Sustainable Futures Research

The Atlanta Transformative Leaders Series (ATLS) highlights the efforts of Atlanta-based individuals and organizations in advancing research, policy and solutions to bolster Atlanta’s resilience to climate events and build a better future for all Atlantans. The purpose of this series is to help build a community of practice by informing participants of work already being done by leading organizations, and how Atlanta stakeholders can collaborate to build a sustainable and more resilient future together.

Each installment consists of two 20-minute talks by two local leaders followed by a 20-minute discussion and Q&A from participants. The talks will be offered in fully virtual and hybrid formats, depending on the speakers’ preferences. Past sessions are available to watch on the Sustainable Futures Lab YouTube channel.

The Transformative Leaders Series is hosted by the Sustainable Futures Lab at Georgia State University’s Urban Studies Institute. If you are interested in having your organization featured in a future installment of the ATLS, please contact us at [email protected].

A project of the Social-Ecological-Technological-Systems (SETS) Convergence Network.

This research is a five-year initiative of the SETS Convergence Network, funded by the National Science Foundation. This network seeks to support climate initiatives and planning efforts in Atlanta with the development of sustainable, resilient, and equitable strategies. Supported by cutting-edge modeling, simulation, and visualization of infrastructure systems, the SETS Convergence team will be facilitating a series of workshops and dialogues to bring different sectors of Atlanta together to imagine, explore, and prioritize potential sustainable and equitable development pathways for the city in light of climate change scenarios.

A project of the Social-Ecological-Technological-Systems (SETS) Convergence Network.

Researchers at the Sustainable Futures Lab have been engaged in the design of – and transition toward – more sustainable and resilient futures for San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of the Urban Resilience to Extremes Sustainability Research Network since 2016. In collaboration with numerous partners, we’ve led several participatory visioning workshops – with government officials, civic leaders, businesses, and researchers – in San Juan both before and after Hurricane María to co-develop positive visions and strategies to build more a just, livable, equitable, connected, energy-secure, and flood resilient San Juan. We’ve created a Story Map – Visiones de Ciudad San Juan 2080 – to share these rich visions with you and local San Juan actors on an interactive and visual platform. The platform includes syntheses for each of the three flood adaptation scenarios making up the integrated water management vision (coastal floods, riverine floods, and urban floods) as well as the three transformative visions (Connected Municipality, Food and Energy Security, and Just and Livable City) developed during the UREx San Juan 2080 visioning workshops.

This research initiative continues under the SETS Convergence Network. We are now in the process of mobilizing these positive city visions through our upcoming SETS Convergence Labs with stakeholders in San Juan. Billions of dollars of funding have been approved for the USACE’s Río Puerto Nuevo flood control project in the wake of Hurricane María. We are working with civic and government leaders to facilitate discussions at the neighborhood and watershed level to see how we may bring various aspects of the integrated water management vision proposed in our previous workshops to life through the USACE’s and other local infrastructure projects to reduce flooding while achieving the community’s long-term visions. This work is being conducted in partnership with the Alianza por la Cuenca del río Piedras, the San Juan Bay Estuary Program, the San Juan ULTRA Network, and other local groups.