Study Abroad with City & Regional Planning
Since 2013, the Department of City and Regional Planning has delivered a summer study abroad program in the Simeto River Valley region of Sicily, giving students a unique opportunity to apply their skills while experiencing planning in another culture. The Community Planning and Ecological Design (CoPED) Summer School is jointly hosted and developed by the University of Memphis, the University of Catania, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston. The summer school is not a sight-seeing planning tour; it is a two-week intensive planning workshop, during which American students and faculty work alongside Italian colleagues and grassroots community groups to support an ongoing regional planning effort. Since 2002, active citizens of the Simeto River Valley community have mobilized to promote a new model of local development inspired by principles of environmental sustainability and social solidarity. This model has produced a strategic plan for development, the Simeto River Agreement, which was officially adopted in 2015 by the local municipalities of Adrano, Belpasso, Biancavilla, Centuripe, Motta, S. Anastasia, Paternò, Ragalna, Regalbuto, Santa Maria di Licodia and Troina. Each summer, the CoPED school engages in a participatory planning process to work toward implementation of the elements in the River Agreement in one of these 11 localities.
Click below to learn about the Summer 2023 program!
View video summaries from previous programs below
2018
2017
