How can we make urban life more sustainable, equitable and inclusive?
Audience participating at event in the SHIFT Centre.
As Montreal and New York turn a page with newly elected mayors promising bold change, one issue has dominated the public conversation: housing affordability. Both cities are grappling with how to make urban life sustainable, equitable and inclusive — particularly for those most impacted by rising rents and displacement.
Against this backdrop, the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation will welcome Sylvia Morse, urban planner and director of research and policy at the Pratt Center for Community Development, on November 19, 2025, for a free event.
Morse will share insights from her work on housing justice, community-led planning, and equitable urban development. She will be joined by Alessandra Renzi, associate professor of communication studies at Concordia.
The event, “Beyond Publications: Research as a Tool for Social Change,” will demystify how research contributes to policy shifts and movement strategies. It will also explore how university-based centres can build community power and contribute to community-led efforts through research and advocacy.
The event will include speakers from Montreal’s SHIFT Centre and New York City’s Pratt Center.
Parallel cities, parallel centres
While the SHIFT Centre has only existed for six years, the Pratt Center for Community Development is the oldest university-based community planning organization in the United States. The organization has worked for more than 60 years to build community power and ensure an equitable distribution of resources for low-income Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour in New York City.
Like SHIFT’s research and advocacy program, the Pratt Center partners with frontline community organizations to provide research, participatory planning assistance, policy advocacy and implementation support. The centres are also alike in tackling systemic inequities at a local scale, prioritizing the concerns of community members every step of the way.
Sharing knowledge to build power
Free and open to all, the event will connect insights from the Pratt Center’s community-engaged research and participatory planning to SHIFT’s evolving practice around research and advocacy. The goal is to strengthen both university and community actors’ capacity to envision deeper collaborations for systemic change.
“We’re looking forward to drawing lessons from the Pratt Center to inform the development of SHIFT’s research and advocacy program and impactful community-based research more broadly at the university,” says Elisabeth Cramer, manager of community-based learning and research.
“Beyond Publications” will take place on November 19. 2025, from 12 – 2 p.m., at the SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation. 1400 Maisonneuve Boulevard W.
Visit the event page to register for free.
