Press Release

Ten Southland Colleges and Universities Prototype Resilience at PANDO DAYS 2019/20 Premieres and Festival

Los Angeles, CA, July 27, 2020 — Ten Southland higher educational institutions prototyped ingenious new initiatives to build a more resilient Los Angeles County for PANDO DAYS. Project premieres rolled out between June 16 and July 21, culminating in a juried finale July 25. Judges’ picks included Caltech/Sustainability, Cal Poly Pomona, Pasadena City College, and SCI-Arc for the extraordinary initiatives they proposed. Judges emphasized the great work put forward by every one of the participating schools and pledged their help in pushing initiatives ahead.

Gary Gero, Chief Sustainability Officer for LA County, read from a County Resolution naming PANDO DAYS the “sustainability event of the year for 2020” for the County’s 3rd District, headed by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

PANDO DAYS brings art and design, architecture, and sustainability programs together from Southland colleges and universities to focus on implementing the County’s new sustainability plan. Each school has selected a different goal from the plan, then developed a way to meet it – with prototypes for proof-of-concept.

Students pitched their work to the public and some of the County’s leading sustainability professionals over the June 16-July 21 premiere roll-out period, with jury selections announced at the July 25 finale. Jury members include Peter Laugharn, president of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; Andy Shrader, Director of Environmental Affairs, Water Policy & Sustainability for Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz; Mark Eckhardt, CEO of COMMON; and Kathy Schlein, entrepreneur and early-stage investor.

PANDO DAYS launched project brainstorming in October at the SelgasCano Serpentine Pavilion by Second Home at the La Brea Tar Pits, followed by intensive sessions at the Hilton Foundation’s campus in Agoura Hills.

Premiering at the Festival:

Cal Poly Pomona’s strategy to create foodways every quarter mile across the County.
Cal State Long Beach’s ambitions for engaging families and neighborhoods with local waterways.
Caltech/Sustainability’s innovation engine for identifying sustainability needs, fostering collaboration, and predicting impact.
LA Trade Tech/Architecture’s prototypes for transforming back-alley wasteland into thriving community space.
Otis College of Art and Design’s mobile app to map and engage green resources.
Pasadena City College’s virtual space for resilience learning.
SCI-Arc’s use of artificial intelligence to map affordable housing opportunities and match construction resources.
UCLA’s prototyped network linking birds and people at the tree level.
USC’s plans to get us on track for life without cars.
Woodbury’s innovations to address the twin threats of underground saltwater incursion and food scarcity.

“The projects form an amazing lineup,” says Eugene Shirley, president of Pando Populus, the LA County-based non-profit that operates the accelerator behind PANDO DAYS and launched the initiative.

The Pando Accelerator gathers diverse groups, gets them coming up with ideas they might never have thought possible in workshops called Blitzes, and helps them push through planning and prototyping so that real projects see the light of day.

For the past two years, Pando has been collaborating with the Maryknoll Sisters in Monrovia to prototype development of a physical campus that unites the Sisters’ commitment to “One Earth Community” and legacy of socially-driven work in LA County with the passion of students for social and environmental impact.

PANDO DAYS was conceived in association with the CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) Strategic Taskforce and made possible in part by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Second Home, and the Maryknoll Sisters/Monrovia. Members of the PANDO DAYS Host Committee include LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, and LA City Councilmember Paul Koretz.

SCHEDULE of events. For more information: Shelley Goldstein, shelleygoldstein2@gmail.com.

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