
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Contact : Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920
cgonzal@unm.edu
August 16, 2006
UNM Resource Center for Raza Planning Celebrates 10 Years
Community collaboration at heart of efforts
The Resource Center for Raza Planning in the UNM School of Architecture and Planning hosts “University and Community Collaboration: The First 10 Years” on Thursday, Aug. 24, from 5-8:30 p.m. at the Wool Warehouse, 516 1st St. NW. The event, which is free and open to the public, celebrates the center's accomplishments, marks a change in leadership and, in the tradition of planners, charts a course for the future.
Teresa Córdova, the center's founder and director, is both a fulltime faculty member in Community and Regional Planning in the school as well as a Bernalillo County Commissioner. She is stepping down as RCRP director and will hand the reins to Jacobo Martinez, a recent graduate of the master's program in planning who has worked for five years in RCRP.
“Jacobo exemplifies the success of RCRP. He is a student from the community who came into the program – into the classroom – and now is taking his expertise back out into the community,” Córdova said. She also said that stepping aside is “an opportunity to make way for new leadership and creativity, while retaining essential continuity.”
The event gives RCRP staff and the community the opportunity to remember past efforts that included conducting a community impact assessment of a proposed 35, 000 sq ft. facility on a 14-acre site in the heart of a stable neighborhood in the South Valley, conducting public participation for a water system project in the far South Valley, providing information to residents on the Isleta Boulevard Improvement Project, and providing technical assistance to the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation to develop its 17,000 sq. ft. small business incubator and commercial kitchen.
“All projects demonstrate a strong commitment to soliciting public involvement and education,” Martinez said.
Setting its sights on the future, RCRP plans to be a forerunner in developing and using planning technology.
“We want to tell the story of Albuquerque using multimedia technology in layers. Interviews, pictures and recordings will reside on the Web. A 3-D interactive model of the city, a ‘Virtual Albuquerque,' will invite users to click on buildings and find information about the history of the building, stories of the building and even interviews of people associated with it,” Martinez said. Tim Castillo, associate professor of architecture, is providing technical guidance and assistance.
Martinez and the RCRP staff are also looking at sustainability, both locally and globally. “We want to tap into and distribute knowledge and resources to help communities throughout the world,” he said.
Other RCRP student employees include Vicente Quevedo, master's student in Community and Regional Planning; Michael Montoya, senior in planning; Andres Ranieri, graduate of the journalism program with emphasis in media arts; and Maruja Clensay, graduate student in Latin American Studies and planning.
For more information about the event, contact the RCRP at 277-8526.www.unm.edu