This summer, we’re excited to welcome Evaine Sing as the instructor for City Semester Pittsburgh, a unique immersive learning experience hosted by the Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center at Penn State. The program provides Penn State students the opportunity to live, learn, and intern in Pittsburgh while exploring sustainability and urban issues through a real-world lens.
Evaine brings a rich background in community development, nonprofit leadership, design, and consulting to her role as instructor. Her work has spanned public policy, research, and grassroots engagement—making her an ideal guide for students eager to explore the intersections of people, place, and sustainability in Pittsburgh.
We caught up with Evaine for a Q&A to learn more about her background, explore what excites her about the program, and discuss what she hopes students will take away from the City Semester experience.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what drew you to community development work?
I have a background in landscape architecture, public policy, nonprofit management, and social science research. Initially, what drew me to community development was the desire to be more connected to the outcomes of my work. More typical landscape architecture design work may involve meeting with a client, but it generally doesn’t intersect much with end users.
In 2008, I started to focus my attention on the reuse of vacant lots and saw a lot of potential. I went for my master’s at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College to be better integrated into the decision-making side of projects—rather than just waiting for a project to be prescribed out for designers—and entered the nonprofit world through that lens.
What types of projects do you typically work on as a community and organizational consultant?
My work spans three main areas:
- Community development—This is research, policy, planning, data collection, and mapping on issues primarily related to vacant and abandoned properties, as well as work in communities facing population and economic decline.
- Community design and engagement—This work includes everything from more formal landscape architecture design to volunteer-led DIY community projects, as well as supporting other design teams who want more authentic input and engagement on larger projects but may be limited by cost and/or familiarity.
- Organizational management— I assist groups that need extra capacity in project management, technical assistance, strategic planning, program design, and/or systems and operations improvements and efficiencies.
What interested you about the opportunity to teach for City Semester Pittsburgh?
I believe that hands-on experience is the most effective type of learning, but also that sharing those experiences with others who have different insights and backgrounds can provide rich context for the things we face in society.
The weekly class discussions offer a nice balance for students. They are able to ask questions and get feedback on things they don’t fully understand or may be uncomfortable talking about as a new employee.
How do you hope to engage students in thinking critically about sustainability and community issues?
Hopefully through the real-world work from their internships and exposure to different professions and backgrounds that all contribute to the concept of sustainability. I want to extend their understanding beyond the environmental perception to emphasize community, in partnership with other tools (economics, technology, etc.) as a way forward.
What themes or topics are you most excited to explore with the students this summer?
People and place must be recognized as equally important and part of a dependent cycle—decisions cannot be made without the consideration of both.
Why is it important for students to immerse themselves in a city-based, experiential learning environment like this one?
Ultimately, students should understand the implications of relying on cities to make a living or as a home. This program provides them a new opportunity to test out newly-gained real-world knowledge while still having time to adjust, ask questions, and make meaning out of the things they experience and observe.
What do you hope students will take away from the program, both academically and personally?
I hope they recognize the dynamic and complex systems that tie sustainable efforts together. While we may slice out themes to discuss one at a time, they are really mutually reliant on a larger system and should be approached as such—with a mindset of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. What has worked in the past may not work now, even if there is a lot to build on.
I hope they gain a personal appreciation for Pittsburgh and the work and effort that has gone into its transformation. While there is much more to do, credit is due for the progress that has been made.
What keeps you inspired in your work?
1. Seeing things get done. No one likes to work for the sake of working, and progress motivates everyone. I’m just as happy to see an organization I’ve worked with host a successful community event or win a grant as I am to attend the ribbon-cutting of a project I may have helped design.
2. Hearing excitement and positivity from residents. So much of my work is embedded in community, so seeing that ripple effect—as people get motivated and gather the tools they need to make change happen on their own—is the best motivation.