Collective residencies / URBAN PLANNING / Olot
JESSICA WURWARG
From Tuesday, 16 January 2018 to Monday, 22 January 2018
Bio
Jessica Wurwarg is the Director of Energy Management and Sustainability, at the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), leading the agency’s sustainability and greenhouse gas reducing programs. She teaches about international food and water policy and urbanization at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. With a background in practice and research in urban policy and planning, focusing on food and sustainability, she worked as Managing Director of the Food Policy Center at Hunter College’s School of Public Health; Chief of Staff of External Affairs at DOT; Urban Planner at the World Bank, working on sustainable urban development; and in a number of areas at NYC’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development including disaster recovery and resiliency, affordable housing development and food policy. In 2016 Jessica received the McCloy Fellowship on Global Trends through the American Council on Germany and visited Germany looking at urban policies on sustainability. Originally from New York, Jessica has a Masters from the London School of Economics’ Cities Programme and a Bachelor’s degree, with Honors, from Brown University. She also teaches classes about cheese and wine.
Project
As people around the world begin to experience the effects of climate change, cities of all sizes are taking action in attempts to slow and mitigate these effects. I will look at public programs and projects that have been implemented to combat the effects of climate change in small cities and compare these projects to New York City’s climate change combatting work, looking at NYC as a city composed of many different neighborhoods and smaller cities. I will focus particularly on public outreach and engagement. I will also explore the Catalonian region through its tastes and products, particularly its cheeses.
The Faber Residency on Urban Planning, a Delicious Adventure
I arrived in Olot to be a Faber Urban Planning resident in an unusual arrangement, with a strong interest in food’s relationship to cities and my two and a half year old daughter in tow, really not sure what to expect. What I discovered was an extremely intelligent, creative, warm, welcoming, curious crew of people who in some way identified as urban planners. A strong spirit of collaboration abounded, even if just for feedback on a presentation or for ordering a meal at dinner. The residency offered freedom to explore our own research and as well as our environment in beautiful Catalonia, but also offered some structure to allow us to bond and interact with each other.
My daughter attended a local Montessori school, and though it was just for a short time, we felt we were part of the life of the city and part of the community. Daily trips to the playground and public market offered a glimpse into the good quality of life of this small city, and offered a delicious taste of regional cuisine—including quite a wide variety of cheeses. I hosted a cheese and wine tasting event for fellow residents and invited guests and through this learned a lot about the tastes and flavors and history of the region.
From my vantage point now, in my Manhattan office, looking out at the Friday evening commuter traffic creeping along on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, I long for the crisp clean air and mountain view and dynamic company (and delicious cheese!) I discovered at Faber.