Manitoba in the early days What now? I never thought I’d see the day! One of the best examples of medium-density housing in Australia is up for redevelopment! How can this be? Where is our memory? Is new always better? Don’t we know what’s good when we see it?… Continue reading Please Spare Manitoba!
Tag: Dr Wendy Sarkissian
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
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
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
Criticisms of community engagement
It’s a worry! I’ve explained before that community engagement – especially with sustainability – is not an easy task. Many people argue that it is problematic and can actually hurt those it most intends to benefit. So let’s just have a quick look at some of the major criticisms. I’d love… Continue reading Criticisms of community engagement
Officeworks and Reflex Paper: “I have to pay my mortgage and feed my dogs”
September 12, 2011 – 5:34 pm Officeworks Lismore: a Bulletin On Saturday I drove 72 kms. round-trip to my local Officeworks store in Lismore, NSW in the vain hope that they might have stopped stocking Reflex paper. I signed the pledge and the petition (with 11,000 others!) months ago and so far… Continue reading Officeworks and Reflex Paper: “I have to pay my mortgage and feed my dogs”
Local Wisdom about Apartment Storage
When I lived in Vancouver in 2007, teaching and managing a housing research project at the University of British Columbia, I had several interesting accommodation experiences. The first one was terrible: a chronically ill middle-aged couple with a dog who was dying of cancer. They slept with the dog and spent all day… Continue reading Local Wisdom about Apartment Storage
Silencing Dissent: charity begins at home
April 29, 2011 – 4:07 pm In an eco-village, there is more to life than managing weeds and water quality in the dams. What we have learned about social reform and social change in Western countries over many decades is that burning books and silencing dissent are very dangerous practices. What is my dissenting… Continue reading Silencing Dissent: charity begins at home
Why bother with community engagement, anyway?
April 11, 2010 – 9:43 pm In the past couple of weeks I have been confronted by many aspects of the community engagement debate. Angry residents questioning my integrity as I try to help them with a local environmental problem I’d say qualifies as a “wicked problem” in their neighbourhood. Then I experience… Continue reading Why bother with community engagement, anyway?