And That's a Wrap - For Number 61!

The 2024 IMCL Cortona conference just concluded four intense days of thought-provoking content and great companionship in the beautiful Tuscan city of Cortona, and its stunning 17th century conference venue

ABOVE - Researcher David Brain of the University of Notre Dame and Civic Design Strategies presents on the complex "civic ecology" of the City of Cortona, with its networks of evolving places.

CORTONA, ITALY - Attendees left here tired but thoughtful after a jam-packed conference of topics on frontier urban livability challenges and their solutions, including timeless lessons from great cities and towns. Over 100 attendees from every continent except Antarctica represented governments, practitioners, NGO heads and researchers, sharing the latest knowledge on current challenges for livable and sustainable cities, towns and suburbs around the world.

Attendees took time out to acknowledge several honorees as well, including Simon Conibear, long-time development manager of King Charles' iconic Poundbury development in the UK, and Yves Bovero, a key development executive for the equally iconic Le Plessis-Robinbson, a landmark suburban retrofit project in the Paris region. Both were honored with the 2024 IMCL Achievement Award. The 2024 IMCL Mayors' Vision Award went to Rod Roberson of the City of Elkhart, Indiana, for his visionary leadership in the transformation of that midwest industrial city.

Attendees also had ample opportunities to rub elbows, form new friendships and develop new collaborations -- a key goal for the IMCL from its beginning in 1985. The series was begun by Suzanne Lennard, a British architectural and urban scholar, and Henry Lennard, a Viennese medical sociologist. The Lennards were passionate about sharing the best evidence-based lessons of great cities and towns to improve the quality of life for all, and to promote personal and planetary health. To do it, they brought together many of the world’s most innovative and successful mayors, planners, economic development specialists, designers, developers, NGO officials, and researchers and scholars.

In the years since its founding, the IMCL has become a unique peer-to-peer gathering of city leaders and researchers, typically hosted in beautiful, intimate and instructive case-study locales (like Cortona). While we recognize that online education is an increasingly important professional development component, the IMCL believes there is no substitute for a component of face-to-face and on-the-ground immersive learning, personally sharing effective tools and strategies to drive positive change.

Following are some photos from the 61st conference. Videos of the plenary presentations will be available in the near future!

Above: Cortona Mayor Luciano Meoni welcomes attendees.

Above: US Embassy to Rome Cultural Attaché Karen Schinnerer is welcomed by officers of the City of Cortona, while (left) IMCL Board Member Jim Brainard looks on.

ABOVE: The conference brought together over 100 attendees from every continent except Antarctica, including government officials, practitioners, NGO heads, and researchers across a range of disciplines.

ABOVE: Catered hors d'oeuvres and an exhibition of beautiful projects await conference attendees in the cloister of the venue, a stunning 17th century former monastery.

ABOVE: Attendees discuss the proceedings. L-R Roland Larivier of Paris, Ayanda Roji of Johannesburg, and Guy Courtois of Paris.

ABOVE: Attendees gather at a reception and dinner on the second night of the conference.

ABOVE: The volunteer "Red Shirt Brigade" handles technical and other issues with a smile.

ABOVE: Yves Bovero wins the 2024 IMCL Achievement Award for his work at Le Plessis-Robinson, a stunningly successful suburban retrofit in the Paris region.

ABOVE: Conference manager Leslie Barrett tends to the book table.

ABOVE: George Ferguson, Past President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and former Mayor of Bristol, UK, describes a new book at the book signing session.

ABOVE: Guests arrive for the awards dinner on the third night of the conference.

ABOVE: The awards dinner gets under way.

ABOVE: Attendees gather in the beautiful cloister to discuss the conference topics.

ABOVE: Liz Moule, co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism and partner of legendary firm Moule & Polyzoides, presents their extensive research on Italian hill towns.

.

Attendees are traveling to Cortona, Italy for the 61st International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) next week!

Good weather and great speakers await the participants, as Cortona Mayor Luciano Meoni and Cultural Attaché to the US Embassy in Rome Karen Schinnerer are set to offer welcomes

ABOVE: IMCL Executive Director Michael Mehaffy departs the IMCL home office, taking the Amtrak line through the scenic Columbia Gorge - one of the USA's great train trips.

CORTONA, ITALY - Mayors, researchers, practitioners, developers, and NGO leaders are gathering here to exchange peer-to-peer insights, and share the most effective tools and strategies for building and revitalizing a new generation of livable cities, towns and suburbs.

Over 100 attendees will gather for the 61st International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) conference, representing cities and countries from every continent except Antarctica. Their focus is timely: to address the critical environmental, social and economic challenges facing cities and towns, and the opportunities to build more resilient, ecological, prosperous, equitable, beautiful -- in a word, livable -- cities, towns and suburbs.

The conference will focus on effective implementation, with numerous case studies of examples offering clear successes as well as remaining challenges. Among the participants are the leaders of a number of landmark New Urbanism exemplars of livability, including Le Plessis-Robinson, France; Poundbury, UK; Seaside, Florida; I'on, South Carolina; Carmel, Indiana; and Las Catalinas, Guatemala, among others.

Le Plessis-Robinson and Poundbury both feature over 30% affordable housing, and all the projects feature a number of landmark innovations in social, ecological, and/or economic sustainability.

Leaders will include Robert Davis, developer of Seaside; Philippe Pemezec, mayor of Le Plessis-Robinson; Simon Conibear, long-time development manager of Poundbury; Vince Graham, developer of I'on; Sara Bega, Town Architect of Las Catalinas; and Jim Brainard, long-time mayor of Carmel, and now Board member of the Lennard Institute, producers of the IMCL conferences.

Joining them will be the principals of highly accomplished New Urbanist firms, including Liz Moule (co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism), Victor Dover (principal of Dover Kohl & Partners), Ashleigh Walton (Urban Design Associates); Hamid Iravani (Parsons); and Steve Mouzon (founder of the Urban Guild).

Also attending will be senior officials of a number of leading NGOs, including Laura Petrella, Head of Planning, Finance and Economy for UN-Habitat; Ben Bolgar, Senior Director of Projects for The King's Foundation in London; Carmelo Troccoli, Executive Director of the World Farmers' Market Coalition; Ryan Smolar and Madeleine Spencer of PlacemakingUS; and David Weaver and Brittany Croyle of weIMPACT Group.

They will also be joined by other mayors, senior planners and agency leaders, and by local officials including Cortona mayor Luciano Meoni, the Head of Culture and Tourism for Cortona, Francesco Attesti, and the Cultural Attaché from the US Embassy in Rome, Karen Schinnerer.

Other attendees include leading researchers from the University of Cambridge, Politecnico di Milano, EURAC Research Center in Bolzano, Nicolaus Copernicus University at Toruń, Harbin Institute of Technology, and the University of Notre Dame and its Rome Campus. A focus of the conference will be on new research into human impacts of the built environment, and ethical implications for practice, policy and education.

---

For more information, or to inquire about last-minute registration opportunities: https://www.imcl.online/2024-cortona

61st IMCL Conference Will Focus on Implementation with Leaders of Top International Projects

The conference will bring together mayors, developers, researchers, practitioners, and NGO leaders to exchange peer-to-peer insights and share the most effective tools and strategies for building and revitalizing a new generation of livable cities

ABOVE: The beautiful venue, the Sant'Agostino Conference Center, and surrounding Cortona neighborhood.

CORTONA, ITALY - Over 100 attendees will gather here in just over two weeks for the International Making Cities Livable conference, representing cities, universities, NGOs, professional firms and development companies from every continent except Antarctica. Their focus is timely: to address the critical environmental, social and economic challenges facing cities and towns, and the opportunities to build more resilient, ecological, prosperous, equitable, beautiful -- in a word, livable -- cities, towns and suburbs.

Among the participants are the leaders of a number of landmark New Urbanism exemplars of livability, including Seaside, Florida; Poundbury, UK; Le Plessis-Robinson, France;  I'on, South Carolina; Carmel, Indiana; and Las Catalinas, Guatemala, among others.

Leaders will include Robert Davis, developer of Seaside; Philippe Pemezec, mayor of Le Plessis-Robinson; Simon Conibear, long-time development manager of Poundbury; Vince Graham, developer of I'on; Sara Bega, Town Architect of Las Catalinas; and Jim Brainard, long-time mayor of Carmel, and now Board member of the Lennard Institute, producers of the IMCL conferences.

Joining them will be the principals of highly accomplished New Urbanist firms, including Liz Moule (co-founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism), Victor Dover (principal of Dover Kohl & Partners), Ashleigh Walton (Urban Design Associates); Hamid Iravani (Parsons); and Steve Mouzon (founder of the Urban Guild).

Also attending will be senior officials of a number of leading NGOs, including Laura Petrella, Head of Planning, Finance and Economy for UN-Habitat; Ben Bolgar, Senior Director of Projects for The King's Foundation in London; Carmelo Troccoli, Executive Director of the World Farmers' Market Coalition; Ryan Smolar and Madeleine Spencer of PlacemakingUS; and David Weaver and Brittany Croyle of weIMPACT Group.

They will also be joined by other mayors, senior planners and agency leaders, and by local officials including Cortona mayor Luciano Meoni, the Head of Culture and Tourism for Cortona, Francesco Attesti, and the Cultural Attaché from the US Embassy in Rome.

Other attendees include leading researchers from the University of Cambridge, Politecnico di Milano, EURAC Research Center in Bolzano, Nicolaus Copernicus University at Toruń, Harbin Institute of Technology, and the University of Notre Dame and its Rome Campus.

Registration for the 61st IMCL conference ends October 23rd. For more information, or to register: https://www.imcl.online/2024-cortona