Why I Attend the Congress | Jason King and Victor Dover
It's no secret that the annual Congress for the New Urbanism is the leading venue for New Urbanist education, collaboration and networking. Every year, the top minds and practitioners from around the globe travel to the CNU event to engage with the ideas that give shape and meaning to the communities we inhabit. By congregating a diverse collection of thought-leaders, planners, architects, academics, government officials, students, and citizen-activists, CNU creates a community for the design of ideas, and readies them for application.
Why I Attend the Congress is a series dedicated to sharing the first-hand experience and insight gained from attending the yearly event.
The following contribution comes direct from Jason King and CNU Board Chair Victor Dover, of Dover, Kohl & Partners.
- New Ideas: CNU is the brewery for big ideas that change everything. For example, you are familiar with the “growing local” movement and strategies for maintaining rural character, but agricultural urbanism is a design-based integration of community-supported agriculture into the weave of neighborhoods and regions. In several new towns across the country like Serenbe GA, and Hampstead AL, as well as in major cities like Atlanta, Montgomery and Madison, the movement is taking root. Design approaches that address the challenges of rising fuel costs, health problems due to inactivity, the social balkanization of America, and climate change, are coming from the CNU. What’s more, it’s a Congress, not a conference: delegates vigorously debate the ideas, and challenge each other to advance the state of the art. You’ll have a chance to engage directly with other thinkers, not just sit through panels.
- Familiar Goals But With Better Renderings: All the planning favorites are at CNU: Livability, Sustainability, Walkability, Bikeability, Context-Sensitivity, Affordable Housing, Making Infill Work, Reshaping the Suburbs, and so forth. But the New Urbanists make the effort not just to talk about them but to integrate them and show how they work, even packing all of the ideas into ONE plan or watercolor rendering. You’ll leave CNU inspired to draw (if not a rendering, then a 2D plan) every time.
- New People: It’s a comfort to go the local chapter meeting at a national APA and know everyone, but there is something to be said for meeting new people. Ask someone at your CNU chapter’s meetup during the Congress to introduce you. Your favorite thought-leaders are presenting at both APA and CNU, but are far more likely to stick around for all the sessions and social events of CNU. The consultant or new addition to your department that you'll be looking for next year or the year after next is probably going to be there.
Comments
Write your comments in the box below and share on your Facebook!
Comments
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:78:\"Non-static method PEAR_ErrorStack::singleton() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:103:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/packages/PEAR/ErrorStack.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:983;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:212:\"Declaration of CRM_Core_Error::singleton() should be compatible with & PEAR_ErrorStack::singleton($package, $msgCallback = false, $contextCallback = false, $throwPEAR_Error = false, $stackClass = \'PEAR_Error...\')\";s:5:\"%file\";s:93:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/Error.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:52;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:78:\"Non-static method PEAR_ErrorStack::singleton() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:93:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/Error.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:625;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:74:\"Non-static method PEAR::setErrorHandling() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:94:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/Config.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:183;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:117:\"Declaration of CRM_Utils_System_Drupal6::cmsRootPath() should be compatible with CRM_Utils_System_Base::cmsRootPath()\";s:5:\"%file\";s:103:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal6.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:41;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:82:\"Non-static method CRM_Core_Config::isUpgradeMode() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:105:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/BAO/ConfigSetting.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:199;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:82:\"Non-static method CRM_Core_Config::isUpgradeMode() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:105:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/BAO/ConfigSetting.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:228;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:74:\"Non-static method PEAR::setErrorHandling() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:93:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/Error.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:532;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:74:\"Non-static method PEAR::setErrorHandling() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:93:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/Error.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:567;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
Warning: Table './archive_cnu/watchdog' is marked as crashed and should be repaired query: INSERT INTO watchdog (uid, type, message, variables, severity, link, location, referer, hostname, timestamp) VALUES (0, 'php', '%message in %file on line %line.', 'a:4:{s:6:\"%error\";s:14:\"strict warning\";s:8:\"%message\";s:74:\"Non-static method PEAR::setErrorHandling() should not be called statically\";s:5:\"%file\";s:93:\"/var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/sites/cnu.civicactions.net/modules/civicrm/CRM/Core/Error.php\";s:5:\"%line\";i:567;}', 3, '', 'http://archive.cnu.org/attend1', '', '52.15.238.221', 1732929412) in /var/www/archive.cnu.org/htdocs/includes/database.mysql.inc on line 135
.
Register today!