Impressions from the Field: Harvard and Poli-USP Engineers Explore Brazil

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Joseph Lanzillo '16

After a busy week of site visits, lectures, all-you-can-eat buffets and birthday parties for Avi, Sunday was our first free day. On the morning after a late night out and a long week, it was tempting to sleep in and relax, but that would be a waste of our precious time in São Paulo! A group of us ventured to downtown São Paulo to explore the famous area. Being Sunday morning, the business district was pretty sleepy, but it was easier than navigating through the shoppers, residents and workers who swarm the streets every other day. We strolled down to Marcado, where we cooled off with coconut water and samples of fresh Brazilian fruits- a perfect snack on a hot day. In the afternoon, Jason hosted the entire group at his house for a Brazilian barbeque. We had all been looking forward to a more slow-paced day, and spending the afternoon relaxing outside with friends was exactly what we needed. It was easily a high-light of the week. Despite our fatigue and being full of food afterwards, we took a trip to Bixiga for a street festival. After a few hours of dancing, we were exhausted enough to return and finally get to bed before 1 am! It was a great day of touring and relaxing for us all, thanks to Jason.

About

This collaborative field course is an initiative of Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the Escola Politécnica of the Universidade de São Paulo (Poli-USP), and Harvard's David Rockefeller Center for Latin America Studies.

The course will take place in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from January 11-21, 2015, with equal numbers of participants from Poli-USP and Harvard. It offers the unique chance for participating students and faculty to explore the complex challenges faced by engineers, urban planners, and policy makers in the field.

2015 topic: Sustainable Cities
The intense growth of cities in recent decades has increased the urgency of finding sustainable solutions for resource use in urban environments. Through a combination of field site visits, lectures and group discussions, the 2015 SEAS/Poli-USP Collaborative Field Course on Sustainable Cities offers the opportunity for hands-on engagement in São Paulo, a metropolis of 20 million inhabitants. During the course, participants will gain a deeper understanding of and appreciation for urban challenges and solutions related to energy, sanitation, transportation, water and more.

In 2014, Brazilian students visited Harvard to learn about Urban Adaptation to Climate Change. The year before, in 2013, Harvard students traveled to Brazil to study The Global Challenges of Energy Production. The 2013 blog posts are archived below. This is the sixth year of the program.

Views expressed in this blog are the personal views of the individual authors, and the statements made do not officially represent views of the University or any of its units or officers.