Equity and Social Justice
Research + Design
As disparities and inequities widen, the College of Environmental Design is committed to practices that empower those who often have the least voice. We engage with neighboring communities, public agencies, nonprofits, industry, and government to advance environmental design as a vehicle for equity and social justice.
Jun 28, 2024
LAF scholarship winner Kanani D’Angelo is reviving traditional Hawaiian practices to restore Oahu landscapes and watersheds
Kanani D’Angelo, who is pursuing concurrent MCP and MLA degrees, is the 2024 winner of the Hawaii Chapter ASLA/David T. Woolsey Scholarship from the Landscape Architecture Foundation. She is focusing on reviving Native Hawaiian cultural practices to restore degraded landscapes, such as freshwater fishponds, and reconnect people to the land.
Jun 5, 2024
Advanced Urban Design & Planning Studio: Golden Gate Fields
Three studios considered the redevelopment of the Golden Gate Fields sites along the East Bay shoreline.
Jun 10, 2024
Deborah McKoy advocates for inclusive strategy to solve California’s crisis of homeless children, youth
In an op-ed in the Sacramento Bee, Deborah McKoy, director of CED's Center for Cities + Schools, argues for engaging homeless youth in the process of building sustainable support systems.
Jun 10, 2024
With bond measure slated for November ballot, new study finds inequities in California school facility funding
The Center for Cities + Schools, an affiliate center of the Institute of Urban & Regional Development, has just published a comprehensive exploration of the challenges plaguing TK–12 school facility funding in California. The report authored by Sara Hinkley, entitled "Moving to Equity: California School Facility Program Reform," provides crucial context for the $14 billion school infrastructure bond measure that will appear on the November ballot.
May 30, 2024
PhD candidate wins two prestigious fellowships for research into road safety in the age of Uber Eats
Cheng-Kai (Kai) Hsu's findings highlight the need for regulatory oversight to protect vulnerable gig workers and the public.
May 21, 2024
Berkeley Rupp Prize awarded to architect Sandhya Naidu Janardhan, founder of Community Design Agency
Naidu Janardhan, a leader in community-led design and sustainable architecture, will be in residence at the College of Environmental Design during the fall 2024 semester.
May 20, 2024
2024 Lau Grants for Just Climate Futures awarded
This year's projects focus on neighborhood energy-sharing strategies, flood adaptation in unincorporated areas, and heat and pollution in urbanizing towns.
May 20, 2024
Terner Center creates new tool to study housing affordability in California
Terner Center study creates interactive map on housing affordability in California, asking an essential question: How affordable is California to the people who would live there if they could?
May 17, 2024
Ron Rael talks to Arch Daily about the future of architecture
In an interview published in Arch Daily, Ron Rael shares his views on the potential of AI, material culture, the role of the architect in society, architectural education, sustainability, and more.
May 6, 2024
Forest to frame: Paul Mayencourt bridges forest management and sustainable construction
Paul Mayencourt is prototyping sustainable construction materials and methods in the Wood Lab, including a solar kiln.
Mon | Apr 15, 2024
What’s at stake for housing in the 2024 elections? | Terner Center panel discussion
Join Terner Center and Labs on April 15 to learn what’s at stake for housing in the 2024 election in California and nationally.
Wed | Apr 3, 2024 - Sat | Apr 13, 2024
Exhibition | Lau Grants for Just Climate Futures
This exhibition showcases new compelling climate solutions research by College of Environmental Design faculty, funded by the inaugural round of Lau Grants for Just Climate Futures.
Mar 22, 2024
Danika Cooper uses tools of landscape architecture to visualize a decolonized U.S.
In new research, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning Danika Cooper explores how drawing and mapping — the graphic tools of her discipline — can provide actionable strategies toward an anticolonial, antiracist future. She demonstrates that these methods of visual communication can both document Indigenous dispossession and make claims for land-based reparations.
Mar 20, 2024
New research on climate resilience, environmental justice to be presented at CED
An exhibition and lecture reveal innovative research into climate solutions by CED faculty.
Jan 21, 2024
Max Buchholz, who focuses on urban inequality, joins the Department of City & Regional Planning
The Department of City & Regional Planning is delighted to welcome urban and economic geographer Max Buchholz, whose work on metropolitan growth promises to advance more equitable urban futures though its impact on policy and planning.
Dec 15, 2023
CED’s Social Justice Corps Changes Lives
In this video, Arcus Social Justice Corps Fellows speak to the community-building power and industry-shifting impact of the program.
Dec 12, 2023
Charisma Acey named Arcus Chair in Social Justice and the Built Environment
The five-year appointment recognizes and supports Acey’s work in environmental justice, both locally in the East Bay and in African cities.
Thu | Nov 30, 2023
3:30pm - 5:00pm
Destin Jenkins: Who Runs This Town? Debt, Privatization, and the Abdication of the American City | City & Regional Planning Speaker Series
Destin Jenkins (Stanford University) reflects on the field of urban history, and the relationship between debt and postwar inequality.
Oct 30, 2023
Danielle Rivera’s work on low-income communities’ recovery after disasters honored by JAPA
Rivera's prize-winning article argues that engaging local histories of racism and prejudice in Texas's Río Grande Valley is key to redressing post-disaster inequities.