City as Living Laboratory for Sustainability in Urban Design

创新学习研究所与玛丽小姐工作室和城市设计研究所合作，正在就与纽约市已建基础设施有关的可持续做法开展探索性研究和开发项目。这项工作将(1)试点测试和研究针对城市“基于场所”的公共学习体验的新的解释策略，使行人的注意力集中在城市的生态和现有的可持续发展基础设施上；(2)邀请城市设计专业人员和STEM研究人员探索这些新策略如何潜在地改变城市设计领域如何就可持续城市设计和规划向公众提供信息、对话和互动；以及(3)评估这些关于STEM学习的公共解释项目的有效性，使其超越传统的非正式科学学习环境(ISES)，如科学博物馆。项目参与者还包括纽约城市学院城市设计研究生项目的教员、哥伦比亚大学的STEM教员和华盛顿特区供应图书馆的工作人员。该项目是“城市作为生活实验室”计划的早期阶段，该计划可以利用定于2011年9月15-20日在纽约市举行的洛克菲勒基金会资助的城市设计周计划。向国家科学基金会提出的这一请求为这一进程增加了一条额外的轨道，专门关注STEM学习和城市可持续发展。从宣传材料来看，城市设计研究所目前正在筹备第一届年度城市设计周，这是一个公共节日，旨在让纽约人参与到公共领域迷人而复杂的问题中，并庆祝城市的非凡城市化。通过丰富的沙雷特、峰会、装置、电影放映、展览和旅游，城市设计周将吸引来自各行各业的市民，并强调城市是由集体努力形成的，我们每个人都可以成为这一伟大努力的一部分。该项目的目标是为公众参与城市环境中的科学创造新的模式，并探索城市设计师和规划者如何在为可持续发展而设计的过程中，更有效地与STEM研究人员和公众合作。该项目既有研究成果，也有方案成果。研究活动包括：公众受众：对装置环境中的行人进行观察研究；对公众进行截取调查，了解他们对街景装置的体验。专业受众：关于公共空间科学解释在改变公众对城市规划和可持续城市的讨论中的作用的安装前调查；对专业人员观察公众与装置互动的经验的焦点小组评估；关于学习成果的在线延迟后体验调查，包括知识、态度、动机和对专业实践的预期影响；分析博客帖子和围绕装置的公共媒体；对ISE论坛的与会者进行关于该项目、其目标、结果和未来发展潜力的调查。方案交付成果包括：让城市设计学生参与开发实验性街景装置的讲习班；在纽约城市学院的街道上进行试点安装(与纽约市部门已经获得的批准一致)。这包括为城市设计周的专业人员举办“城市作为生活实验室”的艺术科学讲习班，突出跨学科合作可能带来的好处；通过“城市作为科学学习环境”，围绕公民参与的新形式开展小组讨论；专门为ISE专业人员举办的论坛，探讨研究成果和将其用作增加城市地区科学学习的战略的潜力。

The Institute for Learning Innovation, in collaboration with Mary Miss Studio and the Institute for Urban Design, is conducting an exploratory research and development project on sustainable practices related to the built infrastructure of New York City. The work will (1) pilot test and study new interpretive strategies for urban "place-based" public learning experiences that focus pedestrians' attention on a city's ecology and existing built sustainability infrastructure; (2) engage urban design professionals and STEM researchers to explore how these new strategies have the potential to transform how urban design fields inform, dialog and interact with the public about sustainable urban design and planning; and (3) assess the effectiveness of these public interpretation programs on STEM learning beyond traditional Informal Science Learning Environments (ISEs) such as science museums. Project participants also include faculty from the City College of NY Graduate Program in Urban Design, STEM faculty from Columbia University, and staff of the Provisions Library in Washington, D.C. The project is an early phase of the "City as Living Laboratory" initiative that can leverage the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Urban Design Week program in New York City scheduled to occur September 15 - 20, 2011. This request to NSF adds an additional track to the process to specifically focus on STEM learning and urban sustainability. From the promotional materials: "The Institute for Urban Design is currently preparing for the first annual Urban Design Week, a public festival created to engage New Yorkers in the fascinating and complex issues of the public realm and celebrate the city's exceptional urbanity. Through a rich roster of charettes, summits, installations, film screenings, exhibitions, and tours, Urban Design Week will draw in citizens from every borough and walk of life and highlight the idea that cities are made by collective effort, and that each of us can be a part of that great endeavor." The project goal is to generate new models for public engagement with science in the city environment and to explore how urban designers and planners, as they design for sustainability, can more effectively collaborate with STEM researchers and with the public. The project has both research and programmatic deliverables.Research activities include: Public Audiences: observational study of pedestrians in the installation environment; intercept surveys of the public about their experiences with the streetscape installations. Professional Audiences: pre-installation surveys on the role of public space science interpretation for altering public discourse about urban planning and sustainable cities; focus group assessment of professionals' experiences with observing public interactions with the installations; online delayed- post experience survey on learning outcomes in terms of knowledge, attitude, motivation and anticipated impacts on professional practices; analysis of blog postings and public media surrounding the installation; survey of attendees at an ISE forum on the project, its goals, outcomes and potential for future developments.Programmatic deliverables include: a workshop that engages urban design students in the development of experimental streetscape installations; a pilot installation on streets in the City College of NY (consistent with approvals already received by NYC Dept. of Transportation); a City as Living Laboratory art-science workshop for Urban Design Week professionals to highlight possible benefits of inter-disciplinary collaboration; a panel discussion around new forms of citizen engagement through a "city as a science learning environment"; a forum specifically for ISE professionals to explore the research findings and potential for use as a strategy to increase science learning in city places.