Photo: 26 percent of commutes in Copenhagen are by bicycle. Credit: Wikimedia. Civic innovators from nine Knight communities will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, next month to study one of the world’s most livable cities. Their journey began last month in Chicago at “The Doable City” forum, organized by 8-80 Cities and sponsored by Knight Foundation. Delegates […]
Article · July 25, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Carol Coletta, vice president of community and national initiatives, delivered a keynote address at the Strong Cities, Strong Communities symposium in Gary, Ind., a Knight community, July 22, 2014. Below is an edited version of her speech. Every week it seems like someone, somewhere unveils the new new thing in urban economic regeneration. Last month, […]
Article · July 22, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo: Participants at the Civic Innovation in Action Studio in Miami. Photo by Tom Clark/For Knight Foundation. Overview: Knight Foundation hosted 100 civic innovators at a Civic Innovation in Action Studio in Miami May 12 -14 to explore ways to harness talent, advance opportunity and promote robust engagement. RELATED LINKS “Civic Innovation in Action Studio tees […]
Article · May 29, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo credit: Flickr user Norio NAKAYAMA One hundred civic innovators from across the country are gathering in Miami through Wednesday to tackle some of the thorniest questions on the future of cities. How might we advance opportunity by economically integrating neighborhoods in the next five years? How might we harness talent as the definition of […]
Article · May 12, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo credit: Flickr user Will Vanlue. Next week we’re convening leaders in several fields from across the United States to talk about ideas that can make our cities better. This Civic Innovation in Action Studio will discuss ways we can program places to harness talent, advance opportunity and improve engagement. We hope to emerge with ideas […]
Article · May 8, 2014 by Carol Coletta
“ Photo credit: Flickr user Christopher Dandrow. What happens when, in a single day, you engage a stellar group of researchers and practitioners across the nation to answer one of the toughest questions facing cities? We found out recently when we staged three Civic Innovation in Action Learning Labs. Related Links “Learning Lab gathers ideas […]
Article · May 5, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo credit: Marvin Shaouni. Our mission at Knight Foundation is to help people become informed and fully engaged in the lives of their communities so that democracy will thrive. But what does it mean to be fully engaged? Does it mean helping a neighbor? Wearing the colors of your favorite local sports team? Attending a neighborhood […]
Article · April 23, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo credit: Flickr user Jai Kapoor. What do you see when you think about what the workforce looks like in your city? The traditional view has been people working full time Monday through Friday, from 9 to 5. But the reality is not that simple. Since 1970, the number of self-employed people as a share of […]
Article · April 22, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo credit: Flickr user Mycatkins. Last year, I served as a judge for the Gensler Design Excellence Awards. As I read through the entries from Gensler’s dozens of offices around the world, I was struck by one program requirement that was repeated from entry to entry in the office category. It was this: Design a space for […]
Article · April 20, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Photo credit: Flickr user Forgemind ArchiMedia. If you’ve ever hired an architect to design a project, you probably spent a lot of time up front talking about the “program” for the project. The program describes how you want to use the space and the activities you want the space to support. If you are renovating a […]
Article · April 18, 2014 by Carol Coletta
Above: Children enjoying a walk in El Pueblo, Los Angeles. Photo credit: 8-80 Cities. As a passionate advocate for cities, Gil Penalosa has been on my radar for a long time. His work as commissioner of parks, sport and recreation in Bogota, Colombia, is legendary. And as a regular at Miami’s monthly Critical Mass bike ride, I am envious of […]
Article · April 2, 2014 by Carol Coletta