Roberto Rovira

CREATIVE CITY PANEL with RICHARD FLORIDA, MIAMI BEACH MAYOR LEVINE & FIU PRESIDENT ROSENBERG

Roberto Rovira will be participating in a panel with Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Creative Class Group Founder Richard Florida, and FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg on Thursday 29JAN2015.

From the press release:

FIU launches the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative in partnership with the Creative Class Group MIAMI (Jan. 20, 2015)- FIU and the Creative Class Group (CCG), founded by Richard Florida, have joined forces to launch the FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative, a project to harness creative and entrepreneurial forces that can help accelerate greater Miami’s transformation into a creative economy.

The FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative will engage political, business and cultural leaders, faculty, students, alumni and the greater community in a dialogue on how creativity, culture and design can drive a regional economy.

“At FIU we see creativity and the arts as equal partners with technology and entrepreneurship in moving our economy and job creation forward,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “The FIU-Miami Creative City Initiative is our way of helping to galvanize these forces in our community so that we create solutions, take full advantage of the opportunities that exist and create new ones.”

The three-year initiative, which will be based in the College of Architecture + the Arts’ Miami Beach Urban Studios, on Lincoln Road, will kick off with an event on Thursday, January 29th at 6p.m. at the Wolfsonian-FIU, 1001 Washington Ave., Miami Beach.

This first salon will focus on the topic of creating public spaces that ignite creativity and promote community, often referred to as “place making.” The discussion will feature Florida in conversation with Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and FIU Department of Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design Chairperson Roberto Rovira. Florida, Levine and Rovira will discuss Miami Beach’s creative future around arts, design, culture, innovation and entrepreneurship and invite ideas on how to further support the revitalization and creative energy around the Miami Beach Convention Center, Lincoln Road and Washington Ave. area. The event is free and open to the public but seating is limited.

“The key asset to any city is talent,” said Levine. “We are creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem where existing talent will want to stay and work and where new talent will want to launch startups.”

In addition to other salons throughout the year, CCG will conduct research to further understand and define Miami’s creative economy and its impact on the region. The study will examine Greater Miami’s talent base, greatest needs and talent-based advantages.
“Greater Miami is at an inflection point,” said Florida. “Its economy, historically based on tourism and retirement, is shifting to a more robust creative economy, built around its stature as a global city: its ability to attract talent from Latin America, Europe and around the world; its global airport, its natural assets and quality of place; its arts and culture; educational institutions, and the ongoing resurgence of its urban core. These assets will be critical economic drivers for Miami’s future. We are looking forward to partnering with FIU to bring the city some insights.”

FIU Provost and Executive Vice President Kenneth G. Furton noted that this initiative is directly tied to goals in the strategic plans of the College of Architecture + the Arts and FIU.

“Traditionally universities have served as catalysts for the creative economy, helping to create ecosystems where creative talent and enterprises thrive,” said Furton. “We want to use all of our resources, including the talents of students and faculty in the College of Architecture + The Arts, to spur economic development in Miami and beyond.”

FIU

About CARTA:
FIU College of Architecture + The Arts engages our local and global communities by deploying the power of architecture and the arts to create, innovate, and inspire solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems. Offering 9 graduate and 8 undergraduate degrees within 7 environmental problems. Offering 9 graduate and 8 undergraduate degrees within 7 academic departments, our more than 2500 majors have the unique experience working with our award-winning faculty in nationally ranked programs in the heart of Miami and Miami Beach — two of the country’s most vibrant, diverse, and creative cities! For more information, visit us at carta.fiu.edu.

About FIU:
Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.

About CCG:
The Creative Class Group (CCG) is an advisory services firm composed of leading next-generation researchers, academics, and business strategists. Utilizing its unique approach and metrics, CCG works with companies and governments worldwide. Founder, Richard Florida, the Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at The University of Toronto’s, Rotman School of Management and Global Research Professor at NYU. He is Senior Editor at The Atlantic where he cofounded and serves as Editor-at-Large for City Lab and is a Visiting Fellow of the FIU, Miami Creativity Initiative. Rana Florida, CEO of who writes on business and entrepreneurship for Fast Company and the Huffington Post, serves as Director of the FIU, Miami Creativity Initiative. Steven Pedigo, Director of Research at CCG is a Visiting Fellow. Reham Alexander, CCG’S Director of Events will run the events programming for the FIU, Miami Creativity Initiative. www.creativeclass.com