Future community builders share ideas, research

The Braindrops Student Symposium drew a large crowd to the Fourth Avenue Building on Friday, May 29 to discuss the environment as well as community planning.

Arranged by the Community Development Student Group (CDSG) at Portland State, and in association with the University of Washington, this was the first event of its kind.

“This is the first, but we’d like it to be annual,” said Amy Oliverio, a senior in the community development major.

According to the group’s Web site, the CDSG combines student effort and faculty support to create relationships between future community builders within Portland State and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

The symposium showcased student projects in a professional manner. Each of the 18 student speakers from both Portland State and the University of Washington delivered 10-minute presentations on a range of topics.

Audience members received a grading rubric to rate the presentations, and the winner received a $300 cash prize.

Some of the topics included water infrastructure, school garden programs, green buildings, PSU’s Take Back the Tap, urban agriculture and even social networking ideas as they relate to urban planning and activism.

“The symposium focuses on environment and planning … bringing people together to create important positive change,” said Bridger Wineman, a senior in community development at Portland State.

Vivek Shandas, assistant professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State, delivered the keynote speech.

Shandas emphasized that both the University of Washington and Portland State “have a shared history—in terms of biohistory” and that it is important to develop meaningful collaborations with important people.

“We’re going to apply for funding to see if [the Braindrops Symposium] is sustainable with other schools,” Shandas said.