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Helping communities with economic revitalization is Dr. John Accordino’s life work. For the past 26 years he has combined traditional and applied scholarship and community engagement with teaching in his work to elevate the quality of life in communities.
In his work with mature communities – those that have some history but are experiencing disruption from either global, regional, or local economic change – the question is how to build on the assets that each community has.
“How do you breathe new life in? How do you build on what you have, rather than just mow it down and try to start over? … Every community has assets,” Dr. Accordino says. For him, the magic is to find those assets and then to plan around them to revitalize communities and improve quality of life.
“I’ve always been interested in working with children and this was just a way to keep the forensic science that I’ve earned at VCU and combine it with all of the experience that I have with children,” said Hendel, who spent summers working for her hometown’s recreational center.
As a professor in the Wilder School’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Dr. Accordino has taught thousands of students in classes that invariably include fieldwork. Projects range from traditional urban revitalization to small rural communities throughout Virginia.
“I started my professional life as a community organizer in a low-wealth community where the economy had changed and the people were trying to figure out what to do,” Dr. Accordino said. Wanting to know how to do it better, to reflect, conduct and research and write about urban planning made academia a good fit for him.
Founded as an urban university with a mission to work directly with communities, VCU was an attractive fit for Dr. Accordino. “I have always felt very much at home, very much in sync with the mission of VCU,” he said.
Listen to Dr. John Accordino’s talk about his life work by helping communities with economic revitalization by clicking the photo slide show above.
