Click here for the RFP: 12th_St_ConnectorRFP_1_19_18
Archive for General
Future City Philadelphia Event Day Volunteers Needed
DiscoverE’s Future City® Competition is a non-profit educational program that asks middle school students to imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Participating STEM teams across the country compete once a year in a regional competition in January. Finalists then proceed to present their projects at the National Competition during National Engineers Week in February in Washington, D.C.
48 teams will be competing in the Philadelphia Regional Competition on January 20, 2018. The theme of this year’s competition is “The Age-Friendly City,” and students will be showcasing their age-friendly table models to Special Awards Judges in the morning and presenting to a panel of 4 Finals Judges in the afternoon. The effort of amazing and dedicated volunteers makes Future City Philadelphia a success each year.
Competition support on the day of the event is very valuable to the teams, judges, and organizers. It’s truly a unique opportunity to participate in such a positive event surrounded by fresh ideas (read this post from one of last year’s APA volunteers: https://apapase.org/?p=2862). We encourage our members to sign up as volunteers for this great program.
Please sign up to volunteer here, whether judging your special award or signing up for other roles. Select “General Volunteer” if you wish to provide competition day support with any task needed. You will receive information, directions, and other details regarding your role when you arrive at the competition from the volunteer coordinator or model/presentation judging coordinator. Almost all volunteer roles are needed only in the morning.
WHEN: Saturday, January 20, 2018
8:45 AM — Opening Announcement
9:00 to 12:00 PM — Preliminary judging; special awards evaluation
1:15 PM — Announcement of Finalists
1:30 to 3:30 PM — Final judging (oral presentations, questions from judges)
3:30 to 4:30 PM — Awards ceremony and announcement of regional winning teams
WHERE: Archbishop Carroll High School
211 Matsonford Road, Radnor, PA 19087
Category: General /
Looking for an AICP Study Group?
A study group is forming for those taking the May 2018 AICP Exam. If you’re interested in joining the group and learning more, please contact Hailey Stern at hailey.stern@phila.gov.
Don’t forget to apply to APA’s Ambassador Program by December 31
As the end of year quickly approaches, so is the December 31 deadline to apply to become an APA Ambassador. This important initiative is designed to encourage future planners with diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. The application is short and easy to fill out, even during the end of year crunch. Participation in the program will provide valuable skills and earn you up to 8 pro-bono AICP CM credits in 2018.
Check out our previous blog post with all the important information on the application and details of the program. You can apply as an individual or as a team. Contact Al Beatty at ab5562@nyu.edu if you would like to join the local team of ambassadors. Thank you Al for stepping up to be a regional team leader!
Post Authored by: Maggie Rwakazina
(Image from APA Ambassador’s blog: https://www.planning.org/blog/blogpost/9127770)
CM Credits for Pro Bono Planning Service
AICP members can obtain up to eight CM Credits for Pro Bono Planning Service, as outlined on the APA National website at https://www.planning.org/cm/logging/selfreport/probono
APA Future City Mentorship could relate to these allowed activities:
- Planning-related support to groups that lack adequate planning resources, including service that expands choices and opportunities for everyone.
- Planning to meet the needs of the disadvantaged and to promote racial and economic integration.
- Mentoring the development of students, interns, beginning professionals, colleagues, and members of underrepresented groups to help them advance in the planning profession.
Category: Committees, Education, Engagement, General, Upcoming Events / Tags: Ambassador, APA, community participation and public outreach, Education, engagement, students
Growing Older—and Designing Smarter
by Laura Poskin
This is the first installment in a three-part series on designing age-friendly communities.
Communities should work for everyone.
Our parks and sidewalks should suit young moms and dads, as well as their kids, parents, grandparents and—as we live longer— great grandparents. Likewise, everyone should be able to enjoy environments that make a community feel like home and provide opportunities to learn, to make a difference, and to connect with friends, old and new.
But if we pause to look around, our cities and towns aren’t built for us to fully engage with life throughout our lives. Crossing the street or finding a part-time job, for example, may be exponentially more difficult for an 82-year-old than a 28-year-old.
That’s where the age-friendly movement comes in. Started by the World Health Organization and led by AARP in the United States, it inspires us to see this inequality as a social justice and sustainability issue, and rethink how to welcome every generation into the fold.
Category: General /
APA and AARP Partnering on Aging and Livable Communities Initiative
APA’s International Division has received a grant to partner with AARP International to implement the Divisions’ Council initiative, Aging and Livable Communities. The initiative seeks to educate planners regarding awareness building techniques, tools and best practices for planners from the US-focused research of APA’s earlier efforts under the initiative to those that can be gleaned from researching internationally.
APA’s LGBTQ & Planning Division is participating in the project to learn from existing initiatives that may provide insight on how best to plan for LGBTQ seniors and their needs and also to provide information to the project team regarding issues that LGBTQ persons encounter as they age.
Category: Engagement, General /
2018 Farm Bill: What Does It Mean for Planners and Public Health Professionals?
What is the Farm Bill?
The farm bill is a comprehensive, multi-year federal law that authorizes most federal policies governing food and agriculture. The most recent farm bill—The Agricultural Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-79), commonly referred to as the 2014 Farm Bill—has 12 titles that encompass a range of issues and programs including farm commodities and income supports, nutrition programs like the Supplementation Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), farmland and environmental conservation, crop insurance, and rural development. Nutrition programs constitute the majority of the farm bill, accounting for 80 percent of the funds historically and projected to be spent on farm bill programs. Farm commodity supports, crop insurance, and conservation programs comprise 8 percent, 7 percent, and 5 percent, respectively.[1]
The 2014 Farm Bill, which was signed into law in February 2014, is set to expire on September 30, 2018. Since Congress debates, updates, and reauthorizes the farm bill approximately every five years, discussions about the next farm bill are already happening, both in Congress and across the country.
APA-DE Seeking Conference Proposals
The Delaware Chapter of the American Planning Association is now accepting proposals for presentations at their 2018 Regional Conference to be held in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The conference is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday October 23-24, 2018. The proposal submission deadline is January 15, 2018. Please click through to their Call for Presentations for more information.
Category: General /
Future City Philadelphia Looking for Mentors and Others
Future City Philadelphia is a competition designed to provide a fun and exciting educational program for middle school students to present their vision of a city of the future. Philadelphia’s program is one of 39 regional programs conducted throughout the country. The Philadelphia Regional Competition draws schools from Philadelphia and surrounding counties including the Lehigh Valley, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware. Students from middle schools and after school programs in the region form teams consisting of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who work with a teacher and a mentor from September to January. The program is looking for Virtual City Judges, City Essay judges, mentors, and other volunteers. Learn more at: http://www.futurecityphilly.
Complete a South Philly SEPTA Survey
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) in partnership with SEPTA and the City of Philadelphia will be examining the feasibility of creating a new transportation center in the vicinity of Pier 70/Whitman Plaza/Columbus Boulevard.
Currently, there is no SEPTA-owned or controlled property for the numerous bus routes that end trips in this vicinity. The routes G, 7, 25, 29, 47, 47M, 64 and 79 layover on private property, where there is little guarantee that SEPTA operations can continue either for the long-term or short-term. Therefore, SEPTA operations and customers would benefit from a new central location, such as a transportation center.
This study will investigate potential site locations for a South Philadelphia Transportation Center. Staff will complete research and analysis to assess impacts to existing SEPTA routes and the potential for new and realigned routes with the addition of a new facility. A site plan concept will also be prepared.
You can access the survey using this link: https://www.surveymonkey
