This brochure seeks to broaden public understanding for the importance of spatial literacy for solving problems in science and for society.

This 2-day specialist meeting in December 2013 was conceived and organized by The Center for Spatial Studies (spatial@ucsb) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).The meeting combined “thinking big” (asking what will make campuses smarter in the future) with “acting small” (focusing on specific organizational and technological measures and their evaluation). Making our daily environments smart through technologies has been on research and political agendas for more than three decades, featuring a primary interest in the outdoor environments of cities. Smart city projects are now found throughout the world, focusing on environmental sustainability, e-governance, transportation, health, and other public goods by deploying innovative technologies for sensing, social networking, and knowledge integration. To some extent, campuses can be seen as “small cities,” raising similar concerns for their unique populations. Additionally, smart campuses have their own challenges and opportunities for support of creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration in science along with the involvement and education of technologically savvy students. Spatial thinking and computing are thought to be key enablers of smart campuses, but this case needs to be made more effectively with university administrators and domain scientists. The scope of these opportunities and challenges provided impetus for bringing together researchers and educators from multiple disciplines, campus planners, and representatives from industry, all of whom share interest in addressing issues of sustainability and knowledge infrastructures. The initial position papers from participants were distributed in advance of the meeting to help nurture discussions and collaborations.

A call for proposals to participate in the Spatial Unconference on Spatial Information for Human Health. The unconference takes place in Santa Barbara, CA, 9-11 December 2015. The deadline for submitting proposals is May 31, 2015.

This brochure documents the interdisciplinary breadth of the spatial perspective for research and teaching. Although this argument focuses on UC Santa Barbara, it could be easily documented for nearly all institutions of highter learning.

The Spatial Search specialist meeting in Santa Barbara (December 2014) brought together 35 academic and industry representatives from computational, geospatial, and cognitive sciences with interest in focused discussions on the development of an interdisciplinary research agenda to advance spatial search from scientific and engineering viewpoints. The position papers from participants represent the shared expertise that guided discussions and the formulation of research questions about processes of spatial search and about the conceptual ideas, infrasturctures, and tools needed to enhance the search experience in both physical and virtual spaces. The call for position papers is included.

UCSB introduced an interdisciplinary minor in spatial studies in 2011, the first of its kind worldwide. This flyer provides an intellectual rationale for students to consider this minor as a complement to a broad range of disciplinary and career specializations.

This brochure describes the intellectual basis for establishing the Center for Spatial Studies at UCSB. It highlights the role of spatial thinking across all knowledge domains.

The newsletter features (1) an article by Karl Grossner about the website http://teachspatial.org for discovering lesson materials for instruction in fundamental spatial concepts and (2) an essay  by Michael Goodchild on the spatially explicit and  peripatetic nature of (his) academic life.