SLS now offers six Signature Programs that will allow students to delve deeper into sustainable communities education and experiences, and stay involved over multiple years.
SLS is offering two Foundation classes for the Fall 2019 semester, and three Foundation classes for the Spring 2020 semester: Sustainability, Technology, and Policy (PUBP3600) (Fall 2019), Tech and Sustainable Communities (SLS 3110) (Fall 2019), Foundations of Sustainable Systems (SLS 3120) (Spring 2020), Sustainable Urban Development (CP 2233) (Spring 2020), and Business Decisions for Sustainability and Shared Value (MGT 4803) (Spring 2020).
Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain aims to help students create sustainable communities, where people and nature flourish in the present and future. Most of the time when community issues arise, the use of data because an integral driving force for sustainable change. The articles below highlight how the collection, analysis, design, and use of data help to foster democracy through advocacy, policy-making, literacy, and organizational capacity, ultimately making civic data key to the creation of a sustainable community.
Kevin Lanza, a former graduate research assistant at SLS who completed his Ph.D. in City & Regional Planning at Georgia Tech in December, explains how civic data is being used right this very second on our campus. Georgia Tech's Urban Climate Lab has established a dense network of 24 temperature sensors, called HOBOs, to measure urban heat islands around the Georgia Tech campus. In addition to identifying the location of hot spots, these HOBOs measure the impact of ongoing development on local climate conditions and assess how the use of vegetation and cool materials around campus can reduce temperatures. Urban Heat Indexes are measured for these locations on Georgia Tech's urban campus, giving our researchers valuable climate information. Learn more about the Urban Climate Lab using the link above.
The Civic Data Science program at Georgia Tech is an NSF REU site that supports a 10-week immersive research experience for undergraduate students interested in contributing to the developing field of data science. Learn more about how to get involved through the link above!
Directly in our backyard lies one of the nation's most innovative and controversial projects: The Atlanta BeltLine. In an effort to evaluate the sustainability of the system, as well as a shared experience of inaccurate data, students in The Atlanta Map Room wanted to document and reflect on the "connections and disjunctions between civic data and lived experiences along the BeltLine." Read more about their findings and experiences above.
Recently, a think tank found that Metro Chicago is among one of the most "connected" cities in the nation. This article explores how cities use local community groups to solve a range of challenges like homelessness, racial segregation, and wealth gaps.
Toronto tracks public engagement with new infrastructure-based technologies. This article discusses the benefits and risks of having data-tracking urban design on privacy as well as technological development.