Transforming Cities and Minds through the Scholarship of Engagement: Economy, Equity, and Environment

Lorlene Hoyt addresses the difficult question of how the scholarship of engagement fits into, and is valued by, major research universities. Arguing that ‘[t]he thesis experiment is broken’ (p. 213), Hoyt sets out to redesign the individualised and isolating experience of writing a research thesis into a collaborative process driven by peer critique and support. This book presents the results of Hoyt’s experiment. The book is framed around six chapters written by Master of Urban Planning students at MIT (assisted in three cases by co-authors), examining a linked set of themes: how are deindustrialised and distressed cities throughout the USA tackling the consequences of the Great Recession, and how are they dealing with the stimulus funding some received to address its consequences? The six chapters are organised into three pairs, addressing aspects of the economic, environmental and social equity foundations underpinning community redevelopment and revitalisation efforts. The research presented ranges from in-depth interviews with small business owners to comparisons of programs designed to upgrade home energy efficiency and create green jobs. In each case, the chapters conclude with recommendations for how revitalisation efforts could be improved. The six substantive chapters are bookended by Hoyt’s description of and reflection on the collaborative learning approach. The students who contributed to this book were each involved in MIT@Lawrence, a federally funded city-university partnership based on action research principles, set within CoLab (Community Innovators Lab) at MIT. The partnership involves service-learning through internships and projects, as well as the provision of technical assistance to community development projects, representing a good example of the relative sophistication of community engagement efforts in the United States. Federal funding has enabled a wide range of university-community outreach projects, aimed at breaking down the barriers between elite institutions and the often distressed communities in which they are located. This experience has resulted in a fairly rich Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement Vol 6 (2013): 233–35 © UTSePress and the author