Todd Schenk

Todd Schenk is an Assistant Professor in the Urban Affairs and Planning Program of the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech (USA). He holds both a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Planning and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.A. from the University of Guelph (Canada).

His work focuses on collaborative planning, decision-making, and dispute resolution in the public sector, particularly around issues that involve high degrees of uncertainty, complexity, dynamic conditions, and institutional ambiguity. One of his current projects is exploring how we can advance climate change adaptation in the context of infrastructure. Another project is engaging people with very different views on important policy matters to explore if and how facilitated dialogue can increase their empathy and mutual understanding, and ultimately facilitate consensus seeking. Todd regularly employs serious games to engage stakeholders in action research and help them better understand and resolve their challenges and disagreements.

Todd has extensive research and consulting experience working on environmental policy and planning, and collaborative governance issues in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.