Jane's Talk

Calgary Urban Affairs Book Club presents Jane's Talk.

As a followup to the Calgary Jane's Walk Festival, we're hosting a special book club event on The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs.

How does it work? Read the book then come to an evening discussion on Wednesday, May 15 with fellow Calgarians interested in urban issues. We'll hear from people influenced by Jane Jacobs and break into groups to discuss her classic book and its relevance to our city today.   

This free event takes place in the new City Building Design Lab at the U of C School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, in the former Central Library; come see this transformed building. Jane's Talk is hosted by Annalise Klingbeil, Cailynn Klingbeil and Käthe Lemon.

We're pleased to have Decker Butzner, Deborah Sword, Lourdes Juan and Tylara Duncan join us for this special edition of the Calgary Urban Affairs Book Club.

Dr. Decker Butzner is Jane Jacobs' nephew and knew Jane all his life. As a physician-in-training in Toronto, he lived with the Jacobs’ family and participated in many discussions about what makes cities work and the city’s role in driving economies. 

Deborah Sword has been a full time Conflict Manager for over 25 years, locally, nationally, and internationally. She was one of the first researchers to use Complexity Science to study conflicts as complex adaptive systems, which brought her into Jane’s circle. 

Lourdes Juan is an Urban Planner and Calgary based entrepreneur who shares her time with the diverse companies and non-profits she founded: Hive Developments, Soma Spa, the Leftovers Foundation, Fresh Routes, and Moonlight Market Foundation. 

Tylara Duncan, M. Arch, is mainly interested in collaborative capacity, and she explores that idea through cities, architecture and human connection. "Conflict as Resource" is an idea she uses to watch humanity's ongoing effort to connect and bring meaning. Often when solving collaborative systems issues, the best question one can ask is, "Who else needs to be in at the table?"