Recent immigration trends, extreme weather events, shifting food systems, growing inequality and severe fiscal stress are development issues that hit New York’s hamlets, towns and cities in varying ways.

Cornell’s Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI) hosts “Building Sustainable Communities: Global Forces, Local Focus,” Sept. 28-29 on campus to help communities become more sustainable.

The institute will showcase the latest research, innovative local practices and progressive policy directions that can help towns and cities succeed in the face of global pressures.

John Sipple, associate professor of development sociology and director of CaRDI, said his group aims to stimulate informed decision-making across New York.

“This institute is all about collaborations, solutions and making new connections between researchers, practitioners and policy makers. We want to stimulate university and community partnerships,” he said. “Here at Cornell, we’re on-the-ground with applied researchers working in communities. So, research is grounded in reality.”

Scheduled speakers include:

Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue, professor and chair of development sociology, and Max Pfeffer, executive dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, on global forces and trends, and the implications for the U.S. and New York.

Allison Chatrchyan, director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Change and Agriculture, on how New York communities are responding to climate change.

Tom Hirschl, professor of development sociology, and Andy Fagan, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension for Tioga and Chemung counties, on new research, policies and practices in income and education inequality.

Matthew Hall, associate professor of policy analysis and management and the training director for the Cornell Population Center; Mary Jo Dudley, director of the Cornell Farmworker Program; and Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, of CaRDI, on state issues pertaining to international and domestic migration.

Stephanie Miner, mayor of Syracuse, New York, and Mildred Warner, professor of city and regional planning, on municipal fiscal stress.

New York Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo; Cheryl Thayer, of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York; and Todd M. Schmit, associate professor of applied economics and management, on food system problems and solutions.

The registration fee is $125 for the two-day event and includes meals. Limited scholarships are available. Please visit the CaRDI website for an updated agenda and more information. For more information, contact Susan Barry at st237@cornell.edu or register here.