Engaged Research for Community Resilience to Climate Change

Shannon Van Zandt is professor and practitioner of urban planning. She currently leads the Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, Texas, United States. As a researcher, she engages in applied research on social vulnerability and the recovery of neighborhoods and communities after disaster. As a planner, she works with communities to develop programs, plans, and policies to increase their resilience and advocate for themselves. Jaimie Hicks Masterson is a certified planner, instructor, and director of Texas Target Communities at Texas A&M University, Texas, United States. In this capacity, she liaises between researchers and community members to develop and execute research and applied planning projects that are responsive to the expressed needs of the community. Galen Newman is an associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, Texas, United States. His research focuses on urban regeneration and community resilience. Within these foci, Dr. Newman crosses interdisciplinary fields in land use science, spatial analytics, landscape performance, and participatory urban design. His design and research have been rewarded numerous times at national, state and local levels. Michelle Annette Meyer, Ph.D., is the Director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, Texas, United States. She received a BA in sociology from Murray State University, Kentucky, United States, and a PhD in sociology from Colorado State University, Colorado, United States. Dr. Meyer’s research addresses disaster recovery and mitigation, environmental sociology and community sustainability, and the interplay between environmental conditions and social vulnerability and stratification. She regularly works with scholars, practitioners, and students in sociology, planning, engineering, construction science, landscape architecture, public administration, and anthropology.

Part I. Discovery1. Introduction: The Case for Citizen-Engaged Science2. Planning Theory/Traditions in Urban Planning3. Resilience is Rawlsian4. The Origin of the Institute for Sustainable Communities5. Discoveries & Research6. Breaking Down Interdisciplinary Walls

Part II. Process for Creating Citizen-Engaged Science7. The Community in Work8. Empowering Learners9. Integrated Impact10. Ethics of Community-based Research11. Program Evaluation12. Conclusion - Lessons and Regrets