Envisioning an Urban Ideal UMass Lowell workshops to explore city scenarios
Used with permission from the Lowell Sun Online By CHRISTOPHER SCOTT Sun Staff
LOWELL -- Twenty years from now, an old mill has been converted into a cutting-edge housing development for folks who prefer the "green" side of things.The mill's water, including waste water, is recycled daily, and used over and over again for drinking, washing and cooking.
In the mill's solar atrium, residents grow organic fruits and vegetables. This particular mill has a flair for growing cherry tomatoes.
The mill has a direct link to the central business district via a natural gas-powered trolley.
Don't laugh. It's one "scenario" that will be discussed next month when UMass Lowell makes history by being the first public institution in the country to hold a "scenario workshop," focusing on ways to achieve the most environmentally sound and economically vibrant city possible.
"Sure, it sounds kind of George Jetson-ish," chuckled David Turcotte, project manager at UMass Lowell's Center for Family, Work and Community, which is organizing the workshops. "But it will serve as a reference point and trigger creative thinking."
The scenario-workshop strategy was developed in Denmark, where such efforts have triggered changes in governmental policy, said Ida-Elisabeth Andersen, a spokesman for the Danish Board of Technology and an adviser on the Lowell project.
She said the workshops are common throughout Europe, as they're used regularly in at least 11 European Union nations.
But it is in Denmark where they've had the greatest impact, Andersen said.
For example, workshop discussions have led to the formation of a National Center for Urban Ecology and another effort that lends government support to "green families" who try to efficiently manage household consumption in a sustainable way.
But Lowell is the first U.S. community that will hold a scenario workshop, Andersen said.
"They're very popular and useful in Europe," said Andersen. "But to date, the workshop concept hasn't been used in the United States.
"I'm confident the workshop could see good results in Lowell, too," added Andersen. "Everyone is so positive about it, and so many people want to participate."
The workshops, scheduled for April 9 and 30 at UMass Lowell's function rooms inside the Wannalancit Mill complex, are expected to attract more than 50 city business and municipal leaders, including like Enterprise Bank and Trust Co. CEO George Duncan, Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union President Paul Mayotte and Saints Memorial Medical Center President Thom Clark.
The city's Division of Planning and Development will also be well represented, as it continues to develop a master plan for the city. Workshop discoveries will help the division craft its master plan.
In Lowell's scenario workshop, the participants will read and analyze four brief stories, or scenarios, depicting alternative visions of life in Lowell in 20 years.
Each story will describe imagined conditions, restrictions and technologies available to future city residents.
Major topics of discussions will include scenarios involving the city's water, waste management, energy, housing and transportation systems.
The scenarios were written by Carol Stein, a Concord-based writer.
Working in different groups, participants will critique the stories and shape a common ideal vision of the future city, Turcotte said.
"This holistic vision will represent the best choices and policies for sustaining a high quality of life based on the efficient use and reuse of resources," Turcotte said.
Following the workshops, the participants will hold a press conference, likely in early May, to discuss their findings and issue a final report.
The workshops are possible through two grants UMass Lowell received, one totaling $200,000 from the National Science Foundation and the other, $20,000, from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.
Besides Turcotte, the project is being coordinated by Hal Salzman, senior research scientist of the university's Center for Industrial Competitiveness and UMass Lowell professor Richard Sclove, author of Democracy and Technology, which discusses related topics.
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