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UC Berkeley Extension Partners With City of San Francisco to Revitalize Civic Center

Posted on: Monday, 23 February 2009, 16:32 CST

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a partnership with UC Berkeley Extension and other organizations to improve San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza, aimed at turning it into a vibrant and sustainable district.

"We are transforming our Civic Center into a global model for how we achieve a more sustainable future in an urban environment," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. "Today we took the first step to revitalize the core of our City through partnerships with UC Berkeley and initial improvements to the district."

"UC Berkeley Extension is pleased to partner with the City and County of San Francisco to transform the Civic Center into a sustainable district," said Diana Wu, Dean of UC Berkeley Extension. "We believe that sustainability is both a societal imperative and an economic opportunity that requires an educated workforce able to help produce long-term growth and prosperity. Those of us who are educators have a responsibility to prepare people to take on these new roles successfully."

Mayor Newsom announced his vision for the Civic Center in September at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Potential projects for the Civic Center include solar rooftop photovoltaics, water conservation fixtures and living roofs.

UC Berkeley Extension is providing post-professional interns from its Sustainability Studies program to help coordinate the effort. "We are delighted to share our 'green' knowledge with the City by providing six interns from our Sustainability Studies Program," said Wu. "These are professional engineers, designers, builders, and landscape architects who are working with the Astrid Haryati, the Mayor's Greening Director, to assist with research and development for the overall district plan."

UC Berkeley Extension's Sustainability Studies' program educates professionals in emerging green industries. The program emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability in a broad range of important areas including green building design and construction, solar and renewable energy, climate change and land use planning, and clean technologies. The program is offering several new courses this spring including Urban Water Recycling, Sustainable Construction Management, Urban Water Recycling, Solar Feasibility Studies, Wetland Creation and Restoration, and the LEED documentation process.

Mayor Newsom also announced initial improvements to the Civic Center on Thursday, including a free Wi-Fi network, a new outdoor cafe, improved lighting in UN Plaza and containers of new drought-tolerant plants across the plaza. He welcomed Artist Patrick Dougherty, who is building an environmental sculpture called the "The Upper Crust" comprised of 18,000 pounds of freshly cut willow saplings interwoven in the treetops of the plaza.

"We look forward to continuing this dynamic and productive partnership with the City to help fulfill the vision of a vibrant and environmentally sound Civic Center District that can be shared by all," said Wu.

For more information:

www.unex.berkeley.edu

SOURCE UC Berkeley Extension

Source: PR Newswire

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