UO Campus Activities
Visiting Scholar Program
Scholars and professionals in fields of city and regional planning, landscape architecture, architecture, geography, environmental science, and relevant professions are invited for a two-week workshop which culminates in participation in the 2025 Association of Pacific Rim Universities Sustainable Cities and Landscapes annual conference held at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Learn more about SCL's approach in the Routlege Handbook.
Sustainable Cities and Landscapes in the Galapagos
This 21-day program in Quito, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands offers students a deep dive into urban planning, architecture, and environmental conservation. Starting in Quito and continuing to San Cristobal Island, students stay with host families and explore the complex socio-ecological dynamics of cities and landscapes. Through workshops, excursions, and lectures, the program focuses on sustainable urban development, climate change mitigation, and conservation management, blending fieldwork with actionable proposals to address environmental challenges.
2025 Speaker Series
Upcoming Events
2024-2025 Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Speaker Series – Funded by the Global Justice Program
We are excited to highlight the work of seven SCL members from across the Pacific Rim and share their expertise with the UO campus. Three of these speakers are from the United States, and the other four are from China, Canada, the Philippines, and Colombia. Collectively, these speakers will provide a diverse set of perspectives on equity, climate resilience, and community engagement within their regions related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This series is graciously funded by the Global Justice Program and the HOPES Conference.
Professor Lopez is an architect who graduated from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in 2001. He earned his MSc in Architecture at TU Delft in the Netherlands in 2009 and obtained a Doctorate in Architectural Projects from the Polytechnic University of Catalunya (UPC) in 2022. His doctoral thesis focuses on researching the interaction between urban morphology and the physical geography of natural protected spaces, using the Galápagos archipelago as a case study. Professor Lopez is the founder of the international architecture studio in the Galapagos Islands, which initiated research on human settlements in the Galápagos from a design perspective. He currently serves as the director of the Architecture and Urban Form Research Institute (AFORU) at USFQ and as the community outreach coordinator for the School of Architecture. Additionally, he works as a private consultant in urban and regional planning for both public and private institutions. Professor Lopez’s visit is co-sponsored by the Global Justice Program and HOPES Conference. While on campus he will provide a public lecture, classroom visits, and meet with students and faculty.
A Professorial Lecturer at the College of Architecture, University of the Philippines, Dr. Cajilig will focus on the materialities of disaster injustice in post-disaster housing reconstruction in an island community. She will employ anthropology and architecture methods to explore how injustice manifests in housing reconstruction, identifying key material registers that reveal social, economic, and political realities in disaster contexts. The SDGs involved are Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action.
Past Events
Zhifang earned her Ph.D. and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and previously served as an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, USA. Her research interest is to bridge sustainable science and landscape practice for evidence-based sustainable planning and design, including evidence-based sustainable design, ecological restoration and infrastructure, and sustainability in climate change. She has led over 20 research or practical projects and published over 100 articles and 2 books. She serves on the editorial boards for over ten academic journals and is a member of China’s National Steering Committee of Graduate Education for Landscape Architecture Degree.She has another event on Bridging Science and Practices for Landscape Sustainability, Friday, March 7, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m., Hendricks Hall.
A Senior Lecturer of Landscape Architecture at the University of Hong Kong, Ms. Echeverri will discuss the integration of ecology into landscape architecture education and practice. Her lecture will highlight interdisciplinary collaboration challenges and showcase practice-based projects that address sensitive sites and transform traditional aquaculture landscapes in Southern China. The SDGs touched upon include Sustainable Cities and Communities, Climate Action, and Life on Land.
As an island community with world-famous beaches, Hawai‘i’s coastal managers face significant challenges in the face of sea level rise (SLR). Shoreline laws have recently been updated to limit further shoreline hardening, making Hawaiʻi a salient case study to understand the challenges and opportunities around managed retreat. We interviewed 42 private sector, civil society, and government actors involved with coastal governance and anchored our conversations to three distinct communities on O‘ahu. Factors that affected participant perspectives on the viability of retreat per site hinged on: 1) physical/natural barriers and opportunities; 2) perceptions of the public value of a beach; 3) the importance of existing infrastructure; and 4) the political influence of coastal homeowners. Participants’ views on who should inform the coastal planning process moving forward varied by site. In addition to residents, there was largely agreement that communities should include those with affinity and long-standing relationships with place. Coffman serves in a dual capacity as the Director for the Institute for Sustainability and Resilience and a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Her interests include greenhouse gas reduction strategies; renewable energy planning and policy; low-carbon transportation; and sea level rise response. She specializes in regional economy-environment modeling with expertise in energy and climate policy. Her current research assesses energy planning and regulatory mechanisms to help Hawai‘i and the U.S. meet their clean energy goals, including low-carbon transportation options, as well as research on the economic and social impacts of sea level rise in Hawaiʻi. Makena is also a Research Fellow with the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.
Dr. Andreanne Doyon is an Assistant Professor of Planning at Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management, Dr. Doyon will present on nature-based solutions in urban infrastructure. She will discuss how these solutions contribute to resilient, livable, and equitable cities, emphasizing the integration of justice in planning and governance processes. Dr. Doyon will use case studies to highlight the importance of local and Indigenous knowledge. The talk aligns with SDGs on Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Life on the Land.