Alison Sant Email & Phone Number

New York, United States

Sant is the author of From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities (2022, Island Press), which focuses on the unique ways US cities are working to mitigate and adapt to climate change while creating equitable and livable communities. She is currently working on a forthcoming book entitled, Streetlife: Transforming Our Largest Public Spaces into Places for People examining the future of city streets after the pandemic–when a global health emergency instigated the immediate closure of thousands of miles of roads to cars for the benefit of people. Island Press' Urban Resilience Project also places Sant's short-form articles and her writing has been published in U.S. News and World Report, Next City, Planetizen, Streetsblog, Earth Island Magazine, and Fast Company among others.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Sant teaches an intensive summer course entitled Resilient Communities from the Ground Up (ENVR 194) at the Harvard Extension School's Sustainability Masters Program. The course focuses on the unique ways U.S. cities are working to mitigate and adapt to climate change while creating equitable and livable communities in the process. The course relates national models from her book, From the Ground Up, to field study in the Boston Metropolitan area–highlighting the region's bold approaches to addressing climate change. The class meets with government officials in city hall, scientists studying the impact of heat and flooding, designers transforming the city's streets, and local advocates and community groups changing their neighborhoods for the better. Students will have the opportunity to work on an extended project serving the long-term needs of Dorchester's residents, the largest neighborhood in Boston and one of its most racially diverse, in collaboration with community partners Speak for the Trees, Livable Streets Alliance, and Fields Corner Main Streets.

Brooklyn, New York, United States

Founded in 2006, the Studio for Urban Projects is an interdisciplinary design collaborative that works at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, art and social activism. Our research-based projects aim to provoke change by re-framing perceptions of the city and physically transforming elements of the built environment. Engaging with the broad themes of ecology and urbanism, our projects have taken the form of digital media, exhibitions, publications, audio tours, architectural installations and urban interventions. Through these projects we reflect upon the cultural dynamics that shape our urban landscapes. We also act as conveners by hosting public events including tours, radio shows, panel discussions, meals, film screenings and public talks that engage a broad range of practitioners in discussions about the dynamics that shape the urban landscape.

Master’S Degree, Design

Bachelor’S Degree, Photography, Interactive Telecommunications