You are being invited to participate in this open public process. Through a consultation process managed by the Institute of Urban Studies, the City of Winnipeg is actively seeking ideas, interests and opinions of Winnipeggers to update our housing plans and strategies. Please join the citizens of Winnipeg with similar interests for a focused discussion on housing needs and development in Winnipeg. We look forward to meeting with you and hearing your input into this process.
Please call Jillian Golby Borsa at 982-1140 to RSVP or send an email to ius@uwinnipeg.ca
The Winnipeg Free Press has published Michael Dudley's latest book review, of Rebecca Solnit's new book, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster. Solnit writes that instead of the violent anarchy so common in Hollywood disaster movies, history shows that people are much more likely to cooperate, support one another and share what they have. However, governments tend to succumb to "elite panic" and unleash violent responses that can turn natural disasters into catastrophe. The review concludes:
"This recurring spirit of common purpose and generosity leads to her principal and troubling question: what is it about our everyday society that prevents such social possibilities from taking root permanently?
As our cities become more vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change, Solnit warns we will face successive and intensifying disasters.
Unless we combine practical training for dealing with calamity with an official recognition of our tendency for mutual support and aid, rather than for violence and looting, the "elite panic" she describes will lead to ever more terrible consequences."
Members of the Aspen Institute were in Winnipeg yesterday for a Dialogue and Commission on Arctic Climate Change that was held at the University of Winnipeg. The group met with University of Winnipeg President (and Aspen Commission member) Dr. Lloyd Axworthy as well as IUS Director Dr. Jino Distasio, to discuss climate change and Canada's North. According to the Free Press, the group determined that
"[t]he worst-case scenario is a free-for-all Arctic resources grab. The best-case scenario puts planning first and development second...ideally, planned developments in the Arctic should be assessed before any work takes place."
Today the group, including Distasio, flew to Churchill to meet with researchers at the Northern Studies Centre. The trip is timely, as the Institute of Urban Studies and the University of Winnipeg are together engaged with the Town of Churchill on a long-term sustainability planning process, and are due to head up to Churchill at the end of August for a community visioning exercise.
Michael Dudley's newest movie review for the progressive Alternet website discusses how the new film "Moon" illustrates Karl Marx's notions on the alienation of labour:
"Moon...joins a long list of science-fiction movies to make use of the "sinister megacorporation of the future" trope. Like Blade Runner, Outland, the Alien films and RoboCop, Moon portrays a society completely dependent on a vast and unscrupulous corporate entity for its economic well-being. In this case, Lunar Industries has almost complete control over not only the Earth's energy needs but [the main character's] very existence -- so much so that the nature of his existence is in doubt.
However, screenwriters Nathan Parker and Jones do not make Lunar Industries a mere stock villain, but rather use its control over Sam as a way to take Karl Marx's theories on the alienation of labor to their logical extreme."
In the current issue of the University of Winnipeg newspaper the Uniter, journalist Matt Preprost discusses Winnipeg blogs and provides a guide to some "notable" blogs. Included on the list is the IUS CityStates blog, written primarily by Michael Dudley. Preprost writes:
"City States is no stranger to the blogosphere. Writing posts on urban planning, the economy, and architecture since March 2005, this local blog is run out of the Institute of Urban Studies from the University of Winnipeg. It’s smart, critical, and incredibly well researched on developments in Winnipeg."
Michael Dudley's latest Planetizen Interchange post, "Planning for 'Bozos'", looks at public decision-making and economic behaviours in the light of the recent book, Bozo Sapiens.
As a part of the lead up to the Institute's 40th anniversary celebrations this fall, IUS is hosting a special film showing and panel discussion on the past and future of Winnipeg. Co-hosted with SpeakUp Winnipeg, "Souvenirs" will be a screening of Paula Kelly's short films comprised of archival footage found in the City of Winnipeg Archives. Archivist Jody Baltessen and Ms. Kelly will be on hand to explain the origin of the project. After the screenings, a panel will discuss the question, "Can we Build a Resilient Winnipeg Worth Celebrating?"
This free IUS Lecture will take place
7:00 pm
July 23rd, 2009
at the Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall,
University of Winnipeg
Why aren't we perfect? Why is it that none of us can escape making mistakes? Turns out, we're made that way. That's the argument in Michael and Ellen Kaplan's new book Bozo Sapiens, which Michael Dudley reviews in this week's Winnipeg Free Press. It's a popular work of evolutionary psychology that also makes some interesting observations about how our tendencies towards error have larger social and environmental implications:
"What elevates Bozo Sapiens beyond popular science interest is that it connects our faulty reasoning to troubling real-world social conundrums -- such as our tendencies towards racial prejudice and our apparent inability to stop ourselves from destroying the planet. For these reasons, the authors' conclusions are worth our attention, but they are frustratingly brief. Echoing their previous book Chances Are (without actually advising we read it), the Kaplans suggest we think more probabilistically so that we can better connect events to our rules of thumb. While it provides some comfort (readers may be more forgiving of their own shortcomings), the book does raise some disquieting questions about our ability as a species to long survive..."