[caption id="attachment_8176" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Photograph by Martin Tessler. Image courtesy of Perkins + Will Vancouver."][/caption] [Editor's note: We are pleased to give Spacing Vancouver reader's a deeper look into Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) at the University of British Columbia - one of the most ambitious sustainable buildings built in the Lower Mainland to-date. The first part of this two-part series, written by long-time Spacing Vancouver contributor Sean Ruthen, was originally published in the March 2012 issue of Canadian Architect. The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) is a new state-of-the-art green building located at the University of British Columbia. This a 5,700-square-metre office building and lecture theatre is remarkable at a number of levels—for just as much as what you don’t see as what you do. Clearly, the photovoltaic arrays, geothermal heat exchanger and heat recovery unit shared with a neighbouring university building are all readily visible, as is as the green roof, the design elements promoting natural ventilation and daylighting, a wood Parallam structure sequestering 600 net tonnes of carbon, rainwater harvesting, on-site solid waste treatment and a living wall on the building’s west façade. What you don’t see however is the 10 years it took to realize the project, during which time the public opinion on climate change evolved from ignorance, to awareness, to ambivalence.

  “When have you had your most engaged life experience?” asked Janet Moore and Duane Elverum. A rapt audience sat in silence for ten seconds. “No one ever says they had their most engaged experience in a classroom, or at a computer,” Elverum said. “Typically it's when they've been connecting their passion with their work, often it's outside, they're often sharing a struggle with others, working with people to accomplish something they couldn't otherwise.” Two years ago Moore, Assistant Professor at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Dialogue, and Elverum, Assistant Professor in design at Emily Carr University, asked this question at a Vancouver Design Nerd Jam in Vancouver. They envisioned a collaboration between the City of Vancouver and postsecondary students, allowing students to work on long-term real-world projects. The idea quickly gained traction at the City, which had just launched its Greenest City 2020 Action Plan. Greenest City Planner Lindsay Cole asked Moore and Elverum to present their idea to the Mayor's panel. With strong support from the Greenest City team, CityStudio was launched in September 2011.

[Editor's Note: This is the first of a two-part series focusing on the 2012 CAPS Conference that occurred in Vancouver in February. ] The beginning of February marked the 2012 edition of the Canadian Association of Planning Students (CAPS) conference in Vancouver, BC.  This year the conference was hosted by the School of Resource and Environmental Management (REM) at SFU and brought together students and presenters from across North America to discuss a number of important issues pertaining to the urban environment. Aside from a number of tours and smaller events, many of the keynote speakers—Brent Toderian, Gordon Price, Julien Agyeman, and Larry Beasley, in particular—were a great highlight of the conference and their wise words are worth summarizing for those who didn't have the opportunity to attend. The conference started with former Vancouver Planning Director Brent Toderian making an appearance during a panel on the Cascadian Experience that included speakers from Victoria, Seattle and Portland.  Brent opened wryly by asking the student audience “So, how’s your week been?”  in a nod to his recent media exposure about his early contract termination.  So much of the conference was inspiring and encouraging for a new generation of planners and Brent closed with a bit of wisdom “If you’re too afraid to lose your job to do your job, you are not going to do a good job.”

Imagine arriving to work at a downtown historic building, where your workspace has high ceilings, brick walls, and huge windows. You can meet with clients or have informal discussions with colleagues working in industries as diverse as software development, photography and green building; the rest of the time you work at your own desk or a hot desk space. Need to develop new marketing strategies for your fledgling business or learn strategies to foster social change? Just sign up for one of the many workshops offered at the office. HiVE Vancouver is an innovative shared workspace that fosters individuals and organizations in the sustainability and creative sectors. It’s part of a growing trend worldwide: technological developments have made working in virtual space common, and doing consulting work for multiple clients has become a widespread practice as organizations try to keep their costs down. But for small start-ups, non-profits and individual consultants, trying to find affordable office space has become increasingly difficult. Shared spaces mean shared amenities (like meeting rooms, phones and kitchens), a real plus for those that can’t spring for the overhead costs of their own offices. HiVE members have a choice of a dedicated workspace (starting at $475/month) or a hot desk space (monthly plans range from $25/month for five hours to $350/month for unlimited hours). As a non-profit, HiVE uses its member fees to lease and improve the space. But the HiVe is about more than just sharing space: members are “a community of change-makers” who thrive on collaboration, fun, diversity and social responsibility. HiVE Vancouver modeled itself after Toronto's Centre for Social Innovation, which opened in 2004 with the idea that collaboration on the complex problems facing society could produce better solutions. The Centre's founders merged the ideas of co-location (different organizations merely sharing space), community hubs (shared spaces providing direct services to their members such as job training and workshops) and social innovation. Toronto's Centre is an affiliate of the Hub Network, a social enterprise working across 30 cities and 5 continents.

[caption id="attachment_3484" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Thank you to Pakalakamino on Flickr for the source photo. "][/caption] A plethora of perambulating peripatetics and other pedestrians descended on Vancouver at the beginning of October to madly rush through 200 presentations from twenty countries in just three short days. It overlapped both CanU, which I wrote about last week, and a Spacing Vancouver contributors meeting at the same time, and my head has only just stopped spinning from the experience. By the second night, as I struggled valiantly with an avalanche of bright pink balloons alongside Spacing's national editor and local podcaster (true story - photo from another group), I felt the pressure of wanting to attend every single session close in with a rosy, claustrophobic haze. The simultaneously happy and sad reality was that it was simply impossible for anyone to take in all the interdisciplinary opportunities on offer - if it were, I'd still be there, two weeks later, trying to get my fill. Presentations in the breakout sessions ranged from the vague-but-feel-good advocacy victory video to data heavy analysis, and the variety was very much appreciated, if it did make for some tough choices. Note to cycling advocates looking forward to Velo-City 2012: practice your power-walking and learn to be in multiple places at once!

Following the UN declaration in 2008 that the majority of people now live in cities, there has been an explosion of city-themed commentary in magazines, newspapers and books.  The Economist and The Walrus have both run notable urban-themed issues and now Scientific American has followed the lead and dedicated the September 2011 issue to cities.  These media outlets have capitalized on the broad scope that city analysis permits - allowing musings on geography, sociology, architecture and governance to name a few.  There is also a realization, stressed in the Scientific American feature, that cities are the future. Not too long ago cities were characterized by urban decay, riots and white flight to the suburbs, whereas they can now embody economic powerhouses that drive innovation.  City commentary also focuses on the growing 'green' agenda, where by virtue of having a smaller carbon footprint urban dwellers can provide lessons for responding to climate change.  It is in this context that Scientific American praises the positive role of cities and calls for public policy to provide greater support to our growing cities.  Though the magazine provides 11 separate articles, I focus on a couple of the key themes below.