I want to put a plug in for the annual Ohio Planning Conference a branch of the American Planning Association coming up next month. If you get an opportunity please register and attend the conference. We learn from each other.
APA-Ohio State Planning Conference
September 23 – 25, 2009
The
Ohio Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-OH) will hold
its annual statewide planning conference September 23 – 25, 2009. The conference will be hosted by the Akron section of APA-Ohio and
will be held at the Sheraton Suites of Akron-Cuyahoga Falls, 1989 Front Street, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
The
theme of this year’s conference is “to sustainability and beyond”, and
42 session topics will be presented that focus on concepts and
development practices available to communities to help redevelop older
sites “in transition”; integrate new developments into existing
neighborhood patterns; promote community designs that build on local
strengths; minimize impacts on the environment; and conserve natural,
cultural and fiscal resources. Sessions will highlight
examples of previous experiences and projects from around the state and
region that other communities can model and adapt to address their
needs.
Five
mobile workshops are also planned to highlight the region’s assets,
including a kayak tour of the Cuyahoga River gorge, bus and bike tours
of the Cuyahoga Valley and a walking tour of Akron.
In addition, the conference program includes the following speakers:
· Renowned planner, landscape architect and educator, Randall Arendt
will lead a Professional Development workshop focusing on the
conservation of community-wide open space networks and transforming
highway commercial strips into mixed-use districts on Wednesday,
September 23rd.
· Bruce Knight, FAICP, President of the American Planning Association will be present at the opening session on Wednesday, September 24th to provide an update on planning issues at the national level.
· Wayne Senville, editor of the Planning Commissioner’s Journal, will present a slideshow: Planning Conversations from Coast-to-Coast, in which he reflects on his travels and conversations about planning-related issues facing communities uncovered in
the course of his summer 2007 coast-to-coast road trip down US Route 50 at the September 24th evening reception.
· James Howard Kunstler, vocal critic of urban sprawl and author of The Geography of Nowhere (1994) and The Long Emergency (2005), will provide the keynote lunch address on Friday, September
25th.
Up
to 17 hours of Certification Maintenance credits are available to
certified planners and 11.25 hours of CLE credits are available to
attorneys. Most conference sessions will satisfy
continuing education credits requirement for architects, engineers and
landscape architects.
This
conference will be of special interest to planners, architects,
landscaping architects, economic development and resource management
professionals, elected officials, community & business leaders and
citizens interested in learning more about planning, zoning, and
community development issues.
For
more information about the conference, details regarding session topics
or to register for the event, please visit APA-OH’s website, www.ohioplanning.org or www.regonline.com/2009APAOhioConference.