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March 2017
Screening of Count Me In by Ines Sommer
Great Cities Institute is hosting a screening of Count Me In - a documentary about participatory budgeting (PB) here in Chicago. PB is a democratic process by which citizens decide how to spend public money. To date, over $25 million have been allocated to fund projects across the city. The documentary follows PB stakeholders across Chicago as they work through the PB process. Join us for a viewing of the film, followed by a panel discussion with filmmaker Ines Sommer and…
Find out more »How the Illinois International Port District can make a SPLASH: Jobs, development, and innovation!
This talk will focus on the five-year strategic plan for the Illinois International Port District and how the plan is designed to bring viability back to the Port with a focus on E.R.I.C. strategies (economic and environmental, recreational, industrial, and conservation). Clayton Harris III and the Illinois International Port District are committed to developing and maintaining a world-class port that operates as a modern, strategically driven facility and is focused on generating and expanding economic activity and employment for the…
Find out more »Revitalizing neighborhoods and creating jobs through high-impact initiatives
CNI is a not-for-profit community development corporation focused on mixed-use real estate developments on Chicago's Far South Side and is a Community Development Entity investing New Market Tax Credits in high impact neighborhood projects. Chicago neighborhood initiatives was formed in 2010 to coordinate resources, economic development and neighborhood revitalization efforts in chicagoland’s low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. CNI seeks to revitalize neighborhoods and create jobs by developing high impact projects, providing financial resources to entrepreneurs and sustaining long-term community partnerships. Doig has…
Find out more »April 2017
Tourism, visitors, and fiscal impacts on a local economy in the Calumet area
The Calumet area at the Illinois/Indiana border is rich in world class prairie and savanna habitats, the best trail network in the region, a stretch of the 1000 mile Lake Michigan National Recreation (lake kayaking) Trail, the Pullman National Monument, the A. Philip Randolph Museum, some great microbreweries, music festivals, the best windsurfing in the region, the Little Calumet River Water Trail, a stretch of the 500 mile Grand Illinois Trail, and its intersection with the 4600 mile coast-to-coast American…
Find out more »From ‘Policy Vacuum’ to ‘Policy Swell’: Comprehending the Changing Nature of Urban Planning in Contemporary India
This presentation will illustrate how urban India has moved from a state of ‘policy vacuum’ to ‘policy swell’ in the last two decades and what it means for our understanding of the country’s approach to urban planning and development. The central government, for instance, has sponsored many planning policies and follow-up development programs ranging from the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy to the ongoing Smart Cities Mission, Clean India, HRIDAY, AMRUT, and the recently concluded Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban…
Find out more »Using Social Enterprises to Survive Uncertain Times and Why Should Not-For-Profits Launch Social Enterprises?
Mark Yates has over two decades of experience working and teaching in the private and public sectors, after which he decided to put his financial acumen and accounting management skills to work in the nonprofit sector. He joined Safer Foundation in 2007 as Associate Vice President, Accounting. His leadership in the development and implementation of strategic plans helped guide Safer Foundation during a critical period of organizational growth. A nationally recognized expert facilitator and instructor of accounting, Mark also has extensive…
Find out more »June 2017
Jobs for Climate and Justice: A Worker Alternative
The impacts of climate change are increasingly severe, taking a toll on our health, environment and our economies. Jobs for Climate and Justice proposes the kind of economic program we must fight for and offers examples of the great organizing efforts around the country – led by working people – that provide the foundation for a transition to a just and climate-safe economy. It is organized based on four elements: Create good jobs fixing the climate Protect threatened workers and communities Remedy inequality and…
Find out more »September 2017
Understanding India’s New Approach to Spatial Planning and Development: A Salient Shift?
How is India planning its diverse range of settlements, which vary from rapidly growing cities to remote villages? Have changes in the country’s polity influenced its approach to the spatial planning and development of urban and rural areas? Taking the regime change in the early 1990s as a point of departure, this book focuses on the complex nature of India’s ongoing urbanization and transformations in the interrelated, but rarely-studied-together, domains of infrastructure finance and development, local planning practice, and on-the-ground…
Find out more »The Impact of Infrastructure on Communities: Three Rail-to-Trail Projects
This semester's Real Time Chicago lecture series theme is 'Critic(al) Infra-Structures', examining the processes and procedures in the creation of new and renewed infrastructure and the impacts on communities from multiple scales and perspectives. The first lecture in the series is 'The Impact of Infrastructure on Communities: Three Rail-to-Trail Projects'. When new infrastructure is created in communities, what are the impacts on existing residents? This topic will explore the creation of three rail-to-trail projects in Chicago from initial dreaming to post-implementation community…
Find out more »October 2017
The National Park Service in your neighborhood: The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program and community planning
In April, 2016 the National Park Service and the University of Illinois at Chicago entered into a partnership agreement to host a Park Service staff member at the Great Cities Institute. At this event, Community Planner Michael Mencarini will talk about how the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program supports community led outdoor recreation and natural resource conservation projects and his work across the Midwest Region providing technical assistance for river access, bicycle trail development, and green space planning projects. Michael Mencarini…
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