I’ve learned to listen to group members who face different pressures, distill their concerns and insights, and write stories and plans that the whole group can act on with energy.
Redesigning urban systems to sustain climate change and other shocks requires a range of skills: charm, grit, critical thinking and empathy. I help students gain the skill of writing persuasively about fixes to often-arcane policy.
My course at Pratt Institute evolved into a hands-on workshop for compelling, story-driven policy writing. My students have published and presented their work before key decisionmakers, and I ledwriting workshops throughout Pratt's planning programs. Since 2018, I’ve taught undergrads in NYU’s business and engineering schools to write visual, measurable reports that show practical paths toward sustainable economies.
Here's how I do it.›
Photo Credit: ms.akr
The stories we need to tell our customers, investors, managers and competitors amid climate change require a common language. People of all backgrounds and styles should understand the systems that embed bridges, buses, wages, schools and social roles. My writing works to clarify process and mistakes. The goal always entails promoting understanding and inspiring action.
Some of my stuff ›
Climate change busts the confines of any category. It's too embedded in reality to portray as a threat. It's a fact, and we’ll build a vibrant economy from that fact when we grow plans that absorb everyone’s skill, creativity, willingness and needs. I saw this first with kids. My workshops and curriculum start by teaching kids to experience the systemic flaws in human rationality that got us here, then guide them to explore how changes in urban design can prompt people to act more patient, inventive and sociable. They then role-play their way to a proposal that can make a real place more conducive to social strength.
Check out the classroom format, and contact me to discuss adapting it to other teams.›