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An institution's open space system is a rich tapestry that binds a campus together. The delicate balance of open space and buildings is what defines an institution's character and identity and makes the American campus such a unique and distinctive landscape. Yet on many campuses, the pressure to expand and find locations for new footprints is putting open space at ever increasing risk. As campus stewards should we be worried? Of course, but not distraught, for as Albert Einstein noted, "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." The challenge that lies before us is to define those opportunities and exploit them when they are presented. It some cases, opportunity to preserve, renew and even create new open space may lie hidden in the very forces that threaten it.

This email discussion list therefore, is intended to serve as a forum to help us discover those opportunities. Hopefully it will serve as a vehicle for spirited debate and discussion as to the evolving role of open space on our campuses. There are a myriad of questions to be answered. What defines open space? How do we assign it value? Who owns it and what rules and expectations should govern activity within it? These and other questions need to be thoughtfully addressed as we accommodate the evolution of the American campus in the twenty-first century. So, ask a question or voice an opinion, but please come and join us in what promises to be an exciting and informative forum.

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