Improving Stakeholder Engagement and Understanding through Visualization

Over the past several years transportation and other infrastructure projects, whether on State highways, downtown corridors, or within public spaces, have become more about “place” than purely the isolated functional benefits of the public infrastructure. What would historically have been coined as a “transportation project” has become akin to a boardroom pitch to gain support or investment from affected stakeholders, if not the general public. The purpose of this COST event is to highlight a range of emerging tools and techniques that are being used in public venues to improve how planners and engineers share concepts and allow stakeholders and the public to envision the overall benefits of these types of projects.

Guest speakers will include:

• Steve Jorgensen from the Bend Parks and Recreation District (BPRD) will discuss how they were successful in bringing a high level of park amenities to Bend through a bond measure.

• Ben Ngan from Nevue Ngan Associates will discuss the “art” and approach to quick sketching and visualizing your way to success in a collaborative meeting and public involvement settings. Ben will highlight past and recent projects in Portland.

• Donald Newlands from Newlands & Company, Inc. (NC3D) will discuss visualization and animation techniques to demonstrate projects and how they fit both contextually and dynamically into the surrounding environment. Donald will highlight several projects from across the country.

Sign-in & networking begins at 11:45 am, and the presentation will start at noon. Drinks and cookies will be provided. Please bring your own bag lunch.

Participants will earn a total of 1.5 professional development hours (PDH) for attending this presentation. If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Ashleigh Griffin at (541) 312-8300. We hope you can join us!

Out of Area Guest Speaker Bios:

Donald Newlands leads NC3D, a 7-person design visualization studio based in Portland, Oregon that specializes in using video animation and interactive media to communicate transportation, urban design and architecture projects. Newlands' interest in Public Art and Landscape Architecture led him to seek out new tools for visualizing projects in context and involving diverse communities in the design process. He founded the first 3D visualization firm on the West Coast, Seed Design Simulation, in 1988. When not in the office, Mr. Newlands can be found exploring Oregon's backroads by bicycle.

During his career, Ben Ngan has had the opportunity to work on a number of iconic landscapes in both natural and urban settings including Union Station Plaza, Old Town/Chinatown, 3rd and 4th Avenue Streetscape Plan, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, and Powell Butte Nature Park and Reservoir 2. Ben is a registered Landscape Architect with over 35 years of experience and insight from many successful parks, public open space, streetscape, and sustainable stormwater management projects. Ben’s experience on public projects has created successful relationships with many of the areas governmental agencies including Portland’s Bureau of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Services, Oregon Department of Transportation, Salem Public Works, Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District, Metro, and others.