Exchange Part 1: In March 2025, students and faculty from Morgan State University School of Architecture + Planning (SA+P), representatives from Baltimore Department of Planning, and design professionals travel to Baltimore’s sister city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The trip includes visits to innovative design firms and to urban planning schools, workshops, tours of the built environment, lectures, sidetrips to Antwerp, Delft and Amsterdam, and more. Community-centered participatory design, placekeeping, and social sustainability are the key themes for this year’s trip. Professor Cristina Murphy (SA+P) is the lead organizer/curator for this annual trip. Baltimore City Department of Planning (DOP) staff with experience in community-centered development (planners from the Community Planning and Revitalization division) are joining the students on this trip, providing their perspectives and experience.

Exchange Part 2: In early April 2025, community organizers, city planners, and urban designers from Rotterdam and Amsterdam reciprocate the exchange by coming to Baltimore for a workweek. Goals for this research trip: learning how community-led visioning and urban development happens in Baltimore, and alternatives to real-estate-developer-driven development; sharing examples of community-led initiatives in Baltimore, Amsterdam and Rotterdam; how city government can support community-led development; placemaking and placekeeping; how to engage and empower youth in shaping the future of their neighborhood.

The April workweek includes a public lecture on April 10 at MICA hosted by AIA Baltimore (speakers: Thijs van Spaandonk and Zico Lopes), and a virtual lecture on April 8 hosted by Morgan SA+P (speaker: Dr. Roberto Rocco from TU Delft’s Spatial Planning department and the Centre for the Just City).

This exchange is part of a growing ongoing collaboration that started as a joint studio by Morgan State University School of Planning + Architecture and the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design in 2019 around the theme of the Just City.

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THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT:

– 2025 Student Trip Sponsors –

Platinum

Jeff and Laura Thul Penza

GOLD

Blueprint Café

Silver

brennan+company architects

Greenleaf Construction

Vectorworks

BRONZE

Twopoint Studio, LLC

Forbes Design Center

COPPER

Custom Concepts by Greenwalt

ArchPlan, Inc.

– 2025 Supporters –

Contact us to become a sponsor

Email .

The Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (part of Baltimore Sister Cities) leads the fundraising campaign for the exchange. Baltimore Sister Cities is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

1. Students and faculty from Morgan State University School of Architecture + Planning (SA+P) and representatives from Baltimore Department of Planning travel to Baltimore’s sister city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands in March 2024. Students will participate in design workshops in collaboration with Rotterdam Academy of Architecture & Urban Design (RAvB). The trip also includes visits to design firms and architecture schools, architecture tours, lectures, the city of Amsterdam, and more. Community-centered design and environmental sustainability are the focus for this exchange. Update: this March 2024 trip is now in the past — You can read the 2024 trip report to find out what happened during this trip.

2. In early April 2025, community organizers, city planners, and researchers from Amsterdam and Rotterdam reciprocate the exchange by coming to Baltimore for a workweek. Goals for this research trip: learning how community-led visioning and urban development happens in Baltimore, and alternatives to real-estate-developer-driven development; sharing examples of community-led initiatives in Amsterdam and Rotterdam; how city government can support community-led development; how to engage/empower youth in shaping the future of their neighborhood. Note: the planned trip date was moved from its original date of October 2024 to April 2025 – See the 2025 exchange page for more details.

Professor Cristina Murphy (SA+P) and Thijs van Spaandonk (Bright) are the lead organizers/curators for the 2024 exchange. The 2024 exchange continues an ongoing collaboration between SA+P Professor Cristina Murphy and RAvB since 2019.

Sponsorship opportunities

We invite your firm to become a Sponsor to help cover travel and related costs for Morgan students, faculty, and chaperones for their trip to Rotterdam. There is also an opportunity for sponsors to join the March 2024 trip to experience the culture and innovative architecture in the Rotterdam region. The trip will be around March 15-22, 2024. Sponsors are welcome to stay longer than the delegation’s trip dates and visit even more cities, such as Utrecht, Delft, and cities in Belgium. 

Experiential travel education is an impactful opportunity for students to gain global understanding and exchange ideas about architectural design, planning, resiliency, and sustainability. Students who attended past Baltimore-Rotterdam exchanges shared that it was “eye-opening” and that the buildings there “are very creative; they build in less linear fashion; it will influence my designs”. They appreciated the “exposure to different environments and design”; it “enhanced our mindset of what it means to be an architect” and made them “want to work internationally.” Morgan State is a leading HBCU (Historically Black College / University). The architecture and urban design profession suffers from a longstanding lack of diversity — your support will help enrich Morgan students’ education and thereby help bring more Black students into this profession.

The Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee is leading this fundraising campaign on behalf of the students and faculty.

Why be a sponsor?

• Your support ensures that students and faculty will be able to travel abroad.
• Opportunity for you to meet potential interns and new hires through this program.
• Great visibility — reach people in the architecture and real estate industries in Maryland and internationally.

Sponsorship levels & benefits

Contact us to become a sponsor

Email .

The Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (part of Baltimore Sister Cities) is leading this fundraising campaign. Baltimore Sister Cities is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

Watch this video where Morgan students talk about the powerful impact of this exchange — sponsors make their travel possible!

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THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT:

– 2024 Sponsors –

Add your company’s name here! Contact to become a sponsor.

Platinum Plus

Platinum

Jeff and Laura Thul Penza

Gold

Bronze

SM+P Architects

Willard Architects

– 2024 Supporters –

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The Morgan students are also doing fundraising for the trip!

The faculty and students are creating charming Baltimore-themed “CityScape” ornaments, bags, and magnets to sell at market tables and other events this winter. Stop by their table at:

• Baltimore Architecture Foundation’s Groundhog Day Party on February 3, 2024 (7-10pm)
• 32nd Street Farmers Market in Waverly on December 16 & 23 (Saturday mornings)
• AIA Baltimore’s annual meeting & holiday party at 4TEN on Friday December 8 (4-6pm)