Get Involved

Reading/Study Groups

CoLab uses study groups to help prepare for and expand the knowledge base and uncover innovative approaches for new areas of work. Participants read key articles and chapters, share individual projects and participate in weekly discussion. Participation in these groups is voluntary, but often acts as a stepping-stone to more extensive involvement in CoLab projects. Examples of past reading/study groups include:

• 2010-2011 Energy Efficiency Strategy Project
• 2010-2011 Cooperatives Study Group
• 2010 Waste Management in Low Income Countries Study Group and IAP Residency in Nicaragua
• 2009 Leveraging the Stimulus Study Group

CoLab Sponsored Workshops

CoLab staff members, students, research, and faculty affiliates organize one- or two-day workshops, generally during MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) in January, to give students and others in the community additional training in reflective practice and values-based planning. Examples of past workshops include:

• 2011 IAP Workshop: Values and Practice: How do yours align?
• 2011 IAP Intensive: Action Research – What is it and why is it important?
• 2011 IAP Intensive: Reflective Practice – What is it and why is it important?

CoLab Supported Courses

Every year, CoLab supports one or more courses offered in the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning. CoLab staff support the course development and execution and connect enrolled students to community partners. CoLab is working to support at least one Practicum course each academic year, guiding students in reflective practice in the field and providing students opportunities to support social innovation in marginalized communities. Examples of CoLab supported courses include:

• Fall 2011 D-Lab Waste, followed by a 2-week IAP fieldtrip to Nicaragua
• Fall 2011 Practicum: Linking Urban and National Development Goals in Puerto Rico
• 2011 Democratic Wealth Generation
• 2010 IAP Course: Action Research Methods for Working at Planning’s Sweet Spot
• 2009-2010 Cartagena Practicum
• 2008 IAP Course: Progressive Planning

Summer Opportunities

Whenever possible, CoLab strives to connect students with community partners in the field where students can learn directly from the experience of community leaders and apply the knowledge, skills, and resources they have gained through their studies. These opportunities are dependent on funding availability and the needs and capacities of the center’s community partners. Opportunities take a variety of forms including:

• Work-study internships with partner organizations, for example
  • 2009 Leveraging the Stimulus project
• IDEAS competition project teams. CoLab affiliated entries to the IDEAS competition have been relatively successful. Affiliated projects include
  • 2011 Global Challenge Award: Maa Bara, a locally sourced aquaponics project ($10,000)
  • 2010 Ideas Competition Award: Grease Project, a project to reduce operational costs and increase income of wastepickers in Sao Paulo, while reducing the negative environmental impact of improper disposal of waste vegetable oil ($3,000)
• Remote consultation for community partners on projects
  • 2009-2010 Emerald Cities Project consultation

Thesis Research Support

CoLab values knowledge that is derived from direct community experiences and supports students who wish to use community partners’ experiences to advance positive change in urban areas. In addition, CoLab recognizes that the thesis writing experience can be very isolating and that our best ideas come from interaction with others. For this reason, CoLab hosts self-organized groups of students interested in exploring values of democracy, wealth creation and urban sustainability in their thesis research. In the past, this has manifested in biweekly sessions among small groups of thesis writers.

For more information, please email us at colab-info@mit.edu.

URBAN CoLab Internship –Summer 2012

BACKGROUND:
Along with a group of urban scholars and activists, and with the support of SAGE Publications, at CoLab we have been working this past year to create the Urban Research Based Action Network (URBAN), a multi-disciplinary network of scholars and practitioners committed to the use of community-based research for collaborative generation and testing of knowledge. URBAN will create physical and virtual spaces where a variety of thinkers, academic and non-academic, can have evidence-based discussion to explore and debate major research questions, future visions and policy solutions in urban communities. URBAN will seek to network urban research institutions offering scholars and activists opportunities to learn about, and collaborate on, urban fieldwork and action-research, using the neighborhoods where they work and live as crucibles of experimentation, innova­tion and knowledge creation. So far, the network has nodes in Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin and NYC, and we are hoping to expand it to other places. View the URBAN concept paper here.

INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION:
CoLab seeks an Intern to assist with the development of the network. Major responsibilities include:

1. Assisting with overall project management, planning, and coordination.
2. Management of the URBAN contact database.
3. Assisting in the production of reports, meeting notes and online newsletters.
4. Assisting in the organization of meetings and events.

QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:
Graduate Level student in urban planning preferred, but open to undergraduates or students from other disciplines.

START DATE & COMPENSATION:
Intern will start to work as soon as possible. The position is part time (20 hours/week), for 10 weeks, at $20/hour. Exact dates are flexible and can be negotiated to accommodate candidate’s plans and project needs. Potential to continue through fall and beyond.

TO APPLY:
To express interest, please send cover letter and resume to Patricia Molina at pmolina@mit.edu

DEADLINE:
Position is opened until filled.

Student Travel Opportunity with Green Grease — Summer 2012

Don't have summer plans yet? Interested in the potential of waste vegetable oil as a fuel? Want to travel to Brazil to work with waste pickers? CoLab is looking for interested students for the following roles as part of the Green Grease project's summer activities. Each position is unpaid, but all of your travel expenses will be covered, and there is the potential to gain experience working with cooperatives and help build a start-up.

Website Developer - Work with Computer Science students from the University of Sao Paulo to help build a website that allows oil suppliers (such as restaurants and homeowners) to communicate easily with the wastepickers who collect oil.

We're looking for students in Course 6 or with relevant experience, but we are also open to students willing to learn new skills, generate new ideas, work with community partners, and can work independently and also as a team.

Community Organizer - Work with wastepicking communities in Roxbury during the semester, and in Sao Paulo this summer. We will incorporate concepts of participatory planning to design both our business model and website, including customers, wastepickers, and other community members to build a model for waste grease businesses. An important component of this position is properly documenting our work so it can be easily replicated in other areas.

We are looking for students in DUSP, Political Science, or with experience working with communities or non-profits. Knowledge of participatory planning tools or cooperative business models is a plus.

Business Advisor - Help build a business model for waste grease business in Sao Paulo that can be replicated in other major cities around the world. Research the waste vegetable oil and biodiesel markets and work with potential customers to create a sustainable budget and business model for cooperative business models.

We're looking for students from Sloan or have experience in management or finance. Interest in start-ups is a plus.

TO APPLY:
Please email Angela Hojnacki - hojnacki@mit.edu - with your contact information and a short paragraph on which position you are interested in, your experience, and why you would like to travel with us this summer.