Professor Gavin Smith and Students Visit Italy as Part of International Learning Lab

Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Gavin Smith, PhD, FAICP, along with MLA Students Ryan Anderson and Kelby Stallings visited Italy April 9-14 as part of an international research, engagement and educational consortium. The partnership was developed last summer by Dr. Smith and a range of faculty who met in Cambridge, England, and serves as part of a larger international learning lab being developed at NC State to include additional partners in New Zealand and Australia.

The trip focused on site visits to the small and mid-sized mountain communities of Amatrice, Acoumoli, and L’Aquila, each devastated by a series of earthquakes. Teams of faculty and students from participating universities in the US, Italy, England, Turkey and India met with local officials to understand location-specific issues and determine how the consortium could provide targeted assistance tied to three primary themes: infrastructure, culture, and healthcare resilience. The next steps for the consortium include developing an applied research, engagement and educational agenda focused on international lesson-drawing.