Fall 2017 Policy Intensives with Practitioners Series Workshops

Emergency Management & Homeland Security

Friday, September 15, 2017

Kevin McGowan (MPP '10)
Assistant Director
Office of Emergency Services Ventura County Sheriff's Office

James Featherstone
President & CEO
Los Angeles Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC)

This workshop will explore contemporary and emerging 21st century challenges posed by natural, technological, and human caused disasters and how governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector address these challenges. Discussions in this session will center around philosophical and practical positions related to the implementation of local, state, and federal emergency management and homeland security policy, leadership, and management. The session will include opportunities to learn from emergency management and homeland security practitioners and will afford attendees with the opportunity to work in a group to solve a pressing contemporary problem with the intent of fostering a continued interest in this field of study.

Social Media Strategies for Politics and Policy

Friday, October 27, 2017

Alexander Kouts
Head of Product
Countable

What if a political office was built in the image of a Bay Area tech startup? What tools would it use and in what ways would staffers and reps leverage them to better accomplish their democratic mission? Come learn what Silicon Valley can teach us about how to leverage bleeding-edge tech and processes to serve and communicate with constituents - citing real examples of real innovation projects live in Congress and from market-leading civic tech consumer apps. 

Technology & Smart Cities

Friday, November 10, 2017

Jonathan Reichental
Chief Information Officer
City of Palo Alto

It's 2017 and our planet is undergoing rapid urbanization. Today there are over 3.5 billion people living in cities, and by 2050 three billion more will join them. The city challenges of population growth, inadequate infrastructure, generating new economic opportunities, climate change, and more are daunting and require the creation of bold and innovative urban development strategies. Without immediate and major shifts in our current trajectory, a good quality of life for city dwellers and the preservation of the environment are not sustainable. Fortunately, a growing global consensus is beginning to emerge to tackle a seemingly intractable list of urban issues. To build and grow our cities in a sustainable manner, we're going to have to think and act differently. In particular, we're going to need to use innovative technology and a greater degree of civic engagement to move forward. The architecture for a new generation of sustainable and high‐performing cities is starting to take shape. In this policy intensive we'll explore this topic through lecture, discussion, and workshop activities. You'll leave empowered to get involved and make a difference in your community and beyond.

Understanding the Law and Environmental Policy

Friday, December 1, 2017

John Nagle
John N. Matthews Professor of Law
University of Notre Dame

Environmental regulation affects the decisions of businesses, communities, and governments alike. This session will examine how that regulation works and what it seeks to accomplish. It will begin with an overview of the history of environmental policy, focusing on the laws that emerged from the environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It will explain how those laws were designed to work and how they apply to problems that have emerged since then, such as climate change and fracking. It will pay particular attention to California's environmental regulation as the state continues to chart a course that is much more ambitious than the federal government and other states.