Sessions by Time

The main Conference Program will span three full days with optional pre-conference events scheduled for Wednesday, January 28, and Sunday, February 1. The main program will kick off on Thursday morning (Jan. 29), and continue through Saturday afternoon. The schedule includes a dynamic mix of plenaries, breakouts, implementation workshops, focused trainings, experiential learning activities, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and coordinated networking activities. It will also feature exciting tours of local model projects in the greater Baltimore region.

Please visit the Healthy Food Systems and Local Policymakers pages for information on optional workshops scheduled for Wednesday, and visit the Conference Tours page for information on optional tours scheduled for Thursday and Sunday. Please visit the Special Features page for information on other exciting special events and conference features.

Learn more about our dynamic speakers.

Wednesday
10:00 AM – 2:00 PM 4:00 PM – 7:00 PMEarly Onsite Conference Check-In

Optional Pre-conference Workshops
11:00 AM – 5:30 PMAdvancing Local and Regional Food Systems: Opportunities to Grow Resilient, Equitable Communities
(Pre-registration and $45 fee required)
12:00 PM – 5:30 PMLight after the Storm: Strategies for Revitalization after the Recession An Event Specifically for Local Policymakers
(Free / Pre-registration required)
Thursday
7:00 AM – 6:00 PMConference Registration / Morning Coffee
8:00 AM – 12:30 PMMorning Concurrent Optional Tours of Local Model Projects
(Pre-registration and nominal fee required)
8:00 AM – 1:30 PMEquitable Development: Tools and Strategies for Making a Visible Difference in Communities Workshop
(Pre-registration and $28 fee required)
8:30 AM – 5:30 PMAll Day Tour — Growing Local: A “Shore” Recipe for Smart Growth
(Pre-registration and nominal fee required)
12:00 PM - 1:30 PMNetworking Lunch for Health Professionals​
Description
12:30 PM – 2:00 PMLunch Break
2:00 PM – 5:30 PMConcurrent Focused Training Sessions
Understanding the Challenge: A Poverty Simulation Experience
Lean Urbanism: Restoring Common Sense to Get Things Done
Building Blocks Training Academy Road Show: Focus on Transportation Tools
The Path to Implementation: Innovative Tools to Make Your Plans Happen
2:00 PM – 3:30 PMConcurrent Afternoon Breakouts
Fast and Cheap: Implementing Change from the Grassroots
After the Coal Plant Closes: An Environmental-Justice Approach to Redevelopment & Economic Opportunities
The Dollars and $ense of Smart Growth
Place, Race and Equity: From the Frontlines of the PLACE MATTERS Initiative
Smart Growth 101
The New Faces of Economic Resilience: Immigrants Revitalizing Distressed Communities
Reinvesting in Maryland: Infill, Redevelopment and Community Revitalization Strategies
Highways and Health: How Communities are Leveraging Transportation Investments for Healthy Communities
2:00 PM – 5:30 PMAfternoon Concurrent Optional Tours of Local Model Projects
(Pre-registration and nominal fee required)
3:30 PM – 4:00 PMCoffee Break
4:00 PM – 5:30 PMConcurrent Late Afternoon Breakouts
Incorporating Smart Growth into Disaster Recovery: Local implementation after Superstorm Sandy
Regenerating Legacy Cities: Creating Opportunity, Fostering Inclusion
The Good, Bad and the Undiscovered: An Insider’s Look into Successful Public-Private Partnerships Across the Country
When Violence and Crime Hinder Smart Growth: Combating Threats to Improving Community
Tapping the Power of Youth in Urban Greening: Innovations from the Mid-Atlantic
Urban Waters Federal Partnership: Catalyzing Redevelopment Opportunities for Thrivable Communities
Transforming Suburbs into Economically Vibrant Communities with Opportunity for All
Singing and Dancing on Main Street: Building a National Practice for Creative Place-Making
5:30 PM – 7:00 PMDinner Break - Participants on their own
7:00 PM - 7:30 PMConference Welcome
7:30 PM – 8:45 PMConference Welcome & Kick-off Plenary
Making Development Work for All: From Promise to Practice
8:45 PM – 9:45 PMHosted Networking Reception
Friday
7:00 AM – 8:30 AMConference Registration / Morning Coffee
Networking Opportunities
Smart Growth in Rural Communities and Small Towns: A Marketplace of Ideas
Making it Happen: Building Diverse Partnerships for Equitable Solutions
8:30 AM – 9:45 AMMorning Welcome & Plenary
Building Resilience in the Face of Climate Risks
9:30 AM – 3:30 PMTechnology Fair: An Interactive Demonstration of Public Engagement Tools for Smart Planning
9:45 AM – 10:15 AMMorning Break
10:15 AM – 11:45 AMConcurrent Morning Breakouts
Deal Makers and Game Changers: Being Responsive to a Market for Equitable Development
Leveraging Impact Investing to Support a Community Transformation in Baltimore
Meet the Grantmakers
Equity (k)NOW! – Collaborating on Equity in the Context of Transit-oriented Communities
Displacement is Preventable: Community Land Trusts Preserve Land for the Community
A Debate: Who Will Drive Suburban Transformation – The Millennials or the Boomers?
Growing Innovation: Leveraging Service Programs to Build Smart-Growth Capacity
The Teacher Is In: School Siting Tools You Can Use!
Rethinking Detroit: Tools, Partnerships and Strategies to Re-envision a Quintessential American City
Anchor Institutions: Harnessing their Power for the Good of Community Change
Creative Placemaking and Transit: Community Engagement, Lasting Neighborhoods and Cultural Celebration
11:45 AM – 1:30 PMLunch Break – Participants on own
Networking Opportunities
1:30 PM – 3:00 PMConcurrent Afternoon Breakouts
Rising from the Storm: Turning Devastation into Opportunity for All
Where’s the Money: 2015 Smart Growth and Philanthropy
We Really Are Getting Older! Discover how Communities Are Preparing for Us
Striving for a Resilient Future Through High Performance Landscapes
Relying on a Foundation: The Case for Community Foundations as Placemakers
Redesigning Schoolyards for Community Resilience: Engaging Partners at All Levels
Growing Pains: Brownfield Reuse and Creating New Food Connections
Saving the World through Zoning: Small-Town Success Stories
Safer Streets, Stronger Economies: Complete Streets Performance in the DMV and Beyond
Community Resilience to Natural Hazards: Approaches to Adaptation
Fair Development in Baltimore: Uniting Economic and Community Development
3:00 PM – 3:30 PMCoffee Break
3:30 PM – 5:30 PMConcurrent Afternoon Implementation Workshops
Better Together: Collaborative Approaches to Catalyzing Climate-Adaptation Action
Smart Growth Can Be Safe Growth: Resilience Lessons from Vermont and California
Man Bites Dog: NIMBYs Become YIMBY’s in White Flint, MD
The 2020 Leadership Strategy: Diversifying the Smart Growth Movement Now and in the Future!
For Livable and Lovable Cities – Add Parks!
Bike-Ped Safety Depends on Effective Partnerships Between Transit and Road Agencies
Leveraging New Transit for Better Communities: Transit-Oriented Development as a Catalyst and Stabilizer along the Red and Purple Lines
Advancing an Equitable Economy through Community Food Projects
Equitable Development: Thorny Issues, Common Lessons and Leading Strategies for Places Large and Small
Tools for Healthy Places: Putting Science into Practice to Inform Decisions
Building Youth Leadership for Stronger Communities
Saturday
7:00 AM – 8:30 AMConference Registration / Morning Coffee
Networking Opportunities
8:30 AM – 9:45 AMMorning Welcome and Plenary
Open Data + Civic Hackers = New Technology for Age-Old Problems
9:45 AM – 10:15 AMMorning Break
10:15 AM – 1:45 PMUnderstanding the Challenge: A Poverty Simulation Experience
Description
10:15 AM – 12:15 PMConcurrent Implementation Workshops
ILEAD! Tools for Communities to Drive Equitable Development
Tools for Building Community Resilience to Coastal Hazards: An Implementation Workshop
Reaping Benefits of New Transit: Ensuring Local Entrepreneurs Benefit from Rising Tides
Local Food, Local Places: How Local Food Can Spur Downtown Revitalization
Near-Highway Community Design: A School and Housing Charrette
Build Schools, Build Neighborhoods: Connecting Smart Growth and School Improvement
Making Good and Doing Well with Regional Planning: Direction, Tactics and Implementation Lessons
Raising Expectations: Using Green Infrastructure to Improve Equity in Underserved Communities
Better Bike Share: Smaller Cities, Suburbs and Equitable Availability
Greater Baltimore Wilderness: Green Infrastructure for Regional Resilience and Equity
Leveraging P3 for Housing Affordability, Equity and Resilience: Models to Build On
12:15 PM – 1:45 PMNetworking Luncheon
1:45 PM – 3:15 PMConcurrent Afternoon Breakouts
Community Benefits: Delivering Equity in Economic Development
Lot-by-Lot: Baltimore Strategies for Creating a New Urban Landscape through Vacant-Lot Reuse
Delivering Infrastructure: Who Said There Was No Money?
Peas and Carrots: Why Conservation and Smart Growth Belong Together
Breaking Down the Walls: Coworking Spaces and the Future of Innovation
Blight to Bright: 25 Tools Proven to Eliminate Blight in Pennsylvania
Businesses, Artists and Environmentalists: How Maryland’s Cities Partner to Successfully Implement Smart Growth
Measuring Access to Opportunity: 21st-Century Transportation Performance Measurement
Foundation/Community Partnerships Bring Multiple Benefits: Clean Water and Healthier People
The Fiscal Connection: Land Use and Municipal Budgets
3:15 PM – 4:00 PMClosing Plenary
Pulling it all Together - Strategies for a Challenging Environment
Sunday
8:30 AM – 12:30 AMConcurrent Optional Tours of Local Model Projects
(Pre-registration and nominal fee required)