WIL Pilot Project News Release, February

In the Spring 2023 semester the Prentice Institute-City of Lethbridge WIL pilot (see December Newsletter) expanded from one to four applied study projects involving six University of Lethbridge students:

The Civic Common Comprehensive Site Plan project (Kirsten Hironaka – Urban and Regional Studies), supports the preparation of project management documentation for the Civic Common Comprehensive Site Plan, a project funded by Lethbridge City Council in the last Capital Budget, and which continues the long-term planning for this key area of the City’s core.

The Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) placemaking project (Taylor Manns – Urban and Regional Studies and Kianna Turner – General Social Sciences), supports an urban design project in Downtown Lethbridge which showcases the history and contributions of the Chinese community through the preparation of project management documentation and community engagement research. This project branched out of the first PI-City pilot project in the Fall 2022.

The Warehouse District and Chinatown historical research project (Peter Gorombey – History), is dedicated to archival and other documentary research to consolidate information about these areas and their relevance to the population and labor history of Lethbridge. This will support future urban design and heritage projects, in addition to informing other aspects of the public policy and community planning process.

The Heritage Management project (Hannah Laberge – Geography and Brie Wilson – General Social Sciences and undergraduate Research Assistant at the Prentice Institute), dedicated to the application of System Planning research to inform the city’s future Heritage Inventory V through a heritage matrix/gap analysis to identify priorities for the City’s heritage inventory and contribute to a heritage strategy that accounts for the diverse populations in the history of Lethbridge.

The first three projects are supervised by Perry Stein, Project Planning Lead, Opportunity Lethbridge (City of Lethbridge) and Prentice Institute Research Affiliate II, the latter by Ross Kilgour, Seniour Community Planner, Planning and Design (City of Lethbridge). Faculty members from four departments at the University, Anthropology (Andrea Cuéllar), Geography (Julie Young), History (Sheila McManus), and Political Science (Yale Balenger)—all research affiliates of the Prentice Institute, are providing academic supervision to the students involved in these projects.

Save the date! A Prentice Institute-City of Lethbridge public event to showcase the work of all of the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 students is planned for Thursday April 20^th@ 12:00 p.m. (details forthcoming). It will be an opportunity to appreciate how the joint effort of City staff, students, and faculty members is supporting urban revitalization and public realm projects in Lethbridge. In fostering this partnership, the Prentice Institute contributes to tackling questions that are central to the planning of a prosperous, vibrant, inclusive and equitable City.