City as Living Laboratory for Sustainability in Urban Design

学习创新研究所与玛丽小姐工作室和城市设计研究所合作，正在开展一项关于纽约市建筑基础设施可持续实践的探索性研究和开发项目。这项工作将(1)试点测试和研究城市“基于场所”的公共学习体验的新解释策略，将行人的注意力集中在城市生态和现有的可持续性基础设施上；(2)与城市设计专业人士和STEM研究人员合作，探索这些新策略如何有潜力改变城市设计领域与公众就可持续城市设计和规划进行信息、对话和互动的方式；(3)评估这些公共解释项目在传统非正式科学学习环境（如科学博物馆）之外对STEM学习的有效性。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师、哥伦比亚大学STEM专业的教师以及华盛顿特区规定图书馆的工作人员。该项目是“城市作为生活实验室”倡议的早期阶段，该倡议可以利用洛克菲勒基金会资助的纽约市城市设计周计划，计划于2011年9月15日至20日举行。向国家科学基金会提出的这一要求为专门关注STEM学习和城市可持续性的进程增加了额外的轨道。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的迷人和复杂的问题中，并庆祝这座城市非凡的城市化。城市设计周将通过丰富的展览、峰会、装置、电影放映、展览和参观活动，吸引来自各个行政区和各行各业的市民，并强调城市是由集体努力创造的，我们每个人都可以成为这项伟大努力的一部分。”该项目的目标是为公众在城市环境中参与科学创造新的模式，并探索城市设计师和规划者在设计可持续发展时如何更有效地与STEM研究人员和公众合作。该项目既有研究成果，也有可交付成果。研究活动包括：公众观众：对装置环境中行人的观察研究；拦截公众对街景装置体验的调查。专业观众：关于公共空间科学解释在改变关于城市规划和可持续城市的公共话语中的作用的安装前调查；聚焦小组评估专业人士观察公众与装置互动的经验；在线延迟岗位经验调查：知识、态度、动机和对专业实践的预期影响；围绕装置的博客帖子和公共媒体分析；在ISE论坛上对项目、目标、成果和未来发展潜力的参与者进行调查。项目成果包括：一个让城市设计专业学生参与实验性街景装置开发的工作坊；在纽约城市学院的街道上进行试点安装（与纽约市交通部已经获得的批准一致）；为城市设计周专业人士举办“城市即生活实验室”艺术科学工作坊，强调跨学科合作可能带来的好处；围绕“城市作为科学学习环境”的新型公民参与形式的小组讨论；这是一个专门为ISE专业人员提供的论坛，旨在探索研究成果和作为增加城市科学学习策略的潜力。

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.