Professional Activities & Publications – Laura Fitch

  • Professional Activities

    • Cohousing Conference Program Team: Planning for Pre-Conference Workshops and Conference Seminars.  2008 National Cohousing Conference, Waltham, MA; June 2008.
    • Cohousing Tour Guide for bi-annual bus tour of Massachusetts area cohousing communities; 2004-present
    • Comprehensive Planning Commission – Housing Work Group; 2007
    • Amherst School Building Committee – Wildwood and Fort River Elementary Schools; 2007 (present)
    • Executive Committee Member and Secretary of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; 2005-present
    • Newsletter Editor of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; 2002 – 2005
    • Town Hall Restoration Committee, Amherst MA; 1995
    • Cherry Hill Golf Course Advisory Committee, Amherst, MA; 1995-1997

  • Selected Speaking Engagements

    • “Cohousing as Community and Urban Renewal Option” and “Design Components and Characteristics of a Cohousing Copmmunity”, Cohousing Symposium, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA, October 2009.
    • “Building and Retrofitting Homes for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Use:, Town of Amherst Energy Task Force; October 2009.
    • “The Right Site Workshop” and “Endless Meetings or Efficiency in Design Decision-Making”, 2008 National Cohousing Conference, Waltham, MA; June 2008.  Also, same talks at 2009 National Cohousing Conference, Seattle, WA, June 2009.
    • “Cohousing Site Design Workshop” and “Facilitating Effective Design Workshops”, 2006 National Cohousing Conference, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; July 2006.
    • “Open Session with Green Architects – Green Building Design Options”; Co-op Power’s Northeast Regional Sustainable Energy Summit, Northampton, MA, May 2006
    • “Cohousing In the Pioneer Valley”, public presentation to the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, September 2003.
    • “How to Design a Common House your Community will Love (and Use)”, 2003 National Cohousing Conference, Boulder Colorado, June 2003.
    • “Building Cohousing: a nuts-and-bolts approach”, panel discussion participant, Build Boston Conference 2001
    • “See What it Feels Like: A Hands-On Site Planning Exercise”, The 2001 North American Cohousing Conference, University of California, Berkeley, July 2001.

  • Public Design Projects & Competitions

    • Atkins Corner Design Workshop – Participant; Amherst, MA, 1999
    • Amherst Visions – Participant in Comprehensive Planning Public Charrette; Amherst, MA 1998
    • New England Holocaust Memorial Competition Entry; Boston Massachusetts, 1991
    • “Our Lives Have Changed, Our Housing Hasn’t”, Alternative Housing Charrette (on cohousing for single women in Cambridgeport, MA) sponsored by the Women in Architecture committee of the Boston Society of Architects and the Women’s Institute of Housing and Economic Development, Boston, MA, October 1991.

  • Selected Publications

    • “Reaching Beyond Ourselves – foster parenting In community” and “Annual Retreat at Pioneer Valley Cohousing“ – two stories contained within Reinventing Community, Stories from the Walkways of Cohousing by Dave Wann, Fulcrum  Publishing, 2005.
    • “Sharing the Wealth of Community with Foster Children”, Communities, Journal of Cooperative Living, Winter 2004
    • Home Officing in Pioneer Valley Cohousing”, CoHousing, journal of The Cohousing Network, Winter 2001.

  • Selected Teaching Experience

    • Visiting Critic: Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, design studio on affordable housing, 2002
    • Studio advisor: University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Advisor to student on elementary school design project , 1997
    • Visiting critic: University of Massachusetts – Amherst, design studio on school design, 1996
    • Visiting critic: Williams College, Williamstown, MA, design studio on museum design, 1995