Schedule

Registration Opens

Welcome & Opening

Charles E. Button, Ph.D., GESAC Founder & Chair, & Central Professor of Geography & Sustainability

Timothy Garceau, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Central Geography Department

Session A: Linking Transit and Land Use to Promote Sustainability

In order to move towards sustainable communities, transportation and land use planning goals and actions must align. This session highlights efforts and successes to improve sustainability through increased access to transit and promoting land use development that is supportive of diverse transportation systems.

Presentations:

• Green Commuting in Connecticut
  Caitlin O'Donnell, Commuter Program Manager, CT Rides, "Promoting Green Commuting in Connecticut"
• Promoting Healthy Mobility Options, Economic and Environmental Sustainability through Land Use Decision Making – 'Planning'
  Neil Pade, AICP, Director of Planning and Community Development, Town of Canton
• Transit-Oriented Development and Increased Pedestrian Access in Lisbon, Portugal
  Jose Torres, Ph.D., Lecturer, Central Geography
• Transit, Access, & Equity
  Tony Cherolis, Transport Hartford Coordinator, Center for Latino Progress

Session B: The Emerging and Evolving Role of Automobiles

In the United States, automobiles have been the mode of travel prioritized by our transportation and land use planning processes for decades. In 2019, the role of automobiles in the U.S. is changing through things like ridesourcing and autonomous vehicles while in developing countries a transition from motorcycles to automobiles is now occurring. This session will discuss the challenges and opportunities of the changing role of automobiles from Southeast Asia to right here on Central campus.

Presentations:

• Emerging Automobile Markets in Southeast Asia
  Dr. Ivan Small, Assistant Professor, Central Anthropology
• Ridesourcing: All the kids are doing it, so what?
  Katherine Gosselin, Civil Engineering Student, University of Connecticut
• An analysis of the impact of autonomous vehicles on private household vehicle ownership in the state of Connecticut
  Sruthi Mantri, Stephen Michna, Nicholas Lownes, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut

Lunch & Keynote

Opening - Robert Wolff, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

Creating Safe Environments for Walking and Bicycling
Amy Watkins, MPH, Program Coordinator, Watch for Me CT

Walking and bicycling are excellent forms of transportation that are not only good for the planet but also beneficial to physical and emotional health. Unfortunately, our car-centric culture has created an environment where walking and biking are inconvenient at best and downright dangerous at worst. Nearly 70 pedestrians were killed on roadways in Connecticut in 2018 and hundreds more were injured. Over 250 bicyclists were injured, some severely. What needs to happen to change this narrative? Creating Safe Environments for Walking and Bicycling will cover the concept of complete streets, including how design impacts the safety and accessibility of walking and biking in a community. Participants will learn about design countermeasures that are proven to increase safety. Additionally, we will discuss behaviors such as speeding, impairment, and distraction and how they contribute to the rising number of injuries and deaths of vulnerable road users. Finally, we will examine the Vision Zero concept, which challenges the assumption that road deaths are inevitable.

Amy Watkins, MPH is a representative of Watch for Me CT, a comprehensive program aimed at reducing the number of injuries and fatalities as a result of traffic crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists in Connecticut. Watch for Me CT is funded by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and managed in partnership with Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center.

Lunch is served beginning at noon; keynote begins at 12:30 PM.

Session C: Panel: Changing Our Minds on Parking

For decades the solution to "not enough" parking has been to build and require more parking in our communities. Now the paradigm of minimum parking requirements is being challenged for its role in turning our communities into places for car storage instead of places for people. From Hartford as the first city in the country to entirely eliminate parking minimums from its zoning requirements to New London's goals for transit-oriented development, this session features researchers and practitioners who are pioneering a paradigm shift in our state to take a more progressive approach to managing parking. The panel is moderated by Caryn DeCrisanti, a Central Geography Master's Student and Transportation Planner at AECOM, who has been researching parking policies, specifically as it relates to university campuses across the U.S.

Featured Panelists:

• Sara Bronin, Chair, Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission
• Carey E. Redd, II, CAPP, Director of Parking/CEO, New London Parking Authority
• Dr. Norman Garrick, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut

Session D: Making Way for Bikes

To create more sustainable and livable communities, places need to be built for people not just cars. Lewis Mumford, in The Highway and the City (Mentor, 1962) stated "A good transportation system minimizes unnecessary transportation; and in any event, it offers a change of speed and mode to fit a diversity of human purposes." This session features presentations that highlight multidimensional efforts to create a good transportation system in our state by creating a safe and comfortable transport network for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Presentations:

• Amending Hartford’s Zoning Regulations: Low-Impact Development
  Jenna M. Montesano, Esq., Deputy Director of Zoning, City of New Haven
• Planning for Regional Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure in Southeastern Connecticut
  Kevin Tedesco, Transportation Planner, AECOM
  Kate Rattan, AICP, Planner III, Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments (SCCOG)
• Farmington Heritage Canal Trail (East Coast Greenway) – Cheshire CT
  Scott Bushee, Project Manager, Highway Design, Connecticut Department of Transportation

Session E: Communicating Sustainable Topics Through Film

UCONN's Sustainable Amsterdam education abroad program allows students to go abroad to Amsterdam for 3 weeks during the summer. During this time students create short films on a sustainable topic of their choice. Anaka Maher, a past participant, will be talking about the abroad experience, the process of creating the film, and the importance of communication in sustainability.

Presentations:

• Amsterdam's Housing Crises and Some of Their Solutions - click to view film
  Anaka Maher, Civil Engineering Student, University of Connecticut

Two additional films from program participants will also be shown.

• Sustainable Amsterdam: Green Growing - click to view film
  Sam Staffin
• What is a Livable City? - click to view film
  John Zapata

Research Poster Session

An interactive display of illustrated research posters on topics relating to sustainability, transportation, and the environment. This poster session is open to all; presenters include researchers, practitioners, and graduate and undergraduate students.

If you are interested in presenting a poster, please contact Dr. Timothy Garceau at tgarceau@ccsu.edu.

Social Mixer & Sustainability Fair

Co-Sponsored by Central Geographical Society and Tourism & Hospitality Studies Club

A social mixer designed to bring students and professionals together, including a cash bar, hors d'oeuvres, and the sweet jazz stylings of Brown Paper Sax. The sustainability fair features non-governmental organizations, businesses, and governmental agencies that offer sustainability information, jobs/internships, and service to society. Click here for a list of fair exhibitors.

Please RSVP at the link below to receive 1 free drink ticket for the Mixer.