Wendy Sarkissian – författare

From the Introduction: Consider these two places: Walking into Green Acres, you immediately sense that you have entered an oasis-traffic noise left behind, negative urban distractions out of sight, children playing and running on the grass, adults puttering on plant-filled balconies. Signs of life and care for the environment abound. Innumerable social and physical clues communicate to visitors and residents alike a sense of home and neighborhood. This is a place that people are proud of, a place that children will remember in later years with nostalgia and affection, a place that just feels "good." Contrast this with Southside Village. Something does not feel quite right. It is hard to find your way about, to discern which are the fronts and which are the backs of the houses, to determine what is "inside" and what is "outside." Strangers cut across what might be a communal backyard. There are no signs of personalization around doors or on balconies. Few children are around; those who are outside ride their bikes in circles in the parking lot There are few signs of caring; litter, graffiti, and broken light fixtures indicate the opposite.There is no sense of place; it is somewhere to move away from, not somewhere to remember with pride. These are not real locations, but we have all seen places like them. The purpose of this book is to assist in the creation of more places like Green Acres and to aid in the rehabilitation of the many Southside Villages that scar our cities. This book is a collection of guidelines for the site design of low-rise, high-density family housing. It is intended as a reference tool, primarily for housing designers and planners, but also for developers, housing authorities, citizens' groups, and tenants' organizations-anyone involved in planning or rehabilitating housing. It provides guidelines for the layout of buildings, open spaces, community facilities, play areas, walkways, and the myriad components that make up a housing site.

Kitchen Table Sustainability offers a unique view of sustainability through the lens of community engagement. It takes sustainability out of the ivory towers of universities, government departments and planners to the kitchen tables of the world.This practical guide distils decades of wisdom from community planning, engagement and sustainability practice internationally into a user-friendly and engaging book that is both inspirational and packed with hands-on tools. The core of the book is a bottom-up approach to participatory community engagement and development, referred to as EATING, that consists of six components: Education, Action, Trust, Inclusion, Nourishment and Governance.

Finding specific advice on inclusive processes for engaging a community in a planning or design process can be a daunting undertaking. The latest offering in the Tools for Community Planning Series is the product of nearly two decades of successful practice by internationally acclaimed community planning specialists. It is designed to support veterans and people with little or no experience to conduct a wide variety of community engagement events with absolute confidence. The book introduces the SpeakOut, an innovative, interactive drop-in engagement process. It provides hands-on, systematic guidance and detailed checklists for managing community engagement processes, as well as targeted advice on facilitation, recording and training. Five international case studies are included.This unique, illustrated manual is a 'must-have' tool for community, city and regional planners, activists, community organizations, students in planning and the other land professions and workshop facilitators and trainers everywhere.

Kitchen Table Sustainability offers a unique view of sustainability through the lens of community engagement. It takes sustainability out of the ivory towers of universities, government departments and planners to the kitchen tables of the world.This practical guide distils decades of wisdom from community planning, engagement and sustainability practice internationally into a user-friendly and engaging book that is both inspirational and packed with hands-on tools. The core of the book is a bottom-up approach to participatory community engagement and development, referred to as EATING, that consists of six components: Education, Action, Trust, Inclusion, Nourishment and Governance.

Creative Community Planning provides clear access to emerging innovations in artistic, narrative, embodied and technological methods. Reflecting on the wide continuum of participatory practice, the authors explore the frontiers of community engagement within a fresh sustainability framework. Leading planning theorists, researchers and practitioners in the field reflect with the authors on the many successes and challenges in engaging with a diversity of people in rural and urban communities. These conversations reveal creativity as key to enhancing existing engagement practices. Concepts and practical applications thread through the book, including community visioning, participatory research and reporting, conflict resolution, poetry and planning language, theatre, photography, film and websites.

Finding specific advice on inclusive processes for engaging a community in a planning or design process can be a daunting undertaking. The latest offering in the Tools for Community Planning Series is the product of nearly two decades of successful practice by internationally acclaimed community planning specialists. It is designed to support veterans and people with little or no experience to conduct a wide variety of community engagement events with absolute confidence. The book introduces the SpeakOut, an innovative, interactive drop-in engagement process. It provides hands-on, systematic guidance and detailed checklists for managing community engagement processes, as well as targeted advice on facilitation, recording and training. Five international case studies are included.This unique, illustrated manual is a 'must-have' tool for community, city and regional planners, activists, community organizations, students in planning and the other land professions and workshop facilitators and trainers everywhere.