Tipping Points for Sustainability Competition
Enter for your chance to win prizes! Deadline September 24.
ENTER NOW!
In step with the 10th annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference, the Tipping Points for Sustainability Competition is seeking input on what YOU think accelerated southwestern Pennsylvania on the path toward sustainable development over the last ten years.
Per the 14 Sustainable Community Development Essentials, (launched at the 2009 Smart Growth Conference), individuals are invited to identify and submit the significant tipping point(s), in other words, game changing moments, from the last ten years (2000-2010) that are points of departure whereby the policy and practice of these "Essentials" were accelerated for the region.
- What is the systems change, the good, that has come from it?
- What did that tipping point put in motion; what we should have learned and how we should be applying this today?
Tipping points can be: policies, acts of leadership, mishaps, demonstration projects, an event, etc. A committee of judges will review the submissions to pick the top winners and award prizes. Winners will be announced during the conference on Friday, October 15. The grand prize winner will receive a free iPad, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Technology Council!
The competition is open from August until September 24, 2010. More information, including the entry form, is available via the Smart Growth Conference Web site.
Sustainable Pittsburgh urges the legislature. . .
. . . To adopt measures on three topics where taken together would profoundly move the Commonwealth and its communities toward sustainability:
Gas Tax: to enact a severance tax on natural gas whose revenue stream hastens the transition to a new energy economy by allocating tax funds to: Community Protection and Development; Improved Environmental Quality; General Fund; and a Sustainable Innovation Fund to invest in energy conservation and efficiency, conversion of coal and petroleum consumption to natural gas, rapidly renewable resources, and investment in sustainable industries. The gas tax is an opportunity to show the world the Commonwealth is a leader in transitioning to the new energy economy.
Public Transportation: to enact a long term, reliable source of funding to ensure that the Commonwealth's public transportation systems can continue to meet the needs of our citizens.
Neighborhood Blight Reclamation & Revitalization Act (SB 900): to enact assistance to municipalities to prevent blight and remediate abandoned properties through new programs and rule changes. These include those to hold property owners accountable for the costs to secure, remediate or demolish blighted structures. The bill would also expedite the process of prosecuting owners of blighted properties and give municipalities the authority to go after the financial assets of negligent owners.
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN:
The Road to Sustainability II Conference: Implementing Sustainable Strategies
Thursday, September 23
8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Athletics and Events Center, Community College of Beaver County, Center Township
Cost: $40 per person; includes breakfast and lunch.
Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) and Sustainable Pittsburgh once again are teaming up to present this cutting edge conference on Thursday, September 23. Businesses and organizations will learn practical ways for moving a company from sustainable concept to sustainable reality--as well as what it will take train the current workforce.
Throughout the day, attendees will hear from regional and national experts and:
• Obtain first-hand information on how to implement a sustainable plan
• Learn about what products to use
• Capture the return on your investment when "going green"
• Hear about construction, renovation, energy audits, and funding sources
Numerous workshops ranging from municipal leadership to energy auditing to building design and more will be available.
Click here for more information. When the issue of 3E Links opens, click on the Road to Sustainability link.
REGISTER NOW
10th Annual Southwestern PA Smart Growth Conference
Regional Collaboration: Investing in Sustainable Communities
Friday, October 15
David L. Lawrence Convention Center, downtown Pittsburgh
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Lunch provided.
Early registration: $25; After 9/23: $45. Free for elected officials.
REGISTER NOW
For exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities contact: cgould@sustainablepittsburgh.org
For this 10th anniversary, the conference will be a milestone for the high stakes surrounding the region's capacity building for smart growth. Focus will be on alignment with the Obama Administration's Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities (comprising federal DOT, EPA, and HUD) in supporting integration of housing, transportation, water infrastructure, energy conservation, and land use planning and investment. As such, this one-day, conference will identify barriers and solutions to cross-jurisdictional coordination for regional smart growth and sustainable community development policy and implementation. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan hit home the need and opportunity of our times in recently stating, "Our challenge now is to bring that holistic view of community development into the mainstream -- to help build sustainable neighborhoods, communities and regions that are as interconnected as the challenges they face."
Learn more.
