Center for Spatial Studies

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.