Resilient Cities Conference: October 20-22, 2009

Canadian cities, like American cities, are facing transformational challenges in sustainability, economic, and urban management.

There is a call for climate action and pressure for new approaches to manage the shift towards better ecological practices and greater resilience. Sustainability imperatives are primarily being driven by energy demand and price fluctuations, the shock of the financial bubble and rippling economic downturn, and urban system demands with population growth.

Resilient Cities: Urban Strategies for Transition Times

Dates: October 20-22, 2009

(with some shoulder programs on October 19)

Daily Timeframe: 7:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.

(with some shoulder programs in the evenings)

Location: Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (East), 999 Canada Place, Vancouver, B.C.

The 3-day conference will explore strategies to make cities more robust, and will enable participants to advance their thinking on three key subjects:

• innovation in sustainability governance and best current practices for managing sustainable urban systems;
• capturing opportunities in the green economy;
• strategies for building widespread sustainability collaborations that engage communities

Change is being Driven from the Ground Up.

Cities are powerful agents for climate action and ecological governance. As social and political entities, they are leading the way in sustainability innovation in the areas of governance, policy and implementation. Conference programs emphasize integrated thinking on the abovementioned themes and will place a body of work in front of attendees to build a portrait of urban life in which sustainable urban practices, economy, and engaged communities are successfully aligned.

The City of Vancouver is an urban sustainability leader – widely recognized as “Vancouverism”. Its successes and challenges will both serve as a backdrop for this conference to assist the city’s leadership in governance, business, education, organization and community to study opportunities.

Conference speakers are thought leaders and practitioners from all sectors: technical professions, elected folks, developers, non-profit agencies, post-secondary institutions, community leaders.

Some conference topics, led by compelling voices, include:

• ‘The City and the Resilient Future‘ – Paul Hawken, global architect of sustainability and author of ‘The Ecology of Commerce’
• ‘Green Economy, Green Jobs‘ – Sam Adams, Mayor of Portland; Tom Osdoba, Director, Center for Sustainable Business Practices, University of Oregon; and Rob Bennett, Executive Director, Portland + Oregon Sustainability Institute
• ‘Effective Climate Policies and Faking It Policies‘ – Mark Jaccard, Professor, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University
• ‘Resilient Cities Manifesto‘ – Mark Holland, Principal, HB Lanarc

Some workshops & salon discussions include:

• ‘A Fair Trade Purchasing Policy for Cities‘ – directed by TransFair Canada and Reeve Consulting
• ‘Alternatives to Sprawl and Deforestation?‘ – panel discussion with Doug Makaroff, Living Forest Communities; Jan Garnett, Director of Partnership Development, Nature Conservancy of Canada, BC Region; Jens Wieting, Coastal Forest Campaigner with Sierra Club BC; and Peter Mortifee, Director of the Trust for Sustainable Forestry and President of Somerset Foundation
• ‘Resilient Communities: A Community-Municipality Collaboration Model for Achieving Sustainability Goals‘ – led by Deborah Curran, President, Deborah Curran and Company, Resort Community of Whistler and Jim Diers, Author, Neighbor Power: Building Community the Seattle Way and Professor, University of Washington

Smaller Cities and Towns Well-Integrated

However, smaller cities and towns are well-integrated with their mature siblings in the envisioned green economy given the need to address issues such as responsible land use, “old-town” revitalization, and food sovereignty. Some shoulder programs include:

• ‘Investing in Expertise – Ecological Stewardship and the Built Environment‘ (October 19)
• ‘Towns for Tomorrow – Urban Revitalization for Sustainable Growth‘ (October 19)
• ‘Planning Metro Vancouver as if Food Matters‘ (October 21)

A special ‘Climate Action Bootcamp‘ for local governments is being offered by BC Healthy Communities in partnership with the Community Energy Association (CEA). The series of workshops consist of three modules that are technical in nature (climate and energy introduction; carbon inventory and offsets; target setting, policy & regulatory tools, and funding) and include approaches to engaging community on climate change. For more information, see: Climate Action Bootcamp.

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Resilient Cities is produced and hosted by Gaining Ground and SmartGrowthBC.

For more information about additional conference topics and speakers, hotels, and registration go to:
http://www.gaininggroundsummit.com/index.htm

For general inquiries and sponsorship opportunities, see:
http://www.gaininggroundsummit.com/contact.htm