“You鈥檇 never expect to find a leafy arboretum in a high-density, high-diversity, high-traffic neighborhood,” says聽MinnPost writer Jay Walljasper. “But that鈥檚 exactly what Augsburg College is planning for its unmistakably urban campus in the heart of Minneapolis, which borders Fairview Riverside Medical complex, the high-rise Riverside Plaza towers, two freeways, two light rail lines, busy shopping districts on Franklin Avenue and Cedar Avenues, plus one of the largest Somali communities outside of Africa.”
Walljasper, a senior fellow for the ,聽described Augsburg’s ambitious plan to transform its campus into a living laboratory in a recent article on聽the history of the urban college, its intent to plant native Minnesota species, and聽its聽brainstorming and decision-making processes for the landscape design project.
Read: on the MinnPost site.
Associate Professor聽Lars Christiansen teaches courses in Augsburg’s Department of Sociology and Urban Studies Program. Christiansen puts his scholarship into practice as director of the Friendly Streets Initiative, a St. Paul-based organization that聽facilitates community organizing through聽creative public engagement events. The聽group aims to help communities envision positive change to public spaces, collect and analyze data, and assist聽neighbors in navigating聽city planning processes.