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Events

Sustainability and Smart Growth Brown Bag Forum: "One Step at a Time. . ."

Student Sustainability Symposium
Friday, April 11
10:00 am - Noon
31st Floor Conference Room, 425 Sixth Avenue, Regional Enterprise Tower (Downtown)
RSVP to Dolly Chavez (chavez@pitt.edu ; 412-624-8780) by April 7.

The University of Pittsburgh Environmental Studies Program Department of Geology and Planetary Sciences School of Arts and Sciences invites you to learn what Pitt students are doing to promote sustainability on campus and in the City of Pittsburgh. “One Step at a Time: Shrinking the Campus Footprint” is a cooperative project of Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University supported by a grant from the Heinz Endowments.

Events Continued

Resources

Corporations and Environmental Responsibility

A Weekend of Lectures, Analysis, and Discussion
March 28-30, 2008
The Erwin Steinberg Auditorium, room A53, Baker Hall, Carnegie Mellon University

What role can corporations play in addressing environmental sustainability? What is industrial ecology? Do environmental public policies unduly restrict the activities of a free marketplace? Are corporations being transparent about their environmental stewardship? Are environmental problems like global warming only “negative externalities” for businesses? Join experts, practitioners and academics for an in-depth treatment of these and other complexities having to do with “Corporations and Environmental Responsibility”. For more details and the complete schedule go to: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/99-522/index.html

Farm to Table: A RECIPE FOR A HEALTHY PITTSBURGH

Friday, March 28, Noon – 6:00 pm
Saturday, March 29, 2008, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
David Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh
Fee: $15; Kids under 12: free; Students (ages 14-18): $10
More information: Visit https://www.pathwayswellnessprogram.com/farm_to_table_conference.html or call 412-563-8800.

The speakers and exhibitors will assist Western Pennsylvania consumers in understanding the benefits of eating locally grown food. Businesses that grow, sell or prepare farm raised produce, livestock, and value added products will be featured. Organizations providing health and wellness opportunities will also be an integral part of this conference. Giant Eagle and American HealthCare Group are sponsors of the event.

Burning Waste Coal in PA: Boon or Bust?

Saturday, March 29
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Avenue (Oakland)
Contact GASP for tickets at 412-325-7382.

Join GASP in examining the controversial issue of burning waste coal for energy. Two separate speakers will be featured:
Conrad Daniel Volz, DrPH, MPH with the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities & UPCI Center for Environmental Oncology
"Identifying coal fired power plant pollutants through examination of local fish"

Eric Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project
"Cleaning up after Coal: What to do about Waste Coal and Coal Waste?"

Job Fair Opens Doors for Applicants with Employment Barriers

Thursday, April 3
10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Life's Work headquarters in Uptown (1323 Forbes Ave.)
Contact: Joe Wollenschlaeger at 412-471-2600, ext. 222

Life’sWork of Western PA will host a diversity job fair for applicants with disabilities or other employment barriers. Fourteen of the region’s most progressive employers will be accepting applications and meeting prospective candidates at the agency’s inaugural job fair. Job seekers with employment barriers are encouraged to attend, dressed for success, armed with plenty of resumes.

PennFuture’s Global Warming Conference 2008: Solutions for a Warming Planet

Saturday, April 5
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
La Roche College, Zappala College Center Square, 9000 Babcock Blvd, North Hills
Free for PennFuture members and students; $10 for non-members.
Register here today or by calling 1-800-321-7775.
For more information about PennFuture visit www.pennfuture.org.

Learn how you can take action to help stop global warming, with presentations by national, state, and local experts and leaders:
- Larry Schweiger, president, National Wildlife Federation;
- Brenda Ekwurzel, climate scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists;
- David Foster, executive director, Blue-Green Alliance;
- Allen Kukovich, director of the office of Governor Ed Rendell for the southwest region;
- Pennsylvania State Representatives Lisa Bennington and Chelsea Wagner;
- Brian Hill, president and CEO, Pennsylvania Environmental Council;
- Representatives from Solar Power Industries, Gamesa Wind US, Green Building Alliance, and Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture.
- Latest global warming policy updates on state and federal levels.
- Watch biodiesel manufactured on-site by Steel City Biofuels and
- Listen to music by Life in Balance.

This event is co-sponsored by La Roche College and Pennsylvania Interfaith Climate Change Campaign.

Sustainability and Smart Growth Brown Bag Forum: "One Step at a Time. . ."

Student Sustainability Symposium
Friday, April 11
10:00 am - Noon
31st Floor Conference Room, 425 Sixth Avenue, Regional Enterprise Tower (Downtown)
RSVP to Dolly Chavez (chavez@pitt.edu ; 412-624-8780) by April 7

The University of Pittsburgh Environmental Studies Program Department of Geology and Planetary Sciences School of Arts and Sciences invites you to learn what Pitt students are doing to promote sustainability on campus and in the City of Pittsburgh. “One Step at a Time: Shrinking the Campus Footprint” is a cooperative project of Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University supported by a grant from the Heinz Endowments.

Save the Date - Rachel Carson Spirit & Nature Forum

Wednesday, April 16
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Chatham University, Shadyside
Tickets: $25 for adults and $10 for college students (dinner is included).
Register and pay online at www.rachelcarsonhomestead.org.

Rachel Carson Homestead will present a multi-faith gathering to discuss the reverence for nature contained in all world religions. Through this roundtable discussion, participants can explore how earth stewardship is a matter of faith and how sustainable living, including conservation efforts, green building and using renewable energy, are practices that can be embraced by all.

Participants include Reverend David Carlisle, Springdale United Presbyterian Church; Nusrath Ainapore, Islamic Center of Pittsburgh; Sharon Pillar of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, biologist Dr. Kanak Iyer, a representative of the Zen Buddhism Center of Pittsburgh (to be confirmed) and Dr. Elisa Beck, Founding Co-Chair of the United Jewish Federation Environmental Committee, Dr. Terry Collins of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, and Sister Mary Christopher of Felician Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Province.

Water Trail Working Session

Friday, April 18
Danville, PA
More information:
Contact: Hannah E. Hardy at 412-481-9400 or hhardy@pecpa.org.

This one-day event will focus on managing the water trail system for the long-term. Pennsylvania has a nationally recognized system of water trails that is growing as new water trails are developed. Trail maps and guides are widely distributed. Amenities are available to water trail users. Now is the time to focus on sustaining this system for the future.

Come prepared to roll up your sleeves and dig into a variety of topics in interactive, discussion-oriented sessions. Topics to be covered include camping, organizational management structure, working with private property owners, stewardship and conservation, programming and facilities management. This will be great networking opportunity to work with your peers in Pennsylvania and adjoining states on developing successful models for long-term management of your water trail.

Earth Day Celebration

Saturday, April 19
10:00 am - 9:30 pm
The Mall at Robinson

Join The Mall at Robinson for an Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 19. In honor of Earth Day, The Mall is hosting a fun-filled day with eco-chic giveaways, plastic bottle sculptures and educational materials showcasing ways to incorporate environmental awareness into every day life.

On April 19 guests will be invited to visit Guest Services to receive a FREE eco-tote bag by dropping off 10 clean plastic water bottles and they can receive a free compact fluorescent light bulb by pledging to switch from inefficient incandescent bulbs. The Art Institute of Pittsburgh will unveil two displays out of 836 plastic water bottles (the average annual consumption for a family of four) in the Food Court at 10am. The Mall will also donate 5 percent of gift card sales on April 19 to the Sierra Club.

Please contact Shema Krinsky at shemakrinsky@forestcity.net if you are interested in setting up a table to promote your sustainable initiatives.

PIIN Annual Fund-Raising Banquet

Thursday, April 24
6:00 pm
Radisson Hotel, Greentree PA
For tickets and ads in program book: 412-621-9230 by April 5.

This banquet is in support of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network’s (PIIN’s) work for regional equity, sustainable development, public transit, housing, comprehensive immigration reform, cessation of gun violence, and other community issues. Keynote speaker: Dr. Iva Carruthers, General Secretary, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference; author, Blow the Trumpet in Zion: Global Vision and Action for the 21st Century Black Church.

Lecture 4: “Local Living Economies: Green Fair and Fun”

Tuesday, April 29
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Connan Room, University Center, Carnegie Mellon University
Free to the public

The Local Living Economies and Urban Farming lecture series concludes with Judy Wicks, founder of Philadelphia's Sustainable Business Network, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE, www.livingeconomies.org), and the White Dog Café. Wicks is probably best known for establishing The White Dog Cafe on the first floor of her Philadelphia home in 1983. As the restaurant grew, so did her notion that the strength of her business relied upon the quality and sustainability of its locally grown ingredients. Envisioning how strengthening relationships among independent, community-rooted enterprises could inspire broad and profound cultural change, Wicks joined the Social Venture Network and co-founded the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) in 2001. She is currently writing a book about the White Dog Café and local living economies called Good Morning, Beautiful Business.

"Food and Farming Based Entrepreneurship: The Next Generation of Business in Pittsburgh"

Wednesday, April 30
1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Singleton Room, Roberts Hall, Carnegie Mellon University
Fee: $50/$30 academics and nonprofits. Free to the CMU community.
RSVP by April 11 to 412-268-1125.

Following the last lecture in the Local Living Economies and Urban Farming series, there will be a public workshop featuring keynote talks by Judy Wicks and Benjamin Gisin, publisher of Touch the Soil magazine (www.touchthesoil.com) and an expert on how monetary policy affects agriculture. Afterwards there will be a panel discussion with local and regional sustainability leaders.

Affordable Housing Forum

May 13-14, 2008
Pittsburgh Hilton, Pittsburgh, PA
Fee: $99 (includes lunch, a tour of model housing sites, and an evening reception)
Please register and reserve your room at the Hilton by April 12, 2008 to guarantee a discounted hotel rate. See below for details.

The Affordable Housing Forum is designed to provide participants with an understanding of the key elements of the development process and cutting edge techniques to revitalize and manage your assets. The event will feature panelists, workshops, and a closing plenary. NOTE: Rooms have been set aside at the Hilton at rates that include breakfast ($129 single, $149 double, plus tax and fees, pre- during, and post-event). For complete registration information and a schedule of events, visit https://www.marcnahro.org. Contact Larry Cobb at 317-409-8171 or Ethicsworks@aol.com if you have questions or special ADA needs (before April 12). No refunds after April 10, 2008.

8th Annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Smart Growth Conference

Revitalize the Region: Seize Market Interest to Redevelop Core Communities
Friday, May 16
Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh
8:30 am - 3:30 pm (continental breakfast and lunch included)
Keynote speaker: Christopher Leinberger, Metropolitan Land Strategist & Developer
Cost: Early Registration: $30. After May 1: $40 (free to elected officials)
Register online at www.sustainablepittsburgh.org For more information call 412-258-6642 or emailinfo@sustainablepittsburgh.org

Presented by:
Local Government Academy
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development
Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
Sustainable Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics

Sponsored by:
Bank of New York Mellon
Babst, Calland, Clients, and Zomnir, P.C.
Bombardier
Building Owners and Managers Association - Pittsburgh
National Association of Industrial and Office Properties - Pittsburgh Chapter

For sponsorship and tabling opportunities call 412-258-6643.

This conference, designed for communities in the region that desire to accelerate their redevelopment, will be rich in content, featuring tools, case studies, and technical assistance opportunities. A window of opportunity is growing for communities that are prepared to foster smart growth in step with the shift in the development market that is now occurring. Renewed interest in urban and core communities by developers and investors spells opportunity for restoring prosperity. This shift is fueled by demographic, economic, and cultural trends that are serving to revalue our core communities. Want to be better prepared to seize this market interest? This Smart Growth conference will help communities better understand the changing market, appreciate how to capitalize on their assets, comprehend what needs to done to participate in the market-based renaissance, and engage in a network to pursue mutual interests. Our region's sustainable growth depends on it.

Conference Highlights:
Project Region: The new regional transportation and development plan, plots a new smart growth course for Southwestern Pennsylvania focused on restoring and reinvesting in the region’s existing communities. Learn how the Region's Plan is aligned with emerging market interest in reinforcing existing places and targeted corridors with a strong emphasis on preservation, maintenance and operation of existing infrastructure.

Deal Makers and Breakers: To fully benefit from the Region's Plan, it's incumbent on existing communities to understand what developers and investors are looking for when they scan a region for opportunity. In a unique undertaking, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and the Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University (CURP) have collaborated to investigate new approaches municipal officials can employ to help attract new development to their communities. Project leader, David Soule will engage conference participants in discovering what is takes to attract smart growth investment. Furthermore, a consultancy will be launched to work with communities around the region to take a proactive, aggressive stance to meet the complex needs of firms looking to start up operations, relocate, or add new facilities.

Window of Opportunity: Keynote, Christopher Leinberger (see below), will demonstrate the shifting market now brewing in favor of “walkable urbanism” -- downtown and suburban downtown revitalization, New Urbanism, transit-oriented development, green field mixed-use development (“lifestyle centers”), regional mall redevelopment, among others. He will review ways the real estate sector is re-tooling how it designs, plans, regulates and finances to serve these markets to formulate and implement the next American Dream. A panel of regional developers and government leaders will discuss the trend of revaluing urbanity now stirring in our SWPA and how to accelerate market readiness.

Zoning for Smart Growth: Too often zoning techniques that shaped the growth of the American suburb create barriers to meeting today's community visions for traditional types of development. Gregory Heller of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will be on hand to explore new innovations in zoning that provide flexibility to respond to changes in private market demand. Learn from Gregory and local leaders how your community can be an early adopter and zone the way to seize market interest to redevelop core communities.

Keynote Speaker:
Christopher B. Leinberger is a metropolitan land use strategist, developer, teacher, consultant and author helping to make progressive development profitable. He is a founding partner of Arcadia Land Company, a real estate development firm serving to create walkable communities in harmony with nature.

Leinberger is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution focusing on research and practices to help transform traditional and suburban downtowns to places that provide “walkable urbanism." He is also a professor and director of the Graduate Real Estate Program at the University of Michigan which focuses on downtown and suburban town center revitalization, transit-oriented development, new urbanism, and conservation development.

In his recently released book, The Option of Urbanism, Leinberger reviews how Americans are voting with their feet to abandon strip malls and suburban sprawl, embracing instead a new type of community where they can live, work, shop, and play within easy walking distance. He explains why government policies have tilted the playing field toward one form of development over the last sixty years: the drivable suburb. Conversely, Leinberger shows how the American Dream is now shifting to include cities as well as suburbs and how the financial and real estate communities need to respond by building communities that are more environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable.

Leinberger has written award-winning articles for publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal and Urban Land magazine. He has been profiled by CNN, the Today Show, and National Public Radio.

Conference support provided by:
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
The Richard King Mellon Foundation

Applications now being accepted for Community Wind Project

Contact: Saint Francis University Renewable Energy Center at 814-472-2872 or at renewable@francis.edu

Applications are now being accepted for the Community Wind Project. With this project you will have the possibility of having a meteorological tower installed on your property to assess your wind resource.

Community Wind is large scale wind power typically owned by private or public entities for on-site usage or sale to the grid. Most importantly Community Wind is about local ownership which maximizes the benefits to the local community.

Requirements for Eligible Applicants:
§ Public and private entities owning land in Pennsylvania (e.g. municipalities, schools, municipal utilities, farmer cooperatives, private businesses, etc.).
§ Sites to be surveyed should have an approximate elevation of at least 2,000 ft and are ideally clear, open areas so that land disturbance and impacts on forests are minimized.
§ There must be an appointed Contact Person with whom REC can communicate and who will be present at the site visit should one be warranted.

Resources

Forty Years of Urban Economic Development: A Retrospective

The International Economic Development Council assembled a group of urban development pioneers together in Philadelphia for an in depth retrospective on the past 40 years of economic development. The two-day event served as an important mile marker in bringing together the leaders of the urban economic development field to pause and reflect upon where they have been, what they have learned and by extension where the discipline needs to go. This paper captures and develops those lessons.

On Carbon, Tax and Don’t Spend

The one country in which carbon taxes have led to a large decrease in emissions is Denmark, whose per capita carbon dioxide emissions were nearly 15 percent lower in 2005 than in 1990. And Denmark accomplished this while posting a remarkably strong economic record and without relying on nuclear power. What did Denmark do right? There are many elements to its success, but taken together, the insight they provide is that if reducing emissions is the goal, then a carbon tax is a tax you want to impose but never collect.

More

Coca-Cola Aims for 'Water Neutrality'

By 2007, the company developed an integrated water strategy focused on plant performance (water use efficiency, water quality and wastewater treatment), watershed protection, enabling access to clean drinking water and working to drive global awareness and action to address water challenges. Its system-wide goal is to return all water used in its operations back to nature. Its mantra: reduce, recycle and replenish. This year, the company has set a goal of becoming the most efficient company in the world in terms of water use in the beverage industry.

PennFuture Podcast: Labor = Green

Pittsburgh recently played host to the first national Blue/Green Alliance conference this year, entitled Good Jobs, Green Jobs. The conference began a national discussion between labor, environmental, industry, financial, and government leaders on the economic, health and security benefits that are being and will be realized through the growth in the clean, renewable energy field, energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades, green chemistry, and many other environmentally-responsible endeavors. A pre-conference event organized by cityLIVE, a monthly forum showcasing intellectual talent in Pittsburgh, brought a few national leaders together with a young leader from Pittsburgh to bring the green jobs conversation to a broader audience. In this podcast, PennFuture's Alex Bard visits the Labor=Green forum, exploring with the presenters many of the principal concepts.

Parking lot is big... big and eco-friendly

The parking lot, which will serve an expansion of the Prime Outlets shopping mall in Williamsburg, is advertised as "the largest pervious concrete project in the United States," one that covers 7 acres of Earth with this environment-friendly building material. . .The Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, a trade group, now promotes pervious concrete. Its officials ticked off a list of "green" concrete projects under way or completed - an apartment parking lot in Norfolk, sidewalks in Richmond, car washes in Northern Virginia, driveways at homes in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

Fifty questions to rate projects on quality growth

Any development can claim it's an example of quality growth. But how do you determine if that project really measures up? The Livable Communities Coalition, a broad group of development stakeholders, might have the answer.

Grant Opportunity - Environment/Physical activity among children

This call for proposals (CFP) is the first to reflect a new emphasis for Active Living Research. The program will now focus on supporting research to inform policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity among children and adolescents, decreasing their sedentary behaviors and preventing obesity. We will place special emphasis on strategies with the potential to reach racial/ethnic populations and children living in low-income communities who are at highest risk for obesity. Findings are expected to advance RWJF’s efforts to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.

For information on becoming a Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.

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Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.

Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from support in 2008 from:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Heinz Endowments
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Roy A. Hunt Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation



Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP