Lecture Series: Sara Bronin

Monday, October 28, 2024
6:30pm - 7:30pm
Freeman Auditorium in the Woldenburg Art Center,
Tulane's Uptown Campus

This lecture is open to the public.

This lecture “Changing Federal Preservation Approaches to Improve Community Resilience” is presented by Sara Bronin, Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and Professor (on leave) at Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. The lecture is supported by Laura and Sonny Shields Preservation Lectureship.

What does the federal historic preservation agency have to do with community resilience? Chair Bronin will discuss the role of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in leading federal efforts to take historic properties into account in federal decision-making and policy related to community resiliency. The agency recently adopted a Policy Statement on Climate Change and Historic Preservation, which called for a whole-of-government approach to ensure our historic places are better protected from the impacts of climate change. The policy also covers opportunities to make historic buildings more energy efficient and enable the integration of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Drawing from that policy, the Advisory Council recently proposed an action to make federal and federally-funded buildings more energy efficient and climate resilient. The same action would also promote housing creation and rehabilitation in historic buildings and facilitate investment in pedestrian, biking, and public transit infrastructure – all elements of community resiliency more broadly.

The Honorable Sara Bronin is a Mexican-American architect and attorney whose research examines how law and policy can create equitable, sustainable, and well-designed communities. Recently confirmed as the 12th Chair of the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, she provides guidance to the President and Congress on preserving national historic resources during her public service leave from her position as a tenured professor at Cornell University.

Bronin has co-authored key legal treatises, including the land use volume of the Restatement (Fourth) of Property, and has published four books and numerous articles on topics like renewable energy, urban planning, and real estate development. She authored the book Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World and founded the National Zoning Atlas, which aims to make zoning information in the U.S. more accessible. Her advisory roles include working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and founding Desegregate Connecticut. Previously, she led the successful overhaul of Hartford, Connecticut's zoning code and city plan. Bronin holds a juris doctor from Yale Law School, a master’s degree from the University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar), and both a B.Arch. and B.A. from the University of Texas–Austin.

Questions? Please reach out to Kristen Jones, Director of Student Affairs, at kjones41@tulane.edu.

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