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Events

Practicing Sustainable Community Development: Tools, Strategies, Case Studies

Tuesday, June 3
9:00 am - 12:00 pm (8:30 registration)
Millvale Community Center, 416 Lincoln Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15209
Fee $35 (includes registration, handouts, refreshments and certificate of attendance)
Members of the NEOC Alumni Association receive a $10 discount
Pre-registration is required.
Register online at www.localgovernmentacademy.org
Contact: Anita D. Lengvarsky, Director of Programs, alengvarsky@localgovernmentacademy.org

This seminar will review practical tools, strategies and case studies for pursuing the process of sustainability in municipal government in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Attend this session to learn about:
- Principles of sustainability and their merits.
- Using sustainability principles as tools to support local government decision making.
- Strategies for introducing and adopting sustainability guidelines for your municipality and the community.
- The benefits of implementing policies and programs to advance sustainable development.
- The latitudes the Municipal Planning Code allows municipalities to foster sustainability.
- Tools and strategies for sustainable approaches to energy, resource management, waste and recycling, green procurement, human resources, and for enhancing governance systems including the budget and capital improvement process.
- How to get started, measure progress, address issues, and increase a community's agility to perceive trends and seize opportunities.

Resources Continued

Tireless Friday

Friday, May 23
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Meet behind the Seagate Building, located at 1251 Waterfront Place, Pittsburgh 15222 (Strip District)
Contact: Myrna Newman at 412-381-1301 or tirelessfridays@hotmail.com

Join the Tireless Project in cleaning up litter and debris from the river bank and trail along the Allegheny River. Equipment, refreshments, and entertainment by Zack Simmen will be provided. Please wear long pants and sturdy shoes or boots and be prepared for inclement weather.

Rachel's Sustainable Feast

Sunday, May 25 (Rain or Shine)
Noon - 5:00 pm
Rachel Carson Homestead, Springdale, PA
$5 General Admission (Kids under 6 Free)
Details

Bring your appetite for great local food and your love of the region to the 2nd annual Rachel's Sustainable Feast at the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, PA. The best of Pittsburgh's chefs committed to buying locally, more local farmers' markets, and as many of the region's great environment, conservation and fair-trade organizations and vendors as can be squeezed into the block party. The event is held in celebration of Rachel Carson's birthday (May 27) and helps connect people to all the great things going on in Pittsburgh's backyard.

This year planners are challenging people to travel to the event in as sustainable a method as possible - walk, bike, paddle, bus, carpool, use alternative fuel. Special prizes will be presented for the most innovative and carbon-neutral modes of travel. Click here to learn about an 8-mile hike on the Rachel Carson Trail that ends at the Feast organized by the Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy. Click here to view a bus route map to Rachel's Sustainable Feast. This feast is a featured event of Great Outdoors Week.

"Blueprint for American Prosperity: Unleashing the Potential of a Metropolitan Nation"

Tuesday, May 27
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Renaissance Hotel, 107 Sixth Street (Downtown Pittsburgh)
Free to attend
RSVP design@judith-kelly.com or 412-281-0995
Featuring: Bruce Katz, The Brookings Institution

The Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition invites you to a special presentation by Bruce Katz on Brookings' "Blueprint for American Prosperity: Unleashing the Potential of a Metropolitan Nation". The Blueprint for American Prosperity is an ambitious, multi-year initiative to promote an economic agenda for the nation that builds on the assets—-and centrality—-of America’s metropolitan areas. The Blueprint will put forth an integrated policy agenda and specific federal reforms that give cities, suburbs, and metro areas the tools they need to leverage their economic strengths, grow in environmentally sensitive ways, and create opportunities to build a strong and diverse middle class.

The Pittsburgh region has much at stake. Come and link your efforts to the informed and growing network of leaders working each day to create healthy and vibrant communities that form the foundation of the U.S. economy. Bruce Katz is the Vice President at the Brookings Institution and founding Director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. Learn more about the Blueprint.

Specifier’s Showcase

Wednesday, May 28
7:30 am – 9:30 am
Green Building Alliance (Riverwalk Corporate Center, South Side)
Fee: Free for GBA Members; $5.00 for nonmembers
Advance registration only
Register online

Attendees will learn the most suitable applications, installation performance, durability, design possibilities, and cost factors related to natural clay plasters and some other green wall finishings. Seating limited to first 30.

“Hard to Recycle” Collection

Saturday, May 31
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Allegheny County Health Department Offices (39th and Penn Avenue, Lawrenceville)
Fees vary
Contact: Sarah at 412-431-4449 ext. 236 or email at saraha@ccicenter.org
For more information, including a listing of fees, visit www.prc.org.

The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) along with the Allegheny County Health Department will be collecting freon and non-freon appliances, e-waste, televisions, tires without rims, ink and toner cartridges and cell phones at this event. There will be a fee charged for some items dropped off. All materials will be recycled and refurbished. Volunteers are needed between the hours of 9am and 3pm to help set up and cleanup, unload cars, take money, and direct traffic. Volunteers will be provided with a lunch and refreshments. All volunteers will also receive a coupon for one free hour of kayaking for Kayak Pittsburgh courtesy of Venture Outdoors!

Practicing Sustainable Community Development: Tools, Strategies, Case Studies

Tuesday, June 3
9:00 am - 12:00 pm (8:30 registration)
Millvale Community Center, 416 Lincoln Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15209
Fee: $35 (includes registration, handouts, refreshments and certificate of attendance)
Members of the NEOC Alumni Association receive a $10 discount
Pre-registration is required.
Register online at www.localgovernmentacademy.org
Contact: Anita D. Lengvarsky, Director of Programs, alengvarsky@localgovernmentacademy.org

This seminar will review practical tools, strategies and case studies for pursuing the process of sustainability in municipal government in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Attend this session to learn about:
- Principles of sustainability and their merits.
- Using sustainability principles as tools to support local government decision making.
- Strategies for introducing and adopting sustainability guidelines for your municipality and the community.
- The benefits of implementing policies and programs to advance sustainable development.
- The latitudes the Municipal Planning Code allows municipalities to foster sustainability.
- Tools and strategies for sustainable approaches to energy, resource management, waste and recycling, green procurement, human resources, and for enhancing governance systems including the budget and capital improvement process.
- How to get started, measure progress, address issues, and increase a community's agility to perceive trends and seize opportunities.

Lobby Day for Great Green Jobs

Tuesday, June 10
10:00 am - 4:00 pm (lunch provided)
Join for as much time as you have available.
Pennsylvania State Capital
Meet between 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. in Section B, Cafeteria
Press Conference, Capital Media Center, 1:30 p.m.
Click here to RSVP for this event. Car pooling will be organized.

Help support legislation that will save money, fight global warming, and create Great Green Jobs for Pennsylvania. Two bills before the State Senate, the Energy Savings Bill (House Bill 2200) and the Clean Energy Funding Bill (Special Session House Bill 1), would give families and businesses the tools and information they need to cut costs and their energy bills, fight global warming, and create Great Green Jobs in Pennsylvania. The bills passed in the House earlier this year, so all efforts are aimed at the Senate. Join this lobby effort to be part of the solution! Legislation must be passed before the legislature breaks for the summer. Meetings will be scheduled with senators throughout the day.

Finding Hidden Opportunities: Understanding Infill, Redevelopment and Replacement

Tuesday, June 17
8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Radisson Hotel Pittsburgh Green Tree, 101 Radisson Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15205
Fee: $50
Register Online at www.palocalgovtraining.org or send registration and fee (checks made payable to ‘PSAB’) to: The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs2941 N. Front StreetHarrisburg, PA 17110

This course covers three important topics for ensuring coordinated community growth: infill, redevelopment, and replacement. This intensive, six (6) hour course will provide an interactive and practical approach to understanding and applying the principles and relevant information needed to begin (or continue) discussions of updating community development codes: making certain that new building styles, types, and development patterns are appropriate and compatible with surrounding buildings. Numerous “real-world” examples from throughout the Commonwealth will illustrate specifics including facts/statistics in comparison to required standards.

Action Day in Harrisburg

Tuesday, June 17
Bus leaves Monroeville at 7:00 am
Contact: Aimee LeFevers at 412-728-8224 or aimee@goodschoolspa.org

Attention Allegheny and surrounding counties: Good Schools Pennsylvania is sponsoring a bus trip to Harrisburg. Contact Aimee LeFevers for details and to reserve your spot. Please include your name address, phone number, and email address.

Resources

Can a tomato revive a community ... and save the planet?

Mindy Joy Schwartz believes she has discovered one of the keys to urban renewal, and it's not government money, massive demolition or tax incentives for developers. . .What she wants to hook people on is living sustainably on their own patch of Earth. It starts with growing their own food, which she already is doing using organic methods at Garden Dreams, her urban farm and nursery in Wilkinsburg.

CHARLES P. MCCULLOUGH challenges the powers-that-be who are pushing to consolidate local governments

Ironically, under the professional guidance of its Act 47 coordinator and oversight board, the city of Pittsburgh is working through its financial issues and, although it has a long way to go in reducing its legacy of debt, it is now generating budget surpluses. The city finished last year with a $133 million surplus. The county, on the other hand, spent more than $1.517 billion against revenues of $1.493 billion, resulting in a $23.5 million loss in net asset value. This occurred with the county having had the benefit of $41.8 million in one-time revenues.

More

Nutter names sustainability director

Pledging to make Philadelphia the "greenest city in the United States of America," Mayor Nutter yesterday appointed the city's first director of sustainability. . ."Sustainability is not a fringe issue," Nutter said. "It is central to everything we do."

Mixed-use communities appeal to young adults

Developers should start looking at strip malls and suburban sprawl as things of the past. . .Younger adults' yearning for more urban lifestyles, combined with the rising price of gas, are making some towns and bedroom communities outside major cities less desirable, Leinberger said. It's a trend that's even visible on TV, where the suburbanite lives of "Leave It To Beaver" were replaced by city-focused sitcoms like "Seinfeld" and "Friends."

Great outdoors week: Promoting health, good times and the sustainability of Pittsburgh

"Many Pittsburgh visitors, and even residents, travel over, along and around our three rivers two or three times every day," Butler said. "Most never connect our rich river heritage as the reason for our city's existence. Our non-motorized mode of recreation forces people to slow down and experience the rivers. The participants always are in awe of the aquatic wildlife in and along the Allegheny. They become aware that our rivers are alive."

Secretary Kempthorne Announces Decision to Protect Polar Bears under Endangered Species Act

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today announced that he is accepting the recommendation of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The listing is based on the best available science, which shows that loss of sea ice threatens and will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat. This loss of habitat puts polar bears at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future, the standard established by the ESA for designating a threatened species.

Can Sorghum Solve the Biofuels Dilemma?

A new crop that provides food, animal feed and fuel at the same time promises to help developing countries redirect money spent on oil imports to benefit their own farmers. Is sweet sorghum biofuel's "holy grail"?

Governor Rendell Urges Federal Infrastructure Investment to Keep America Competitive

To address the infrastructure needs in Pennsylvania, Governor Rendell is calling on state legislators to invest $700 million over the next three years to Rebuild Pennsylvania. The initiative puts residents to work building long-term assets -- bridges, dams, airports, rail freight lines and flood mitigation projects.

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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
University of Pittsburgh



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