“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.

[caption id="attachment_11901" align="alignleft" width="290" caption="Image of Urban Pulse proposal for Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts. Courtesy of UBC's LARC502B Landscape Architecture studio class."][/caption] This is the third and final part of a series - in tandem with In Focus photo essays - looking at the past, present and future of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts. By Brian Gould and Erick Villagomez, re:place Magazine