Nathan Larson
Position title: Teaching Faculty & LUS Program Co-Chair
Email: nathanlarson@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-5226
Address:
201 Music Hall
Nathan serves on the teaching faculty and as co-chair of the Landscape and Urban Studies Program. His teaching and practice focus on co-design, community-based learning, and mutually beneficial community-university partnerships. He has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector and has worked with colleagues and partners around the country to co-found and establish a variety of longstanding programs, organizations, and networks including the Troy Kids’ Garden, Madison School Farm, Rooted, Wisconsin School Garden Network, national School Garden Support Organization Network, and World School Garden Network. He is also the founder and principal of Restorative Places.
Focus Areas
Health & Well-being in Urban Environments, School Gardens & Outdoor Classrooms, Community Food Systems, Urban Nature, Active Transportation, Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) Change
Affiliations
Morgridge Center for Public Service Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies Center for Teaching, Learning, & Mentoring
Courses
URB R PL 215 Welcome to Your Urban Future
LA 373 Mindfulness in Restorative Environments
URB R PL 590/LA 375 Climate Action by Design
URB R PL 595 Landscape and Urban Studies Capstone
URB R PL 699 & 999 Independent Study
In Development
URB R PL 590/LA 375 Growing Food Forests in the City: Design, Planning, & Horticulture
URB R PL 590/LA 375 Bicycle Urbanism
URB R PL 590/LA 375 Co-designing School Gardens & Outdoor Classrooms
URB R PL 590/LA 375 Promoting Health & Well-being through Sustainable Urban Design
Student Advising, Mentorship, & Support
Master of Urban and Regional Planning Professional Project Advising & Support
Dellaneira Syifaa’ Dewiarti, Equitable Access to Urban Nature for Children: The Nature Everywhere Communities (faculty advisor)
Lauren Rhodes, Food Trucks for People and Places (faculty advisor)
Dina Puspa, Intergenerational Urban Design: Lessons from Child-Friendly Integrated Public Space (RPTRA) in Jakarta, Indonesia (faculty advisor)
Ashley Monterusso, Collaborative Solutions for Food Waste: Exploring the Role of City Planners and Restaurants (committee member)
Noah Bloedorn, Planning in the Field: A Case for Embedded Planners in Food Systems (committee member)
Madison Grace Yurubi, A Case for Strategic Restorative Design Planning Within The Village of Palmetto Bay (committee member)
Landscape and Urban Studies Student Scholarship Advising & Support
Faculty Mentor for the following Focus Areas: Climate Action and Resilience | Community Food Systems | Health and Wellbeing in Urban Environments | Public Policy, Systems, and Environments | Transportation
Teaching & Learning Stories
Molly Harris, “Making Assignments More Authentic: Consider Community-Based Learning,” UW-Madison L&S Instructional Design Collaborative
UW-Madison Morgridge Center for Public Service, “Promoting Well-Being and Personal Growth with Mindfulness and Restorative Environments” (Podcast)
UW-Madison Morgridge Center for Public Service and Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, “Community-based Learning: Green spaces, Restoration, and Ecological Diversity” (Video Story)