The
CNU Christian Caucus, an affinity group of Christians who are members of the Congress for the New Urbanism (
CNU), and
Movement.Org, a global organization that starts and nurtures Christian city networks, is inviting you to attend
CNU31 in Charlotte, NC from May 31-June 3, 2023. We believe CNU's annual conference can have a major positive impact on our respective members. Thus, we are jointly inviting you to attend CNU31, where in addition to the excellent sessions they offer we have organized several special sessions for our members. We have put together a schedule of those events for you to review below, along with some recommended CNU sessions for people new to urban design.
Before sharing that schedule a brief description of each organization, however, is in order.
CNU is a non-religious organization whose "mission is to champion walkable urbanism. [CNU provides] resources, education, and technical assistance to create socially just, economically robust, environmentally resilient, and people centered places. . . . We build places people love." Within the CNU there is a group of Christian professionals---architects, designers, planners, developers, engineers, community developers, civil servants, elected officials, etc.-- that are dedicated to making cites, towns, and neighborhoods commensurate with God's vision of community thriving. Known officially as the CNU Members Christian Caucus (CNU-MCC), the "Christian Caucus" is emerging out of its COVID hiatus at CNU31 and will be reviving its activities.
Movement.org's mission is "to catalyze Christian leaders to spiritually and socially impact the urban centers in which they live, work and do ministry. This is accomplished through connecting, unifying, equipping and motivating diverse leaders who share common goals." Movement.org has trained over 45,000 leaders, in 450+ cities, in over 100+ countries.
The members of Movement.org and CNU-MCC operate in cities, but in slightly adjacent spaces. We have a nudge in our spirit that our respective members would benefit from engaging with each other, which is why we are jointly inviting our members to attend CNU31 to take advantage of the wide range of urban design, planing, and development sessions CNU31 offers, but also the special sessions we are specifically organizing focused on Christian perspectives and projects pertaining to cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
LOCATION: The Westin, Charlotte, NC.
DATES: May 31 - June 3, 2023
SPECIAL SCHEDULE CNU-MCC & MOVEMENT.ORG EVENTS:
Thursday, June 1st
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM - Tour of Charlotte Church Redevelopment Projects
1:30 - 2:30 PM - "Basics - Walkability" (recommended for first time to urban design). See CNU31 schedule.
2:45 - 3:45 PM - "Basics - Urban Retail" (recommended for first time to urban design). See CNU31 schedule.
4:00 - 5:00 PM - "Basics - Public Space" (recommended for first time to urban design). See CNU31 schedule.
Friday, June 2nd
7:30 - 8:30 AM - Christian Caucus Breakfast (Room TBA)
9:00 - 10:00 PM - CNU Main Stage: Urbanism as the Content for the Challenge of Climate Change with renowned climate scientist and Christian, Katharine Hayhoe, and other speakers.
1:30 - 2:30 PM - Christian Caucus Meeting: Topics - A Charter for Christian Placemaking / Church Property Redevelopment (Room TBA)
Saturday, June 3rd
12:30 - 1:30 PM - Talk and discussion: Finding Common Ground and Common Cause between Christian City Networks and the New Urbanism Movement.Mark Matlock, CEO of Movement.org, and Chris Elisara. (Room TBA)
