Recent Awards and Grants:

Received as Principal Investigator a grant for $10,000 (U.S.) from the Graham Foundation for her project, /Community Participatory Design and Local Knowledge: A Documentary Video on Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC). Collaborators on this grant are Dan Pitera, Director of Detroit Collaborative Design Centre and Tadashi Orui, Director, Sou International. The grant is administered by DCDC.

A grant from UM/SSHRC for her project, Community Participatory Design and Local Knowledge: A Documentary Video on Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC).

A grant from the Dean's Research Fund, UM/Faculty of Architecture for her project, Community Participatory Design and Local Knowledge: A Documentary Video on Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC).

Dr. Blake was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to take a study leave at the Pratt Institute Centre for Community and Environmental Development in Brooklyn, New York to document community design methodologies as related to the education of university students.

The Manitoba Professional Planners Institute Exceptional Service Award 2000 in recognition of her dedication and contributions to the Institute and members of MPPI for work on the Department of City Planning Jubilee.

Recent publications:

"Community Design Centers: An Alternative Practice." In Robert Shibley and Don Watson, Editors. Time Saver Standards for Urban Design. MacGraw Hill. Forthcoming.

"Community Design Centers: An Alternative Urban Design Practice in Support of Community Based Development Initiatives." Submitted for peer review to Housing Policy Debate, May 2001.

"West Broadway Community Land Trust: Lessons Learned. Ottawa": Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, Homegrown Solutions. Forthcoming.

Conferences:

"Community by Design: Participatory Community Design or Why Good Design and Good Participation are Important." Manitoba Professional Planners Institute Annual Conference: Stocking the Toolbox, in Winnipeg, March 10-12, 2004.

"Community Based Indicators and Organizational Capacity: The Case of Manitoba’s Neighbourhood Renewal Corporations".Presentation at the Affordability and Choice Today (ACT) Forum/ in Regina, March 30, 2004, Based on her research and work for the Province of Manitoba.

"Design Literacy and Local Knowledge: Detroit Collaborative Design Center. The Association for Community Design 2004 Annual Conference: Practice or Praxis? Atlanta, Georgia, March 25-26, 2004.

"A University of Manitoba Design Centre: Opportunities and Barriers." Association, for Community Design 2000 Annual Conference. Portland, Oregon, June 16, 2000.

"Inner City Housing Foundation: A Sustainable Approach to Funding Affordable Housing." Association for Community Design 2000 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, June 17, 2000.

"Community Design Centres and Methods: Toward Implementation of a Technical Intermediary for Sustainable Community Development." Planners Network Conference 2000, Toronto, June 24, 2000.

"Developing a Community Design Centre: Lessons Learned." Fannie Mae Foundation, Innovation Research and Technology (IRT) Division Retreat, Hedgesville, West Virginia, August 9, 2000.

Panelist at the Infill Housing Forum 2000. Sponsored by The Winnipeg Housing and Homelessness Initiative (WHHI). Magnus Eliason Recreational Centre, Winnipeg. (invited). November 3, 2000.

"More Than Just Housing: Community Revitalization in Winnipeg, Canada." For the panel: Urban Renewal in Liverpool, Quebec City and Winnipeg. Many Voices, One Message: The 33rd Annual Congress of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA), Quebec City, April 26, 2001

"West Broadway Community Land Trust." Homegrown Solutions Poster Session Discussion. Many Voices, One Message: The 33rd Annual Congress of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association (CHRA), Quebec City, April 27, 2001

"A Curriculum for Community Design Education Workshop" Association for Community Design 2001 Annual Conference. Indianapolis, Indiana. June 18-20, 2001.

Workshops Designed/Moderated:

"West Broadway Community Land Trust Workshop #1: Tenure and Financial Models and Board Responsibilities." West Broadway (for residents and interim Board members). July 5, 2000.

"West Broadway Community Land Trust Workshop #2: Developing a Community Land Trust -- Responsibilities for the Board, Outreach/Resident Selection and Education, and Acquisition and Financing." West Broadway (for interim Board members), November 21, 2000.

Further Education:

"Intensive Training of Trainers for Activists Working for Social and Economic Justice." United for A Fair Economy. Salt Lake City, Utah. June 13-17. Participation subsidized by a Fulbright scholarship.

"Summer Design Institute 2001: Best Practices in Design Education." July 9-12, 2001. Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York. Participation subsidized by a Fulbright scholarship.