Upcoming Forums
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Taking Back Our Streets--Cars, People,
and Pavement
6:00-6:30-reception
6:30-8:30- forum
The September forum took place the evening before National PARK(ing) Day and explored how we can make better use of the large amounts of urban land dedicated to parking and moving automobiles. September 19, 2008 marked the first time that PARK(ing) Day will occur in Philadelphia.
Featuring speakers:
October 23Pamela H. Zimmerman, AIA, LEED-AP- Brawer & Hauptman, Architects and organizer of Park(ing) Day PhiladelphiaRobert Allen- Philadelphia City Planning CommissionGary Toth- Senior Director, Transportation Initiatives with the Project for Public Spaces (PPS).
Lights, Carbon, Action: An Energy Action Agenda for Buildings
in Pennsylvania
6:00- Reception
6:30- Program
Speakers:
Liz Robinson,Executive Director, Energy Coordinating Agency
Steve Nadel, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
Dan Griffiths, Deputy Secretary for Energy and Technology Deployment, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Blondell Reynolds Brown, Councilwoman, City of Philadelphia
Mark Alan Hughes, Director, Mayor's Office of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia
November 20
Waste Not, Want Not- The Economic Argument for Recycling
6:00-6:30-Reception
6:30-8:30- Program
Speakers:
Christine Knapp, Director of Outreach for PennFuture
Neil Seldman, President of Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Robert Anderson, Director Business Development and Marketing for Blue Mountain Recycling
Everyone knows recycling is good for the environment. It saves energy, decreases natural resource consumption and reduces pollution caused by incinerating or landfilling trash. However, in recent years, recycling has also become good for the economy. A 2004 audit by the City Controller showed that due to the money earned and costs avoided through recycling, Philadelphia could save $17 million a year by improving its recycling rates.
Taking place during America Recycles Week, speakers at this event will
explore the impact recycling has on our local economy and how recycling
in Philadelphia actually works.
January 15
The Green Economy: Economy and Environment Working Hand in Hand
Speakers:
Leanne Krueger-Braneky- Executive Director, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia
David Foster, President, The Blue-Green Alliance
Karen Hobbs, Department of Environment, City of Chicago
Stay tuned for more forum announcements!
Please check back for details, and full schedule.
Information on past forums can be found below:
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Greening Philadelphia's Infrastructure
Reception 6:00-6:30 PM and Program 6:30
- 8:00 PM
Featuring:Mark Alan Hughes
Director of Sustainability
City of PhiladelphiaMelissa Wright
Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability
New York CityPanel Discussion (Panelists TBA) reporting on the results of the daytime technical workshop “Greening the City’s Infrastructure.”
Location:
Main Auditorium, Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Ben Franklin Parkway (at Logan Circle), Philadelphia
Urban sustainability must begin at a city’s basic infrastructure. For Philadelphia, infrastructure means the systems of land use planning, energy, water management and transportation on which the city depends. This months Urban Sustainability Forum will consider the implications of applying “green” principles to these basic elements of city life.
We are honored to have, as our keynote speaker, Philadelphia’s new Director of Sustainability, Mark Alan Hughes. Making one of his first public appearances since being appointed to the position, Dr. Hughes will discuss his goal for Philadelphia to “move the sustainability agenda further and faster than any city in the U.S.”
In addition, we are pleased to welcome Melissa Wright, from the New York City Mayor’s Office, as well as a panel of distinguished experts who will be reviewing the results of the technical workshop “Greening the City’s Infrastructure.” The workshop, to be held earlier in the day, will bring experts together to develop ways of measuring the city’s movement toward sustainability.
Please join us to learn about the ideas and actions that can make Philadelphia
“the greenest, most livable city in America.”
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Forum on Faith and the Environment
Reception 6:00-6:30 PM and Program 6:30 - 8:00 PM
At the May 15th USF Forum on Faith and the Environment many representatives from congregations and faith-based organizations had a chance to meet and exchange information with each other for the first time. And many old acquaintences were re-energized. To further the networking opportunities of that evening, and for anyone who did not get a copy of this list, you will find a primary contact, contact information, and brief description of the sustainable programs and activities representing many groups around town. If your group is NOT listed here, and you would like to add information on the sustainable activities and programs of your organization please email urbansustainability@pennhort.org.
-- Dr. Bob Edgar, 2003
Keynote Speakers on Faith and the Environment
Rabbi Lawrence Troster is Director of the Fellowship program and Rabbinic Scholar-in-Residence for GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental coalition in New Jersey and the Rabbinic Fellow of the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). He is also the Jewish Chaplain of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson and an Associate of Bard's Institute of Advanced Theology. Rabbi Troster co-chairs the Interfaith Partnership for the Environment of UNEP (United Nations Environment Program). http://www.greenfaith.org/justice/principles.html
Aleciah Anthony is the Field Director at the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition. Ms. Anthony is a single African American mother of two sons in the Bronx. She has worked with the NWBCCC for eight years, starting as a neighborhood organizer apprentice in the Training Institute for Careers in Organizing, a program that she currently directs. Ms. Anthony has also worked with a team of grassroots community leaders in the Bronx to create the Community Leadership Academy, a training center at NWBCCC that offers a full range of trainings in the art and science of community organizing. She has a B.A. in African Studies from New York University, with a specialization in Urban Studies. http://www.northwestbronx.org/ourorganization.html
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Forum on Sustainable Transportation (along with a Transportation
Fair)
Featuring:
o Sam Schwartz – Transportation Consultant, former NYC Transportation Commissioner, media personality (“Gridlock Sam”)
o Steve Weber –Assistant Transportation Commissioner, NYC
o Walter Hook – Exec. Director, ITDP – global transportation expert
This months Urban Sustainability Forum will look at ways to make transportation greener and more sustainable.
Start with a visit to the Green Transportation Fair, open 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on April 17 at Amtrak’s 30th St Station – West End Canopy Area (just outside station on 30th Street). Then don’t miss the evening program at the Academy, as the panelists help us learn to “think green” about Philadelphia transportation.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Forum on Green Energy
The rapidly emerging green energy sector has tremendous potential to create jobs and economic growth in Greater Philadelphia.
This forum presents expert speakers focusing on the business of producing clean energy and on approaches to energy conservation and efficiency. Tom Tuffey, Director PennFuture's Center for Energy, Enterprise and the Environment will moderate presentations by Sarah Hetznecker, Northeast Regional Business Manager of SunTechnics Energy Systems, a leading supplier of solar energy systems; Brent Alderfer, Executive Vice President, Iberdrola Renewable Energies USA, a global leader in wind energy; and Audrey Zibelman, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of PJM Interconnection, which operates the world's largest competitive wholesale electricity market and ensures the reliability of the largest centrally dispatched grid in the world.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Building the Green Economy with Van Jones
Van Jones is an environmental leader, civil rights attorney and powerhouse public speaker. He is the founder and president of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, CA. The Center promotes integrated solutions to urban America's toughest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. Working with the Apollo Alliance, Van is promoting a national "green-collar jobs" initiative. He hopes this approach will create "green pathways out of poverty," while greatly expanding the coalition fighting global warming. His most recent success is the passage of the Green Jobs Act of 2007, authorizing $125 million for green job training programs across the country. Van is a 1993 Yale Law graduate, husband and father.
LINK TO VIDEO OF VAN JONES AND MAYOR NUTTER AT FEBRUARY 21 FORUM
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Bike Sharing
Reduce Automobile Traffic, Promote Healthier Living and Make A More Sustainable City
Public Use Bicycle Programs (bike sharing) are changing urban transportation in cities all over the world. Join us at this Forum to learn more about the benefits of successful bike sharing systems in Europe and the United States!
External Links:
PennFuture
podcast
Interview with speakers
on WHYY
Speakers
Gilles Vesco is the Vice-President of Grand Lyons, the regional
government around the city of Lyons, France; a Municipal Councillor for
the city of Cailure; –and is one of the people responsible for creating
the first–and surprisingly successful–bike-sharing program in
Lyon. This past Summer the program expanded to Paris, where it exploded
into the scene (with over 1,000,000 bike rentals) and became a media sensation.
He oversees for the municipal government the highly successful Vélo’V
system implemented in Lyon and duplicated in Paris
Mitch Franzos works with the Dasani Blue Bike program in Pittsburgh, a recreational community bike sharing program for the river front trails.
Nate Kvamme is the Director of Humana’s Innovation Center. He helped to develop bike sharing program Freewheelin for Humana Hospitals in Louisville, Kentucky.
Tuesday,
December 11th, 2007
Multi-family Innovations
This special presentation featured British team Simon Allford and
Paul Monaghan (who are working on the master plan for London's
2012 Olympic Village) and local trendsetter Patrick McDonald (one
of the McDonald brothers, who blazed the way for sustainable construction
in Philadelphia with projects such as the Rag Flats and the upcoming Stable
Flats).
November
15th, 2007
Sustainable Visions: Strategies for
Philadelphia
October 15th, 2007
Mayoral Forum – The Next Mayor’s Vision of a Sustainable
Philadelphia
September Forum – Thursday, Sept. 27
Climate Change and its Impact in the Philadelphia Region
Reception at 6:00 p.m, program at 6:30
July 19th, 2007 6:00-8:00 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA'S
EMERGING LEADERS: How Young Professionals are Making an Impact and
Showing Philly How to Live Sustainably!
October 19, 2006
Energy
September 21, 2006
Sustainable Architecture
June 15, 2006
Goals
& Actions for a Sustainable Philadelphia
May 18, 2006
Redeveloping
Healthy Neighborhoods
Apr. 20, 2006
Greene
Country Towne: The Future of Philadelphia Land Use Planning
Mar. 16, 2006
Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle: Revisioning Waste Management in Philadelphia.
Feb. 16, 2006
Directing
the Flow: Managing the City's Water
Feb. 6, 2006
SPECIAL
GUEST: Mr. Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil and former President
of the
International Union of Architects
Jan. 19, 2006
Life
and Breath in the Big City: Philadelphia's Air in the 21st Century
All Forums take place at the Academy of Natural Sciences, right at Logan Circle in Center City Philadelphia