Communities – Page 48 – Knight Foundation

Program Area: Communities

To support a nine-week cohort-based program that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships, and tools needed to turn business ideas into action and turn a passion into a sustainable and thriving endeavor.

To highlight Knight Foundation´s Smart Cities approach at Smart Cities New York 2018 and support the conference’s “Smart Cities New York: Powered by People” agenda the highlights Tech for Engagement.

Photo of RiverWalk in downtown Detroit: licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 from Michigan Municipal League without manipulation. 

DETROIT—April 12, 2018—To help drive local decision-making that represents the needs and preferences of all Detroit communities, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced $761,000 in support to University of Michigan researchers to collect the opinions of residents on the city’s most pressing issues.

“Credible and reliable public opinion information is essential to local decision-making that reflects community needs,” said Katy Locker, Knight Foundation program director for Detroit. “This effort will provide leaders with a view into what people value in their communities, opening avenues to build consensus, spark democratic engagement and ensure that all resident voices get fair representation in public debates.”

Launched in 2016, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study is led by researchers at the University of Michigan. The survey model leverages state-of-the-art scientific methods and is unique in its scale, providing deep insights across the entire city to ensure that diverse voices are incorporated into decision-making. Examples of topics covered in the survey include: quality of life, priorities for change in the metro area, the impact of recent investments on different populations, sense of community and social cohesion, transportation and mobility, public safety, policing, the role of government and trust in government institutions, views on inequality and race relations, and healthcare.

The Knight Foundation award will allow the university to conduct nine additional surveys over the next three years, to expand its participant panel and to disseminate policy-relevant findings more broadly. 

The information will be used by city officials, nonprofits, business leaders and philanthropies to inform program development, guide investments in physical spaces and craft public policies that better reflect the interests of Detroit residents. It will also be publicly accessible. 

“Policy solutions and community investments lose force when they don’t stand up to the needs or expectations of citizens,” said professor Elisabeth Gerber, associate dean for research and policy engagement at the university’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and principal investigator on the project. “Community leaders across the city need and want honest feedback on the challenges residents face and the ways new programs and policies are affecting them. But collecting that information in an accurate and representative way can be challenging.” 

Gerber and her co-investigators, including Professor Jeffrey Morenoff, director of the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research, and Conan Smith, Washtenaw County commissioner and lecturer at the Ford School, see the study as a way to gather meaningful community feedback while drawing out voices that are rarely heard and setting a new standard for survey collection. 

The survey is primarily designed as a tool for Metro Detroit decision-makers. At the same time, it benefits University of Michigan students, who obtain practical experience in survey methodology, and scholars, who can access the aggregate data to understand and address a wide range of social challenges.

Thanks to early stage support from the Kresge Foundation, the University of Michigan’s Office of the Vice President for Research, and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study model has been carefully designed and field tested over the past three years. 

Throughout that period, the research team engaged dozens of local stakeholders and people who will use the data through advisory boards and community partnerships to help design the study’s approach and content. In addition, the researchers worked with more than 30 government, nonprofit and academic partners to ensure that the data collected would help to inform future work. 

Nearly 1,000 Detroit residents have been surveyed to date, and the survey team has worked with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan to develop and circulate a number of reports on early findings. These publicly-available reports address community perspectives on a variety of topics for local government leaders, and more. 

Support for this effort is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts in Detroit to promote democratic engagement and community information. Since 2008, Knight has pledged more than $100 million to Detroit.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit http://knightfoundation.org.

Contact
Anusha Alikhan, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]

To support the revitalization of public life in Downtown Akron by providing funds to allow the Akron Civic Theatre to complete renovations, expansion and the transformation of adjacent public space.

To create more opportunities for civic and diverse leaders to engage with resources online and in person in downtown St. Paul.

Over the last five years, Knight Foundation has proudly supported the creatives, entrepreneurs and changemakers who are shaping Miami’s future. We have sought to amplify key trends, supporting innovators in transforming ideas into ventures. Our goal throughout has been to foster a startup culture, open to the broader community, to establish Miami as a place where ideas are built and scaled.

Rather than providing funding to companies directly, Knight’s more than $25 million in investments have helped build an ecosystem in Miami, focusing on three pillars:

  • Connecting entrepreneurs at all levels.
  • Attracting capital and investment.
  • Building Miami’s talent base.

Some of our key investments have seen much success. They represent different building blocks in this journey: places to connect and build ideas, such as The LAB Miami; major events, including eMerge Americas and Black Tech Week; mentorship and funding opportunities, such as Endeavor Miami and Miami Angels; and entrepreneurship education programs that help to close the opportunity gap, including LaunchCode, Girls Who Code, Babson College’s Women Innovating Now Lab, CodeFever and Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. Taking the time to learn from the investments that did not meet intended goals is as important as celebrating successes. At Knight, we recognize that the keenest insights are often gleaned from missteps and failures.

We’re proud to be a part of what the Miami community has accomplished in such a small window of time. Miami’s innovation economy is growing, and each week we welcome an increasing number of amazing people to our city. Yet much remains to be achieved.

In a spirit of continuous learning, we want to hear from you – those building the future Miami – about what it will take to succeed. Where do the greatest untapped opportunities exist to enable Miami’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to grow stronger? What obstacles may arise? Where has progress been too stubborn and slow?

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting with many Miami community members at events earlier this year and look forward to continuing this important conversation. 

If you have ideas, concerns or questions, please share them with me at [email protected]. 

Raul Moas is Miami program director at Knight Foundation. You can reach him at [email protected]; his Twitter is @rmoas.

*This post was updated on May 24, 2018 to remove past events.

To support a reorientation of San Jose City Hall towards residents through increased responsiveness, user-friendly design, and customized digital experiences.

To support the Knight Niantic Advised Fund to create a Fellows Program in three to five U.S. cities, in partnership with Niantic, Inc, that builds on the success of a pilot using Pokemon Go to drive greater engagement in the public realm, by supporting local leaders in designing community-based technology solutions using augmented reality (AR).

Technology is changing cities as we know them. From sensors that track pedestrians and control street lights, to the ways local governments deliver information, digital innovation affects how city residents experience everyday life and get and share information.

At Knight Foundation, we believe that informed and engaged communities are essential to a healthy democracy. Our founders, Jack and Jim Knight, were known for their commitment to this guiding principle and their openness to evolving technology.

With this in mind, we are increasingly focused on the exponential growth of digital technology in communities. It seems everywhere we turn, we see references to “Smart Cities.” This term can mean different things to different people, but all agree that Smart Cities enable technology to help shape how a city is governed and how residents interact with each other and their elected leaders. 

At Knight, we’re exploring how best to harness the growth of digital technology to improve how communities respond, connect to and engage with residents.

And one opportunity we see beginning to emerge is how to bring residents back to the center of Smart City building. We believe the Smart City should be driven by—and serve—the people who live in a place.

For the past several months, we’ve spent time in the communities where we invest asking about how they are responding to the opportunities and challenges new technology presents. Some key issues have been raised time and again. They are:

  1. Low levels of public awareness for the value of Smart City solutions and engagement in shaping these decisions.
  2. A scarcity of sustainable financing models for Smart City investments that could help cities move beyond pilots to large scale implementation. 
  3. A lack of national technology standards and practices that cities can adopt, and limited models to enable collaboration. 

We are beginning to see ways to address these roadblocks that take advantage of technology. While industry grows and investments skyrocket, and government and elected officials commit to building more connected cities, residents – the people who these cities are for – are being left out of the conversation. 

Now it is time to fill the gap by focusing the Smart City discussion on the resident, and raising awareness about the value of technology within a community. To do this, here are some key questions we’re exploring : 

  • How can we use more real-time, crowd-sourced data to drive decision-making and shape placemaking and innovation? 
  • How can technology enable deeper resident participation in local government, including program planning, design and delivery? 
  • To what extent can technology solutions empower residents to make decisions through greater access to information, positioning them not just as creators of data but as active consumers? 
  • Where are we missing national standards and best practices that support Smart Cities by and for residents? 

We want to work with others to identify an approach that seeks to empower individuals in our communities and influence government and industry. Because we know that when residents lead, the demand for government innovation has a greater likelihood of being met. And, when all consumers get to express their preferences, industry is more likely to meet their demand.

Across the communities where Knight invests, the potential to do more by bridging the gaps between government, technologists and residents is unlimited. Through our investments we will seek to learn, encourage and shape demand for solutions that amplify the voices and influence of all residents as the spark for the innovative cities of tomorrow. 

Lilian Coral is Knight Foundation director for national strategy. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @lcoral.

To engage Miami residents in creating new approaches to address pressing urban issues—including affordable housing, transportation and sea level rise—Knight Foundation has announced $1 million in support to the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. With the funding, the school will embed urban researchers in Miami and Miami Beach to better understand the cities’ opportunities and challenges, and launch a multi-year study toward building solutions shaped by residents.

Over the past seMohsen Mostafavi, Harvard University Graduate School of Designveral years, the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) has engaged with the communities of Miami and Miami Beach to think holistically about their futures as cities. Together, they represent one of the world’s most remarkable cultural and urban landscapes, and we as designers have a responsibility to understand and help ensure its continued vitality. Toward that end, our design faculty have led a series of courses focused on the variety of challenges facing South Florida, and we have convened community and civic leaders to articulate the role of design in ensuring a resilient future for the region and its residents. Building on this work and our momentum, we are very pleased to launch an expanded multi-year study on the Miami region, supported by the Knight Foundation.

As part of this project, we will embed faculty experts and urban researchers in the area to work alongside community leaders and local stakeholders on producing a set of actionable, design-based recommendations. Bringing to bear the cross-disciplinary approach we teach and are continuously working to advance at the GSD, we will work across multiple fields of knowledge and research to develop a set of toolkits, white papers, and other materials for use by community leaders, many of whom will be involved throughout the study. Our aim is that our research and the recommendations it yields are rigorous yet grounded, and that our findings stimulate conversations among decision-makers at all levels across the U.S. on the future of the American city.

In that way, this work serves as the first phase of a new initiative at the GSD we are calling the Future of the American City, which will also include Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles. Collectively, these city-based projects and the initiative overall represent a continuation of the GSD’s history of leadership in applied, project-based design research, and they reaffirm the School’s and the Knight Foundation’s commitment to developing ethical, humanizing approaches to the design of cities.

In Miami, the focus of our new research will include three themes, which we identified together in conversation with community civic stakeholders: urban mobility, affordability and climate change. My colleagues Charles Waldheim, John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture, and Jesse M. Keenan, Lecturer in Architecture, will join me in leading the study.

Final student presentations for Harvard University Graduate School of Design’s 2016 course, “Miami Rise and Sink: Design for Urban Adaptation”

As part of this research, participating GSD faculty will organize three design studios through three courses, one offered each fall semester. Consisting of 12 graduate students and a professor, each studio will conduct independent research together in conversation with leaders in the field. These groups will spend at least a week on the ground in Miami speaking to residents, civic organizations, politicians and others. This model of studio-based, design-driven research is fundamental to the GSD’s core pedagogy, and we believe the intensive, iterative and collaborative nature of this process ultimately works to collapse the distance between theory and impact.

While this next phase of research represents a formal culmination of our institutional commitment to studying and engaging with South Florida’s built environment, we seek to establish a platform for those who envision a path forward for a more inclusive, livable and affordable Miami. In that regard, we are very excited to be partnering with Knight Foundation on this project. Their commitment to strengthening communities across the United States through increased engagement and economic opportunity is important work that aligns with the GSD’s pursuit of a more beautiful, coherent and equitable world. We hope that our work in Miami is a first step toward developing a national discourse on the future of cities and urban life across America.

Miami, FL (March 20, 2018)—To engage Miami residents in creating new approaches to address pressing urban issues—including affordable housing, transportation and sea level rise—the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced $1 million in support to the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. With the funding, the school will embed urban researchers in Miami and Miami Beach to better understand the cities’ opportunities and challenges, and launch a multi-year study toward building solutions shaped by residents. 

“Miami is at the leading-edge of the most vexing challenges that will face major cities around the world in the decades to come. We’re excited to welcome a world-class group of problem-solvers to Miami to partner with leaders and innovators who are already working on these important issues,” said Sam Gill, Knight Foundation vice president for communities and impact.

Part of its Future of the American City effort, which aims to help cities tackle sustainability and resiliency challenges, the Harvard Graduate School of Design study will span the next three years, beginning this spring. Building on the school’s unique, multi-disciplinary model, the effort will use architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning and design, to come up with actionable, efficient solutions that take into account community needs.  

“The Harvard Graduate School of Design is eager to partner with Miami and Miami Beach and to bring the school’s design expertise to bear on a set of complex issues affecting nearly everyone living in those communities on a daily basis,” said Mohsen Mostafavi, dean and the Alexander and Victoria Wiley professor of design at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “In employing the model of the School’s design studios, our goal is to work across multiple fields of knowledge and research and develop a set of actionable, design-based recommendations to share with city and community leaders.”

The Harvard Graduate School of Design is consistently ranked as one of the leading design schools in the world. It has led projects to strengthen and revitalize cities around the globe. These include helping cities implement transportation policies; adapt to sea level rise and develop more resilient models of growth; and design urban environments that support the health and well-being of residents. Its alumni include Philip Johnson, I. M. Pei and Paul Rudolph.

The school’s researchers have been actively connected with the City of Miami and City of Miami Beach for several years. Since 2012, the school has conducted six courses focused on Miami and conducted several major events in the city. Expanding on this work, the school will convene a range of experts, policy-makers and members of the public to contribute to this new effort.

In its research, the school will focus on urban mobility, affordability and climate change, themes that emerged from a series of previous discussions among its researchers and members of the Miami and Miami Beach communities. Following their analysis, students and faculty will offer toolkits, white papers and other materials for review and use by city managers, mayors and other civic leaders, many of whom will be directly involved throughout the study.

“This effort will bring a new community of problem-solvers to Miami, while calling on Miami leaders and innovators to creatively engage around some of our most pressing challenges. At the same time, lessons learned through the experience can be shared with cities across the nation facing similar challenges,” said Sam Gill, Knight Foundation vice president for community and impact.

The research will be led by Mostafavi as well as Harvard Graduate School of Design professors Charles Waldheim, John E. Irving Professor of Landscape Architecture and Jesse M. Keenan, Lecturer in Architecture. The study will include a three-part series of courses being led at the school. This fall, a course will focus on mobility and transit in Miami, particularly Brickell, with a site visit in October 2018. A second course in Fall 2019 will examine the roles of higher education and medical institutions in Miami’s economy, and a third in Fall 2020 will focus on the roles of Miami’s various ethnic neighborhoods in shaping the city’s cultural identity.

Each Harvard Graduate School of Design course will involve 12 graduate-level Harvard students and a professor working in a “design studio,” which involves conducting independent research, then discussing plans with fellow researchers to modify and strengthen their proposals. Each team of students will spend at least one week in Miami to speak with local stakeholders, civic organizations and political and administrative leaders. Representatives from Miami’s civic and political organizations will provide feedback throughout the study.

Harvard Graduate School of Design’s upcoming Miami research is the first phase of its Future of the American City project, a broader urban-study initiative intending to also examine the cities of Los Angeles, Detroit, and Boston. The school plans to host a summit to convene experts from each city to create a national discourse on the future of cities and urban life in America.

Knight Foundation supports informed and engaged communities by identifying and working with partners to help our cities attract and nurture talent, promote economic opportunity and foster civic engagement. This effort will advance Knight Foundation’s work in Miami focused on building the city’s innovation ecosystem, while fueling entrepreneurship and new ideas. It will also help drive a national conversation about how communities can be more engaged in designing their cities to face the challenges of the future.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

About the Harvard University Graduate School of Design

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design is dedicated to the education and development of design professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. With a commitment to design excellence that demands the skillful manipulation of form and technology and draws inspiration from a broad range of social, environmental, and cultural issues, the Harvard Graduate School of Design provides leadership for shaping the built environment of the 21st century. For more information about the Harvard Graduate School of Design, visit gsd.harvard.edu. 

Media Contacts: 

Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation 305-908-2646, [email protected]

Travis Dagenais, Assistant Director of Communications, Harvard Graduate School of Design 617-496-1143, [email protected]