This spring saw the majority of first- and second-year students in the Cornell Baker Program in Real EstateOpens a Cornell link off on treks to Miami and London where they engaged firsthand a number of crucial issues facing the built environment. Led by Acting Chair of the Paul Rubacha Department of Real EstateOpens a Cornell link Suzanne Lanyi Charles, and planned by new faculty Christopher de Mestre and Acting Baker Program Director Cody Danks Burke, both itineraries were filled with extensive tours around and through different properties, projects, and neighborhoods, as well as a number of networking events and meetings with industry practitioners.

Though different in many ways, Charles noted that Miami and London were of particular interest this year for all of the tangible steps the cities are taking toward mitigating climate change as they pursue models for development or redevelopment that engage timely environmental, social, and governance questions.

"Projects like Wynwood in Miami and Canary Wharf in London, for example, are really bringing to the fore questions of how real estate practitioners must address a whole host of issues in creating built environments that are feasible, socially just, and environmentally sustainable," Charles explained. "By engaging with leading practitioners in these two cities who are dealing with these issues now, our students prepare to become leaders who tackle these issues wherever they establish their careers."

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