Peter Miniutti

Associate Professor, Administrative Coordinator for LA @ UConn, Director of Community Research and Design Collaborative

Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Expertise: land use planning, service learning, participatory community design, transdisciplinary design

Peter Miniutti is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture. Since 2000 he holds the Directorship of UConn’s Community Research & Design Collaborative. He holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor’s degree from University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in Environmental Design.

As Director of UConn’s Community Research & Design Collaborative (CRDC), Peter oversees CRDC’s mission to be a regional leader in sustainable planning and design. We help Connecticut municipalities plan and design affordable, equitable, and ecologically healthy environments. Our institutional mission is accomplished by providing objective, multi-disciplinary, state-of-the-art planning and design expertise. We promote and encourage academic-based collaborative research with an emphasis on “real world” projects as they apply to sustainable development. Service learning, which is a method of teaching through which students apply their academic skills and knowledge to address real-life needs in their own communities, is an integral part of CRDC’s work. Service learning provides a compelling reason to learn, teaches the skills of civic participation and develops an ethic of service and civic responsibility for students.

 Peter’s overall approach to his planning work is guided by his Lands of Unique Value (LUV) methodology which states,

The LUV methodology is a comprehensive land use study which inventories and analyzes all existing site features (natural and cultural), then prepares a visionary plan of all proposed land uses. This inclusive, community based methodology determines the most logical and reasonable locations for future land uses, balancing conservation, preservation and sustainable development. The LUV methodology is a ‘pro-sensible development’ attitude.

 Peter has utilized his LUV methodology on over 75 projects throughout Connecticut winning numerous state awards. He has also been invited to lecture and conduct workshops throughout the USA and Europe/Asia.