Urban planners and educators from around the globe gathered in Richmond this week for an international seminar on sustainable planning, hosted by VCU Assistant Professor Michela Zonta.  The Richmond seminar was the first of four week-long seminars to take place over the next two years, where participants will discuss topics and educational methodologies related to sustainable planning, ranging from land use to social inclusion.

During this week’s seminar, Better Housing Coalition showcased its award-winning Winchester Greens community, located on Jefferson Davis Highway in Chesterfield County.  Winchester Greens served as a model for the group for an exercise of redeveloping a dilapidated housing community utilizing new urbanist planning principles and energy-efficient building practices.

 

The U.S. Department of Education/European Union-funded project will take place over the next two years, and is designed to enhance planning education in Europe and the United States through the international exchange of planning knowledge, methodologies and practices.  The model emerging from this project will benefit its original participants as well as other planning degree-granting institutions and the communities that they serve.