Co-founded in 2008 by Harvard University Graduate School of Design Professor Martha Schwartz to tackle the problem of sustainability at a workable city-scale, the Working Group for Sustainable Cities at Harvard University (WGSC) extends Ms Schwartz’s professional practice of landscape architecture to all aspects of what makes a city livable. The WGSC is a cross-disciplinary offering that brings together the faculties of Harvard University and industry leaders. The group develops new ways of understanding and approaching economic, social, and environmental sustainability as it relates to urban regeneration.
The WGSC has been set up as a learning center at Harvard University, one that will provide a case study experience where students will study US cities and feed knowledge back to a sustainability knowledge platform, shared by Harvard University and the community. The case studies gather relevant data and materials from a range of disciplines, including urban development, environment, sociology, public policy and health, religion, gender and cultural studies.
The WGSC is a hub of a global, constantly evolving, cross-sector network of professionals, academics, students, politicians, and local communities, working in synergy to develop the practice and implementation of urban sustainability.