Connecting Decision-makers: The Center for Sustainable Development Hosts Texas County Judges for Planning and Design Forums
During the past two years, the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) has brought Texas county judges together with faculty experts for candid dialogue around these challenges of land use, infrastructure, housing, and resilience in one of the nation's fastest-growing regions.
“As Texas’ flagship public university, UT has both the breadth of faculty expertise and the institutional responsibility to develop trusted knowledge that informs emerging concerns across the state,” says Allan Shearer, associate dean for research and technology. “UT can serve as a nonpartisan partner, offering research and perspectives to help officials think through decisions and the effects that reach beyond any single project. Helping honest disagreements move toward shared solutions is work a public university can be proud to support.”
During two days of intensive discussion for the 2025 forum, elected county judges gathered from four counties in the Texas Triangle megaregion: Travis, Liberty, Fort Bend, and Waller, along with six subject matter experts from universities across the state. Each judge was invited to present a pressing issue relevant to their respective county, followed by thoughtful insights from their peers and invited experts on how to respond.
The forum’s faculty leads, Assistant Professor Liang Wang and Associate Professor Jake Wegmann, worked directly with participating counties in advance of the inaugural gathering to better understand local conditions and develop case studies tied to specific planning and design challenges. The CSD then convened a team of academic experts to join the collaborative forum and contribute disciplinary perspectives spanning affordable housing, economic development, infrastructure, land use planning, natural resource planning and conservation, resilience and risk management, sustainability, and transportation.
“In CSD projects, experts from across disciplines work with decision-makers and stakeholders to make sense of complex challenges and shape the built environment,” Shearer says. “This forum extends that mission, pairing faculty from The University of Texas at Austin and other schools with elected officials to clarify urgent questions and weigh practical paths forward.”
After the event, the CSD provided each participating county with a final report summarizing the key points from the discussions and offering recommendations for their case study.
“Connecting academic expertise with local elected officials offers meaningful two-way communication with the general public and communities most impacted by the challenges facing our Texas counties,” says Sarah Wu, assistant director of research for the CSD. “Bringing these two groups together to explore complex planning and design questions allows new ways of thinking to be shared with elected officials in exciting and collaborative ways.”
Strengthening relationships between UT and local government leaders, the forum laid the foundation for more informed and resilient development planning. Following a successful launch in 2025, the initiative expanded for a second convening that included counties beyond the Texas Triangle, with plans for continued growth during the years ahead.
“Our University is a lab within the city, and it is an immense resource," says Wu. “We want to explore how to tap into this academic brain trust and provide resources and ideas, asking: How do we provide not answers, but better questions?”