Setting the Stage

During the CUSP class on September 20th, we were fortunate to have retired professional planner and Laurier graduate, Paul Puopolo, from Polocorp, a local integrated land development company, come to speak to the class. He spoke about ‘Places to Grow', the growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, and what the implications are when planning for development of  heritage buildings. Paul stressed the importance of working with the Ontario Municipal Board  when there are development disputes. In addition to other valuable information he gave to the class, he recommended that they communicate with local stakeholders throughout the process and that they ensure their proposals are innovative and creative. 

Paul Puopolo

In the second half of the class, we worked further on our group development process. The students filled out leadership inventory forms to let the instructors know their individual leadership style that would be valuable to their consulting team. We also asked the students to consider what they were looking for in a group member and we had a group interview process where each student was able to talk with their classmates and determine who they would work well with. This was very helpful in formulating groups that are not only well balanced in terms of skills, but also have greater potential to be harmonious. 

Team with Tallest Tower

The September 27th class was exciting as we announced the groups who would be working together for the remainder of the school year. We had the groups get together and discuss their expectations for each other and then they participated in an activity where they built paper towers as a team. Prizes were given to the groups with the tallest and most creative designs. 

The students were presented with Request for Proposals from the City of Cambridge that addresses industrial and commercial properties and the Heritage Properties Register.  We also discussed Cambridge’s history, and then went over the Cambridge Heritage Master Plan highlighting the key pieces that will be relevant to their projects. We finished up the day with some group work in developing a consulting team name and logo which will be revealed on October 18. 

Next week the class is heading to visit Cambridge to see some of the heritage properties they might be addressing in their projects and to become familiarized with the geography of the City they will be working closely with for this project.