Conference: Concepts for Advancing Sustainable Urban Systems (SUS) Research Networks: SUSPIRE: Sustainable Urban Systems: Predictive, Interconnected, Resilient and Evolving

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

This is a Sustainable Urban Systems (SUS) workshop grant. Organized to address natural and climate, technological, and societal disruptions that will transform urban systems, the workshop will bring together a unique, diverse, and expert group of 140 researchers and stakeholders in the Chicago region to develop transformative ideas and visions for advancing Sustainable Urban Systems Large-Scale Research Networks through a convergence approach. Participants, drawn from academia, industry, foundations, community organizations, government, technology organizations, and the arts and humanities, will identify new research questions and methodologies to advance sustainable urban systems that address not only science and engineering topics, but also social, behavioral, and economic considerations. Intertwined application areas within an urban system including, for example, transportation, electricity grids, urban agriculture, and public health systems, will be considered holistically rather than in isolation. Conclusions and outcomes from breakout discussions will be compiled and disseminated to be of value to stakeholders beyond those who participate to the conference and to the broader sustainable urban systems research community. Participants will benefit from hearing local and national experts in many fields address sustainable urban systems and from engaging discussions with the diverse set of attendees during breakouts and informal networking to encourage collaboration outside of this particular effort. Under-represented groups in terms of gender, race, and socio-economic status will be especially targeted for inclusion in the workshop. Also, twenty trainees from workshop planning member organizations will benefit from interactions with professionals from a diverse range of organizations, disciplines and community groups. A workshop whitepaper describing promising near-term actions will result in new collaborations and help workshop attendees achieve their organizations' objectives. Attendees from universities, planning agencies, companies, and large NGOs will benefit greatly from a better appreciation for community desires, concerns and capacity, while community members will have an opportunity to influence the practices and priorities of these organizations. Finally, the report to NSF charting a sustainable urban systems research agenda will be broadly disseminated to interested parties beyond workshop participants. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.