Author: Wendy

Root Shock: Grieving for a Lost Home

  Several years ago, I was managing the community engagement processes for the first stages of a large community renewal project in an Australian capital city. The State Minister wanted something to announce before Christmas and he wanted to tell this community of about 3000 public tenants   (half of whom did not speak English… Continue reading Root Shock: Grieving for a Lost Home

Reflecting as a CPTED Practitioner on Harvard and Yale

      Spending February teaching at the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard sparked all sorts of thoughts in me about pedestrian safety.   And a day at Yale and in New Haven, Connecticut confirmed that I did not feel safe there as a female pedestrian. Reflecting as a CPTED Practitioner policing and… Continue reading Reflecting as a CPTED Practitioner on Harvard and Yale

NIMBY psychology at Harvard University February 2013

  NIMBY psychology comes to Harvard — from Australia!   February was an exciting month for me. I spent it teaching in the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University and giving lectures and classes at MIT and Tufts University.   It was exceptionally cold for a person who lives in the sub-tropics. A… Continue reading NIMBY psychology at Harvard University February 2013

NIMBY Psychology: Lunch-time Colloquium, Tufts University, 6 February 2013

6 February 2013 What’s Psychology Got to Do with NIMBY?:   Exploring the Deeper Meanings of Community Resistance to Proposed Housing Density Increases                   I spent several hours teaching and meeting with facultry at Tufts University during my month in Boston.   My hosts included Julian Aygeman,… Continue reading NIMBY Psychology: Lunch-time Colloquium, Tufts University, 6 February 2013

Emotions Count in Community Engagement

                      There’s lots of discussion about emotion in community engagement these days.   Maybe that’s because we’ve ignored this important component for decades.   Adelaide’s independent newspaper, InDaily, recommends, following an interview with me last week, that we “consider emotion in community engagement.”   The… Continue reading Emotions Count in Community Engagement

“Realising the Revolution”: Medium-Density Housing in Queensland by Bridget Rogan and Fran Toomey

First posted June 8, 2012 – 3:21 pm   Two Brisbane Planners Call for a “Revolutionary” Approach to Increasing Housing Density: Realising the Revolution?     In a recent paper to the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) Queensland conference, Bridget Rogan and Fran Toomey of the Council of Mayors (SEQ) presented the results of work… Continue reading “Realising the Revolution”: Medium-Density Housing in Queensland by Bridget Rogan and Fran Toomey

Better Together? Let’s Get Practical!

              Better Together   Last week, an Adelaide-based colleague gave me a copy of Better Together: Principles of Engagement, just published by the South Australian Government.     You can read about it at:   https://saplan.org.au/yoursay and https://saplan.org.au/better_together   You can also comment. I tried to do that but… Continue reading Better Together? Let’s Get Practical!

Wendy Sarkissian on Nimby Psychology at The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Adelaide, 29 May 2013

                  NIMBY psychology is coming to Adelaide!   On 29th May at 6 pm, I will be presenting on NIMBY psychology at a free public lecture at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia. The lecture is free but seating is lmited… Continue reading Wendy Sarkissian on Nimby Psychology at The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Adelaide, 29 May 2013