Register Now for Fall Trainings at PPS

Sep 20, 2011
Dec 14, 2017

We’ll be doing our next round of trainings this fall at our brand-new office space on Lafayette Street in New York -- and we'll be using the city around us to help illustrate the work we'll be doing.

 

Here's what some past participants had to say after completing one of our trainings:

"The concrete examples of changes made were most interesting in opening one's mind to new possibilities and feeling empowered to making change happen."

"It was so helpful -- the information presented as well as meeting other participants."

"I really enjoyed the course. The speakers were engaging and informative."

"It really touched the basis of the topics I'm most interested in and stimulated ideas."

"It far exceeded my expectations."

We're offering three different workshops this season, "How to Turn a Place Around," "Placemaking: Making It Happen," and "Streets as Places."

How to Turn a Place Around, October 27-28

A two-day PPS training course, How to Turn a Place Around introduces new ways of thinking about public spaces and how Placemaking can be used to bring communities together and revitalize underperforming spaces.

We know from our work in more than 2,500 communities around the world that the Placemaking approach is emerging as a revolutionary development paradigm that reflects community history, needs, and aspirations. Instead of focusing development on shopping destinations like shopping centers, strip malls, and “lifestyle centers, “Placemaking creates authentic, multi-use destinations that have the potential to define the identity of cities and communities in the future.

Key issues that will be discussed in How to Turn a Place Around include how to evaluate a place and translate that into a place-based vision and management program; strategies for best implementing the Placemaking process; and how to use concepts like the Power of 10 to revitalize a city, region, destination, or neighborhood place.

The workshop is designed for professionals and non-professionals alike who help plan towns and cities -- from landscape architects and real estate developers to park managers and community activists.  Enrollment is limited to 35 participants in order to promote a close-knit environment that fosters a deep understanding of what makes public spaces function and of PPS’s innovative methods for analyzing them.

You can read more about the How to Turn a Place Around here, or contact Casey Wang at cwang@pps.org for more information.

Placemaking: Making It Happen, November 3-4

Placemaking: Making It Happen is a new two-day training course focused on how to move ideas into reality by using a place-based management and implementation strategy. Joining PPS in teaching the course are individuals who have direct, hands-on experience in applying a placemaking approach to their work.

Creating great public spaces that relate to the community and user depends on an effective implementation strategy, including how those spaces will be managed. In the end, good management is why a public space succeeds or fails and why people come to it or why they stay away. This training course will describe the roles that different types of public space management organizations play, complemented by lessons learned from experts with hands on experience implementing improvements and managing public spaces. Also included are narrated site visits to a few of the best-managed spaces in New York City and numerous opportunities for networking, including an optional welcome reception the evening of November 2.

The course will feature presentations by PPS staff, along with Norman Mintz, industrial designer, historic preservationist and designer of public space amenities, Eldon Scott, Director of Urban Space Management and developer of “lighter, quicker, cheaper” projects, and Alan M. Hantman, FAIA,10th Architect of the US Capitol and former Vice President of Architecture, Construction, and Historic Preservation at Rockefeller Center.

The workshop is designed for anyone who wants to make things happen in their communities, as well as those who need the tools to inspire and persuade others of the importance of public space improvements and management.

You can read more about the Placemaking: Making It Happen workshop here, or contact Casey Wang at cwang@pps.org for more information.

Streets as Places, November 10-11

All around the country, communities are becoming increasingly concerned about the consequences of designing streets exclusively for automobiles.  We have built residential streets that parents are reluctant to allow their children to cross and that make senior citizens feel unsafe walking  in their own neighborhoods.  Fast-moving traffic on commercial streets has a negative impact on shopping. The dramatic decrease in walking by people of all ages has contributed to high rates of obesity. Increased fossil fuel use has contributed to increased concerns about energy security and global climate change.

Sadly, when taken together, streets, sidewalks, transit centers and parking lots take up the majority of outdoor space in most urban and metropolitan areas.

To address the pressing issue of how our streets are impacting our communities, PPS is offering Streets as Places, a two-day workshop about how to redirect future investment in transportation and streets to build communities, not simply to move cars.

Presentations and discussions will focus on policy, design, community process, and implementation strategies, all of which will emphasize how participants can work within their community to influence the creation of their transportation system.  The training will describe and equip participants with practical tools for assessing a variety of types of streets including case studies of cities and towns that have moved beyond simply trying to address mobility to building community.  Participants will also share their experiences, both positive and negative, with each other, and work together on our unique group exercises, in order to find solutions.

This workshop is intended for anyone who is interested in creating a great street, learning more about how streets can contribute to better communities, and understanding the social and economic benefits that can result from changing the way that we think about and design streets. The course is also intended for transportation and health professionals, civic and elected officials, street designers, citizen advocates, city planners and designers, downtown managers, and people who understand that the time for change is now!

You can read more about the Streets as Places workshop here, or contact Casey Wang at cwang@pps.org for more information.

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