Three key community leaders have been asked to speak and lead a workshop on how Chattanooga’s ‘working together works’ attitude activates our Innovation District in an international placemaking conference this fall in Amsterdam. Stephanie Hays – manager at the Tomorrow Building, Mary Stargel – program manager at The Edney, and Meagan Shinn – program director at River City Company will be presenting on the elements of live, work and play respectively of animating an Innovation District.
Over 400 proposals for this conference were submitted from 65 countries and an interdisciplinary team from the U.S.
and the Netherlands selected the final presentations with less than one third of the speakers at the upcoming October conference coming from the U.S. Ms. Hays will share Lamp Post Properties efforts to revitalize historic Chattanooga buildings in the Innovation District; Ms. Stargel will share how creating density and collaboration among startups and corporations has accelerated business growth and attracted new talent and companies to our Innovation District; Finally, Ms. Shinn will share how River City Company works to create a unique sense of place in our Innovation District through animation activities like Passageways.
This conference is sponsored by Project for Public Spaces (PPS), and it defines placemaking as both an overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a neighborhood, city or region that inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community.
“Chattanooga has a long history of placemaking from our over 30 year revitalization story which is now being effectively translated to our growing Innovation District,” said Kim White, president of River City Company. “This collection of Chattanooga talent has been rightfully selected from their counterparts around the globe because of the incredible work they are doing right here in the Scenic City.”
“I’m unbelievably thrilled and honored to be able to represent Chattanooga with my colleagues at Placemaking Week in Amsterdam,” said Ms. Hays. “In addition to sharing our Innovation District with others, I am so excited to learn from a diverse group of placemaking experts from across the world so that I can return to Chattanooga and use what I’ve learned to continue our work to make my hometown a better place.”
The Placemaking Week Conference will take place Oct. 10-14 in Amsterdam. Praised for its focus on biking as a primary mode of transportation, Amsterdam is seen as having one of the most exemplary, people-centric transportation systems in Europe. The city also is a global leader in sustainability, not only because of its focus on walking and biking but also because of its smart urban design and unique community initiatives, and the fact that it is seen as one of the most socially inclusive cities in Europe.