Tag Archives: Dialogue

Project Partner Delivers Lecture on Participatory Budgeting at UT

On March 30, 2012, former and current students were excited to welcome our project advisor Juan Torres to the School of Architecture. He gave a lecture to students and faculty members on participatory budgeting and planning in Santo Domingo, translated by Lindsey Carte, Jared Genova, and Danielle Rojas. Juan Torres’ visit was facilitated with funding from the School of Architecture and the Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies. At the time of his visit, Juan was a municipal planning official with the municipality of Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional. He currently works in private practice as an architect and engineer. Welcome to Texas, Juan!

Juan Torres with students during his visit to austin in March 2012.
Juan Torres with students during his visit to austin in March 2012.

Civil Society Partners Start Dialogue after Presentation of 2014 Study Findings

On Wednesday, March 10, 2014, students in the 2014 practicum course presented the results of their ethnobotanical research in Los Platanitos to an audience of more than 50 students, civil society organizations and government officials at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU).

See the full presentation here.

After the presentation, Marianela Pinales of the project partner organization Centro de Investigación y Acompañamiento a Mujeres y Familia (CIAMF) moderated a workshop between government and civil society representatives which started a still ongoing process to form a network of organizations to assist Los Platanitos in their community development efforts.

Members of Mujeres Unidas work with representatives of CIAMF at a community meeting in January March 2014
Members of Mujeres Unidas work with representatives of CIAMF at a community meeting in March 2014

Los Platanitos Residents Present at Urban Forum 2010

In March 2010, students in the second practicum course in Los Platanitos presented at a large Urban Forum in Santo Domingo Norte organized by project partner Ciudad Alternativa. Students, together with residents of Los Platanitos, spoke to a audience of more than 75 representatives of government agencies and civil society organizations about the need for improved solid waste management in the community.

Learn more about the work of Ciudad Alternativa here.

Foro Urbano March 2010
Community residents joined government officials and civil society representatives to participate in the Foro Urbano held in March 2010

 

Former Santo Domingo Norte Planning Director Talks Decentralization at UTSOA Lecture Series

In March of 2013, we were pleased to welcome another project partner from Santo Domingo to the School of Architecture. Gabriel Baez, who was the planning director of Santo Domingo Norte when this initiative started, spoke at City Forum about the decentralization of governance in the Dominican Republic.Thank you for the visit, Gabriel!

City Forum is a planning and urban issues speaker series hosted by the Community and Regional Planning Program (CRP) at the University of Texas at Austin. The series is intended to broaden the curriculum in the CRP program by presenting the experiences, perspectives, and insights of scholars, community leaders, practicing planners, and policy makers who engage in timely issues. Learn more about past and future City Forum presentations by visiting the UTSOA website.

Check out Gabriel’s full presentation here.

Gabriel Baez thumbnail city forum