Luskin Center Debuts Report Advancing Workforce to meet Electrified Transportation Needs

Luskin Center Electric Transport

The Luskin Center teamed with Edison International and Southern California Edison to develop a roadmap for the creation of a wide array of curricula to train the workforce required to meet the demands of transportation electrification.

The report Transportation Electrification (TE) Curriculum Development produces: 1) an analysis of the existing state of TE-specific education and training and 2) recommendations for the future of TE workforce training, developed out of stakeholder engagement.

Increasing TE demand is driven in large part by a new era in the commercialization of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Although PEV markets are still young, the vehicles are the road today will shift billions of miles of driving to clean electric-drive operation, and PEV adoption is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. This early progress has been achieved in spite of educational deficiencies in the workforce supporting transportation electrification (TE) supply chains. These supply chains include for PEVs, charging stations and electric grid modernization.

TE supply chain are supported by workers requiring a wide range of skills–including electricians,computer specialists, infrastructure installers, PEV-readiness planners, utility planners, corporate strategic planners, and scientists–yet there are relatively few educational and vocational programs dedicated to TE relevant training.

This project addresses this gap. Through the engagement of educational, industry, and other collaborators, this project seeds a multi-phase process of transportation-electrification (TE) curriculum development.

Luskin Center’s Los Angeles River Greenway Toolkit project receives funding from Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation

Metro LA River photo_0The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation has a awarded a grant of approximately $80,000 to the Luskin Center to develop a “how-to” manual for community-driven greenway projects along the Los Angeles River. Recognizing the vast untapped potential for accessible active transportation and healthy recreational opportunities along the River, and several decades of progress already made by community-based non-profits and local government in the northern part of the River, the Luskin Center set out to compile, analyze and repackage decades of institutional wisdom into an accessible and application-oriented guide called a “toolkit.” This toolkit will present step-by-step instructions for community leaders interested in developing: 1) a multi-modal linear pathway along the Los Angeles River, 2) a River-adjacent green open space, 3) a neighborhood access point or 4) a multi-modal bridge to improve access across the River.

Despite several decades of grass-roots and local government attention to the Los Angeles River, communities still lack the resources and tools that they need to engage directly with the River revitalization process. The Los Angeles River Greenway Toolkit project fills a vital gap with an accessible and well-researched guide designed to support river-adjacent communities. Henry McCann is the project manager and is working with graduate student researchers Andrew Pasillas and Shafaq Choudry, in addition to collaborating with a myriad of community organizations.

Urban Planning alumna appointed as Executive Director of California Debt Limit Allocation Committee

31c6080By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
UCLA Luskin student writer 

Urban Planning alumna Jeree Glasser-Hedrick (MAUP ‘00) has recently been appointed as Executive Director of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee by the California State Treasurer, John Chiang. Glasser-Hedrick will be responsible for programs that assist first-time homebuyers and for encouraging the development of affordable rental properties.

Currently, more than 34 percent of working renters pay more than 50 percent of their income toward housing, and the state’s Department of Housing estimates that California needs to build 220,000 new homes a year to keep up with population growth, a statement from the California State Treasurer’s Office said. Chiang is responding to this affordable housing crisis by leading a six-month engagement with housing leaders and stakeholders. Glasser-Hedrick is one of two key members who will aid Chiang in his plan and lead efforts to expand affordable housing in California.

“California has under-produced housing every single year since 1989,” Chiang said in the news release. “This shortage hinders companies’ ability to attract and retain employees, but also has repercussions for the health and education of our children, the environment, and our overall quality of life. The new housing team will help me tackle these issues and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

Glasser-Hedrick worked as a principal at JLG consulting for nearly two years. Prior to that, she served as program manager for Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, and held the position of finance analyst at US Property Fund. In addition, she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Glasser-Hedrick and the rest of Chiang’s housing team will begin meeting with local government officials, developers, financing experts and other stakeholders and leaders, including business sectors that have been impacted by California’s housing shortage, according to the news release.

Luskin Forum Highlights the School’s Multiple Perspectives

The winter 2015 edition of the Luskin Forum, titled “Engaging Multiple Perspectives,” is all about the diverse spectrum of ideas and research which have brought the Luskin to its present standing and continue to advance the school’s development and impact.

The magazine features stories ranging from the Luskin’s “Season of Service” for the underserved homeless population to professor Mark S. Kaplan’s work in suicide cause and prevention, along with highlights and achievements from many other faculty and students.

This edition of the Luskin Forum is available in print form and online via this link.

http://issuu.com/uclapubaffairs/docs/lfwi15

 

Equipping Students for Life After Luskin

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This winter and spring quarter, UCLA Luskin will host a series of skill-building workshops, career talks and networking events to prepare students for success in the working world.

Some of the main highlights in the series of events include “LA County: Challenges and Opportunities,” featuring high-level speakers like Governor Brown’s director of economic development, and a career fair for students to “speed network” with alumni and professionals.

“Sometimes students forget about the resources available to them, but UCLA Luskin has great leadership events and career services like this to help prepare students to be the best they can be,” says Career Services director Michelle Anderson. “This series of events will help make them as competitive as possible for summer internships or full-time careers after graduation.”

The event calendar includes:

UCLA Luskin’s Annual Career Fair
Tuesday, April 7
4-7 p.m., Ackerman Grand Ballroom

 

Skill-Building Workshops

Professional Etiquette
Thursday, January 15
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2343

LinkedIn & Social Networking
Thursday, January 22
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2355

Interviewing Tips & Tricks
Thursday, February 5
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2355

Global Public Affairs: Guide to Site Visits
Friday, February 6
10 a.m., Public Affairs Room 2343

Leadership Initiative: Public Speaking
Thursday, February 12
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2343

Leadership Initiative: Framing the Message with Dean Gilliam
Thursday, February 26
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2355

Exercising Natural Leadership
Thursday, March 5
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2343

Resume Writing
Tuesday, March 31
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2355

Leadership Initiative: Working the Room with Barbara Osborn and Kafi Blumenfield
Thursday, April 23
12:30 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2355

Salary Negotiation
Thursday, May 7
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2355

 

Career Talks & Networking
Student/Alumni Networking Night
Tuesday, January 27
6 p.m., Faculty Center California Room

Careers in Global Public Affairs
Thursday, February 5
12:30 p.m., Public Affairs Room 2343

L.A. County: Challenges & Opportunities
Presented with L.A. County Business Federation
Thursday, February 5
5 p.m., Faculty Center California Room

Public Service Jobs at the Local Level
Thursday, February 21
12:15 p.m., Public Affairs Room 3343

Diversity in Leadership Conference
Saturday, April 25
All Day

What is ‘Post” About “Post-Conflict’?

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By Steve Commins, Associate Director of GPA@UCLA Luskin, and Urban Planning Lecturer

Nepal is a country that is currently labeled ‘post-conflict’. But after two civil wars, one driven by an armed insurgency which later allied with a non-violent democratic movement, and the second spurred on by ethnic tensions in communities bordering India, the Nepalese still struggle with the daily tasks of building a new political system. The label ‘post-conflict’ is a designation that belies the complexities of the country’s status and what is required for a long term, peaceful, political settlement.

Nepal currently faces both deeply rooted forms of poverty and economic exclusion. India, which borders the country, has had a major hand in its economic options, and the country receives a significant amount of international ‘aid.’

Nepal occupies a particular niche in the “aid business”, as it is not a ‘strategic’ conflict like Afghanistan, it is not an aid orphan like the Central African Republic nor is it an aid darling like South Sudan recently. As a result, Nepal exists within the broad sweep of countries that have been labeled ‘post-conflict’ by the United Nations and other agencies, and, in the current jargon, a ‘Fragile and Conflict Affected State’.

In the late 1990s, chastened by the failure of the UN and major political powers to effectively address the human catastrophes of the civil wars in Somalia, Rwanda and Bosnia, as well as the limits of ‘democratization’ and ‘good governance’, a number of international agencies began to give more serious attention to what eventually became labeled ‘Fragile and Conflict Affected States’.

The premise of this approach is that there are complex, historic reasons why states have different forms of violent political conflict and political fragmentation, and there are also situations where states may experience the decay of public institutions even without overt violent conflict. This means that the UN and donor agencies have to address the underlying causes of ‘fragility’ rather than just provide humanitarian (neutral) aid – or as one observer put it, a ‘humanitarian fig leaf’.

Much literature has been devoted to debating ‘fragile’, ‘failed’ and ‘failing states’.  Frequently it misses the mark by not delving into the historic specifics of a country or region, or descending into superficial explanations like ‘these communities never got along’ or the government was doomed from the start’ – explanations that lack depth or insight into the nuances of the specific reasons and dynamics of fragility.

At the same time, the role of international agencies, which sometimes (but not always, hence the term ‘aid orphans’) provide large amounts of finance for both short-term ‘humanitarian’ assistance and longer-term ‘post-conflict’ reconstruction, poses another challenge. The problem with this approach is that donor agencies are making decisions on what to label a specific situation rather than the messy realities of politics (again, sadly, South Sudan’s collapsed political settlement comes to mind). Donor time frames and real politics rarely cohere.

As part of a four-country study on the impact of Community Driven Development projects on livelihoods in FCAS (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal), I worked with the lead Nepalese researcher on the initial interviews and inception for the country study.

Landing in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu provides no haunting images of war or political turmoil. On appearance the country is back in business. Indeed, fortunately for the country, the Maoists involved in the first civil war did not engage in the level of violence or social destruction found in some other countries (up to 20,000 people died, so ‘level’ is a sadly relative term). The Maoists currently function as a political party similar to the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front) in El Salvador or FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front), which moved into the political process after the peace agreements in their countries.

But talk for any amount of time with Nepalese and a complex picture of hopes and aspirations as well as uncertainties about a very nascent political system emerges. The politics of geography, as it were (Mountains, Hills, Terai), the debates about federalism (too much or too little depending on the individual) and the problematic aspects of nation state building and agreeing on the ‘imagined community’ that remain unresolved.

In the end, whatever label is applied by international donors, Nepal remains a country that has an evolving, contentious and sometimes fraught political process. Perhaps the label should be changed to ‘post-violent conflict’ (though different forms of violence frequently morph into criminality after the overt political violence has been reduced) as in reality all effective political settlements do not end conflict, rather they provide mechanisms that at best may achieve general acceptance for ways of addressing inevitable disagreements in non-violent, democratic and equitable ways.

This can only be seen from the ground up, as each violent conflict or manifestation of state fragility has its own history, meaning and narratives.

‘Post’ is a label of hopefulness about a better future, a short-hand for donors to change how they give aid, and, perhaps, a step towards a political settlement that works better for more people than the previous one.

Original post at http://global.luskin.ucla.edu/

“You Can Run But You Can’t Hide”

01907409 By Adeney Zo
UCLA Luskin student writer 

Professor Laura Abrams, chair of the social welfare doctoral program, and alumna Diane Terry BA ’01 MSW ’04 Ph.D. ’12 recently published an article in the Children and Youth Services Review titled, “You can run but you can’t hide”: How formerly incarcerated young men navigate neighborhood risks.”

This qualitative study offers a window into the lives of formerly incarcerated youth, focusing on the struggles they encounter while transitioning out of the incarceration system and into adulthood.

In light of the viral nationwide reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown and subsequent events, this article addresses very relevant issues of racial disparity in the criminal justice system and police violence by turning to a more personal, narrative focus.

Seventeen formerly incarcerated young men were interviewed about their methods for navigating everyday risks, a complex survival strategy which balances obligation to gang brothers, avoiding of re-incarceration, and steering away from dangerous areas and situations. Through analyzing how formerly incarcerated youth develop strategies for safety and survival into adulthood, this study may provide a stepping stone to solving the issues of poverty, racial tensions, and police brutality which are currently the center of debate and discussion in America.

Planning Professor’s Research Cited in Mexico Housing & Urban Policy Report

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Since 2012, Mexico has been working on an ambitious structural reform agenda across various sectors to boost the country’s competitiveness and economic growth. Housing and urban policy is considered a priority within this reform agenda as authorities are hoping to reduce a housing deficit that affects roughly 31% of Mexican households.

This attention to housing and urban policy, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) recent urban policy review on Mexico, is unprecedented for the country, and differs from past approaches to housing and urban policy in that it is focusing more on qualitative housing and the environment as opposed to quantitative goals. Over 200 Mexican political figures, policy makers and academics attended the launch of the report. Speakers included INFONAVIT Director General, Alejandro Murat; Governor of the State of Mexico, Eruviel Ávila Villegas; and Mayor of Mexico City, Miguel Mancera. They were accompanied by the Minister of Public Administration, Julián Alfonso Olivas Ugalde, and Mexican Ambassador to the OECD, Dionisio Pérez-Jácome Friscione.

Urban Planning Professor Paavo Monkkonen has conducted extensive research on housing vacancy in Mexico, including two projects in collaboration with OECD and the World Bank. His work was cited heavily in OECD’s urban policy review, which generated over 30 articles in the Mexican press. The policy review discusses the role of large housing lenders in housing policy for Mexico, priorities that will make the country create more competitive and sustainable cities, and various reforms to urban governance that will improve housing and development outcomes. The issue of vacant housing received particular attention in the media.

Last year, Professor Monkkonen delivered a presentation at the Institute of Social Research of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City on the topic of housing finance in urban policy, which also received a lot of attention by Mexican media outlets. Monkkonen argued that the Mexican government’s support of urban infill and higher density development would only be achieved with larger and more comprehensive reforms of the Mexican housing finance system than those currently proposed.

 

 

 

Luskin Center Receives California Energy Commission Grants for Clean Transportation and Energy Planning

Sustainable Mobility EV 083012_1As the new year begins, the Luskin Center for Innovation prepares for two exciting projects recently funded by the California Energy Commission (CEC). In response to the Program Opportunity Notice (PON) entitled “Advancing Utility-Scale Clean Energy Generation”, the Luskin Center has teamed with UC San Diego, San Diego Gas and Electric and others to deploy high accuracy, short-term solar forecasting technologies to allow commercial and industrial ratepayers to maximize their available rooftop space for solar photovoltaic by co-optimizing their electrical demand load with flexible workplace plug-in electric vehicles (PEV). As distributed energy resources gain a greater share of utility generation, forecasting and energy storage technology will play vital roles in load management – lowering integration costs and providing greater reliability at the benefit of ratepayers. The Luskin Center’s role in the project will be to apply its PEV expertise to identify and prioritize top warehouse cluster candidates that may qualify as pilot projects and estimate the ratepayer benefits associated with forecast-enhanced solar systems combined with on-site energy storage capacity. The project is expected to be complete in 2016.

The Luskin Center was also awarded funding for the CEC PON “Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness”. On the heels of the American Planning Association awarded “Southern California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan”, the Luskin Center will take the next step in PEV planning as recommended by the Plan. Specifically, the new project will tackle one of the biggest hurdles to widespread PEV adoption – multi-unit dwelling (MUD) charging. A high number of residents in apartment buildings and condominiums (a significant percentage of which are low-income) remain unable to install charging equipment on-site due to installation costs and ownership issues, and thus are precluded from PEV ownership. In partnership with the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, the goal of the project will be to identify top MUD candidates for outreach and pilot projects based primarily on PEV charging installation costs and PEV demand. The project is also expected to be complete in 2016.

 

Urban Planning Student Awarded Switzer Fellowship

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By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde
UCLA Luskin student writer 

Aaron Ordower, a graduate student pursuing a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning in the Luskin School was awarded the Switzer Environmental Fellowship, a highly competitive and merit based award, by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation.

The fellowship is awarded to 20 environmental leaders recognized by their academic institution or environmental experts. Through the fellowship, Ordower was awarded $15,000 to complete his degree and will be supported by the Switzer Foundation to continue his work facing crucial environmental challenges in Los Angeles.

Ordower has focused on urban sustainability and studies strategies for the development of transit friendly neighborhoods and urban growth to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reverse the effects of urban sprawl. He is also interested in how the different sectors of urban development, transportation, resource management and others can affect one another and work together for a more sustainable urban environment.

Urban planning students who have previously been awarded the prestigious award include Colleen Callahan who focused on transportation planning and environmental policy (2010) as well as John Scott-Railton and Miriam Torres who focused on climate change adaptation and water quality in low income communities (2011).