CNU in Louisville: How to engage

CNU’s annual event—affectionately known as the Congress—is now entering its 27th year. During the past several decades, the event has morphed and evolved as the movement—and staff—has changed and grown. The purpose of this article is to daylight the Congress process and provide information on how members can engage in both Congress planning and programming.

The Congress offers an opportunity for attendees to explore, engage, collaborate, and debate. Regardless of whether an attendee is coming for the first or 27th time, CNU seeks to offer programming for all attendees, including but not limited to:

1. Long-time CNU members who want to deepen their knowledge, reconnect with friends and colleagues, and share innovations they’ve been working on,
2. Mid-career professionals who are working to plan, design, build and rebuild, and create great places, and who are looking for innovative practices, case studies, and to expand their professional network, and
3. New voices and people new to New Urbanism, looking to understand better what it is, how it can help them amplify their work, and how their work can amplify new urbanist approaches.

The multi-day Congress program is designed to meet the needs of all three groups. New for CNU 27.Louisville, will be icons next to each program session indicating beginning, intermediate, or expert level subject matter to help attendees better navigate a full and diverse program.

The Congress program extends from Tuesday, for pre-Congress events such as day-long training offered by allied organizations through the closing party hosted by the Local Host Committee on Saturday night. Of course, any categorization will immediately invite debate, but in general, we have tried to develop Congress program elements for each audience:

Beginner, e.g., New Urbanism 101, introducing a new idea, a foundational session  

• Core Sessions: Hour-long, in-depth primers on the history, principles, tools, and concepts of New Urbanism.
• Breakout Sessions: Standard 75-minute sessions covering a range of topics and organized in a variety of formats by CNU members and Congress attendees.
• Art Room: Up-close or hands-on, skills-building sessions on design, sketching, illustration, photography, etc., with no prior experience required.  
• Member-Led Sessions: Member-organized working meetings and discussions focused on moving an initiative, idea, or conversation forward.

Intermediate, e.g., deepening understanding around one topic, exploring a new approach to an established field of practice.

• Legacy Projects: Organized months before the actual Congress, these 2-4 day design workshops in the neighborhoods of the host city or region present an opportunity for CNU, and its members, to give back to the host region.
• Breakout Sessions: Standard 75-minute sessions covering a range of topics and organized in a variety of formats by CNU members and Congress attendees.
• Art Room: Up-close or hands-on, skills-building sessions on design, sketching, illustration, photography, etc, with no prior experience required. 
• 202 Workshops: Advanced learning courses taught by thought leaders and innovative practitioners that are immersive, interactive, and in-depth.
• Open Innovation: a series of rapid-fire, seven-minute presentations clustered around loosely related topics, showcasing cutting-edge work, and highlighting emerging issues.
• New Urban Research: An opportunity for academics and researchers to present, discuss, and debate current research findings.

Expert, e.g., in-depth discussion and debate around new or established New Urbanist practices.

• Breakout Sessions: Standard 75-minute sessions covering a range of topics and organized in a variety of formats by CNU members and Congress attendees.
• Open Innovation: a series of rapid-fire, seven-minute presentations clustered around a specific topic, that encourage debate and discussion.
• Book Presentations and Signings: Book presentations and signings by CNU members with recently published (within 12 months of the Congress) works.
• Charter Awards: New for Louisville will be a pin-up—and discussion—for Charter Awards applicants.

All Audiences

• Tours: Organized by the Local Host Committee, tours offer an opportunity to explore the successful places found in and around the host city. Tours range from a few hours to all day, located in town or a bus ride away, on foot, on bike, or on bus.
• Host City Day: A day of programming dedicated to exploring successes and issues in the host city and region and organized by the Local Host Committee.
• Plenaries: Keynote speakers present on the latest advances in urbanism in front of the entire Congress for a shared experience.
• Social Networking Events: Daily receptions, extended lunches, and frequent breaks allow attendees to meet new people, catch up with old friends, and expand  conversations that started in sessions.

Where and How to Get Involved: A Brief Overview of the Process

While the Congress has always focused on the discussions and debate needed to evolve New Urbanist approaches, it’s also a place to introduce new people to our movement and to hear from new voices on what and how they are doing. The Congress is a platform to teach as well as to learn. The following represents the different ways to engage in Congress programming:

• Breakout Sessions: Submit session proposals through an open Call for Proposals, from September 1 to October 15, 2018. CNU session reviewers will rank the submitted proposals under 14 different tracks.
• Member-Led Sessions: Members interested in organizing a member-led session at CNU 27.Louisville should email CNU (congress@cnu.org) with their request and title the email “Member-Led Session.” The deadline for requests is March 31, 2019.
• Open Innovation: CNU will host a call for Open Innovation sessions in the winter of 2019 (opens January 31, 2019).
• Charter Awards: Members may submit projects during the application period (opens November 5, 2018) and will be invited to participate in a pin up session at CNU 27.Louisville.
• Book Presentations and Signings: CNU members for more than one-year who published (or will have published) a book within 12 months of the Congress should email CNU (congress@cnu.org), and title your email “Book Signing/Presentation”, to express interest. The deadline for requests is March 31, 2019.
• Legacy Projects: CNU and the Local Host Committee select project locations and match CNU members and firms to deliver pro-bono technical assistance in the host region. Members and member firms interested in participating in a future Legacy Project should email CNU (congress@cnu.org) and title the email “Legacy Project”.
• Social events: CNU members interested in organizing a happy hour or other social event at the Congress should email CNU (congress@cnu.org) to discuss.
• Pre-Congress/Shoulder Events: Individuals representing partner organizations and interested in hosting a pre-Congress event should email CNU (congress@cnu.org) and title the email “Pre-Congress”. The deadline for consideration is December 31, 2018.
• New Urban Research: CNU members interested in submitting research for presentation at the Congress may submit to the Call for Research scheduled to open October 1, 2018.

Ready to Get Involved?

The CNU 27.Louisville Call for Session Proposals is open September 1 through October 15.  Proposals will be reviewed by track leaders based on the following criteria:

• Relevance to New Urbanism
• Strength of the Content: Does the proposed session present a new topic or an innovative perspective on an old topic?
• Diversity of Speakers: Session proposals should not only include diversity in race, gender, age, and discipline, but should also consider a mix of new and regularly participating CNU voices.
• Completeness of the Proposal: Is the session proposal filled out in full?

Important Deadlines:

The annual Congress, now in its 27th year, is our movement’s flagship event. Participants connect with New Urbanists and placemakers from around the world, explore innovative solutions to local challenges with world-renowned experts, and debate and discuss emerging trends and technical solutions to new and existing problems. But it’s only as good as the people who attend, show up, and engage. Lend your voice to the discussions and debates. And together we will grow and expand the Congress to deepen our knowledge, expand and refine new urbanist approaches, and build more places people love.