
Sunday, November 3rd - Preconference Events
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11:00AM - 4:45PM — EcoDistricts Research Forum, includes Eden Hall campus tour and farm-to-table luncheon
- Location: Chatham University Eden Hall Campus, 6035 Ridge Road Richland Township, PA
- Time: 11:00 AM – 4:45PM
- Registration Details: The Forum is open to all conference registrants and academics and practitioners are encouraged to attend. See Summit Registration Page to register.
- Fee: $25
Overview
The Research Forum is an EcoDistricts Summit tradition that will explore how community-embedded research can equitably benefit both the community and the academic institution. Sometimes called community-based participatory research, the Forum will gather community members, students, and academic professionals to discuss how they can collaborate to equitably advance community sustainable development efforts and increase knowledge through shared decision-making and ownership. We will set the stage for the Research Forum with a tour and farm-to-table luncheon focused on the Chatham University Eden Hall Campus, an experiential living-learning environment built from the ground up as a sustainable campus and provoking many innovations in district-scale sustainability and governance. Following this, the Forum will include panels on embedded research from the university and community perspectives as well as a cooperative working session focused on developing a shared agenda for the region. Lunch and shuttle service between downtown Pittsburgh and Eden Hall are available for no additional cost with registration.
Agenda
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Registration & Welcome I Eden Hall Campus Tour & Lunch
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Eden Hall: The Campus as a Living-Learning Lab
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM | Research Forum Introductions & Context Setting
1:30 PM – 2:15 PM | Opening Panel: The Community-Embedded EcoDistricts Research Experience
Pittsburgh is emerging as a national leader in the development and pursuit of district-scale sustainable urbanism. This panel explores how two Pittsburgh EcoDistricts projects develop, leverage, and negotiate their relationships with research institutions to shape and pursue equitable sustainable development.
2:15 PM – 4:00PM | Facilitated Working Session
Using Pittsburgh as an example, this session offers participants an opportunity to discuss points of alignment and disjuncture the research community and the priorities, needs, and practices of district-scale sustainability initiatives. Small working groups will be organized according to shared challenges and opportunities associated with pursuing community-embedded EcoDistricts research and contribute to the formation of a regional/national research agenda.
4:00 PM – 4:45 PM | Closing Panel: Opportunities for Community-Embedded EcoDistricts Research
A panel discussion on what roles can and should research institutions—both in and beyond universities—play in Pittsburgh’s sustainability transition? Where are the strengths and gaps in these roles, and how can they be strategically developed to critically engage with and support Pittsburgh’s sustainable development? What relationships between communities and research institutions can and should be cultivated, with what implications for the expertise, responsibility, and scales of impact exercised and experienced by Pittsburgh communities, universities, and other centers of research?
1:00PM - 4:00PM — EcoDistricts Certified Cohort Workshop
Location – Omni Hotel
6:00PM - 7:30PM — Citymakers Reception
Monday, November 4th - Summit Day 1
8:00AM - 9:00AM — Breakfast and Registration
9:00AM - 9:15AM — Summit Kickoff & Acknowledgements
Brionté McCorkle, Master of Summit, Georgia Conservation Voters
Tracey McCants Lewis | Board Member, August Wilson Center
9:15AM - 9:45AM — Local Leaders Welcome
Rich Fitzgerald, County Executive of Allegheny County
Mayor William Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh9:45AM - 10:15AM — 10 Years In: The EcoDistricts Journey
Rob Bennett, Founder and CEO, EcoDistricts
10:15AM - 10:45AM — Break
10:45AM - 12:15PM — Breakout Sessions
15 Minute Ignite Talks - International
The EcoDistricts Protocol in Action
Presentation
Katy Ricchiuto | Program Director, EcoDistrictsBringing Bellville Back: Exploring the Critical Role of Secondary Cities in an African Context
Presentation
Warren Hewitt | CEO, Greater Tygerberg PartnershipNeighborhoods as Commons: Housing Coop Renaissance (Zurich)
Presentation
Stefan Gruber | Associate Professor, Architecture & Urban Design, Carnegie Mellon UniversityWater, Nutrients, and Food: Innovation at the District Scale
Presentation
Presenters:
Pete Muñoz | Senior Engineer, Biohabitats
Barton Kirk | Principal, Ethos Collaborative
Megan Zeigler | Vice President of Planning and Policy, Green Building Alliance
Ariam Ford | Interim Executive Director, Grounded
Fred Brown | President & CEO, The Forbes Funds
Leah Lizarondo | CEO and Co-Founder, 412 Food Rescue
Jake Seltman | Executive Director, Grow Pittsburgh
Jana Lake | President, 3R SustainabilityBuckle up… this is going to be a wild ride. We’ve assembled a group of folks at the leading/bleeding edge of water, nutrients, and food innovation. Each will share a unique perspective, lessons learned, and/or inspiring direction about creative solutions happening at the district scale. The session will use strict pecha kucha format (20 self-advancing slides every 20 seconds)… so each person is given 6 minutes and 40 seconds to share. It will be crazy… and you won’t want to miss a second of it. After eight separate inspiring talks will be a guided question and answer session.
Cultural Resilience: Principles, Practice, and Evaluation
Presenters:
Regina Smith | Managing Director – Arts and Culture, Kresge Foundation
Meghan Venable-Thomas | Program Director, Enterprise Community Partners
Nella Young | Senior Program Director, Enterprise Community Partners
Ramona Lisa Alexander | Arts and Culture Manager, Dudley Street Neighborhood InitiativeLearn how community development groups are applying Cultural Resilience Principles generated from research on climate resilience, creative placemaking, and public health. Give feedback on a tool being developed to guide others in building cultural resilience in their projects and communities.
Smart Digital EcoDistricts
Presentation
Moderator: Melanie Nutter | Principal, Nutter Consulting
Presenters:
Aekta Shah | Co-Founder, Streetwyze
Marlon Williams | Assistant Director, Public Sector Innovation, Living CitiesSmart digital services in cities can be designed to better serve the elderly and disabled, enhance mobility and reduce congestion, increase access to healthcare and employment opportunities, increase safety and emergency response, reduce water losses, increase energy savings and optimize waste management services. This session will describe how smart city applications will make a difference for all members of the community by helping them harness the benefits of digital technology. The session will focus on demonstrated built projects that enhance equity, resilience and sustainability needs and outcomes. Presenters will share the methodology and process for implementation to help audience members learn how to implement smart city technologies in their own ecodistrict projects.
Theory to Practice: Equitable Community Development
Presentation
Presenters:
Marimba Milliones | President and CEO, Hill Community Development Corporation
Irvin Henderson | Principal, Henderson & CompanyThe role of people, policy and place will be central to this discussion on how to advance equity in real estate development. Tools such as community land trust, community-level review of development projects, advocacy strategies, community benefits agreements and local legislation will be deeply explored. Lessons learned from one of Pittsburgh’s most resilient, celebrated, historic and challenged areas of redevelopment will be synthesized and shared for participants to gain useful insights and practical strategies.
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM — Lunch
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM — The Present & Future of Pittsburgh’s Neighborhoods
Moderator: Tracy Certo | Founder & Publisher, NEXT Pittsburgh
Presenters:
Fred Brown | President, The Forbes Funds
Grant Ervin | Chief Resilience Officer, City of Pittsburgh
Christine Mondor | Principal, evolveEAThe salon style plenary with four of Pittsburgh’s most influential city makers will explore Pittsburgh’s urban development legacy and how the public-private and civic sectors are collaborating to reinvigorate Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods through the lens of sustainability, equity and resiliency.
2:15 PM - 5:30 PM — Studio Tours
Presenters:
Dr. John Wallace | Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Howard Slaughter | President & Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh
Raqueeb Bey | Executive Director, Black Urban Farmers
Walter Lewis | President & CEO, Homewood Children’s Village
Demi Kolke | Senior Program Manager of Corridor Revitalization, Neighborhood Allies
Zinna Scott, Board member OBB and NMRWA, Chairperson Cluster 8-9 OBB
Christine Mondor | Principal, evolveEA
Jerome Jackson | Executive Director, Operation Better Block
Matt Madia | Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Bridgeway Capital
Mike Hiller | Assistant Director, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association
Homewood is one of 90 city distinct and historic neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh. In April 2019 the community unveiled a new Comprehensive Community Plan includes 21 overarching goals for the neighborhood, from improving air quality to better managing vacant property, providing access to healthy food and increasing transit and affordable housing. The result is a renewed focus on community stabilization and grass roots action, including early organizing to develop a food cooperative that can sell affordable, healthy groceries and expand skill-sharing programs to encourage home gardening and build community knowledge around growing food. During this studio tour participants will unpack and explore the Homewood Community Plan, how the EcoDistricts Protocol was used to guide its development and discuss strategies to inform the future of neighborhood planning in Pittsburgh and beyond.
Presenters:
Kendall Pelling | Director of Land Recycling, East Liberty Development Inc.
Breen Masciotra | TOD Project Manager, Port Authority of Allegheny County
Lynn Colosi | Vice President, Transit Services, Delta Development
Tracey Evans | Executive Director, Wilkinsburg CDC
Malik Bankston | Executive Director, Kingsley Association
Elijah Hughes | Senior Project Manager, EcoDistricts AP, evolveEA
Stanley Holbrook | Larmier Consensus Group
Andrew Dash, Acting Director | Pittsburgh City Planning
Developing a Transit Oriented Development strategy that addresses equity and environmental sustainability is a challenge for every community. In Pittsburgh, the East Busway has become a vehicle for community redevelopment, and transit stations have become the center of redevelopment. As with all redevelopment projects, the question for the community is how new development can serve the needs of the community, especially the most vulnerable. This Studio will visit three communities undergoing transformation along the East Busway – East Liberty, Larimer and Wilkinsburg – and explore new engagement strategies and tools to develop and finance TOD in a way that balances revitalization with community benefits.
Presenters:
Fred Brown | President, The Forbes Funds
Debra Erenberg | Strategic Director, Cancer Free Economy Network
Molly Jacobs | Senior Research Associate/Project Manager, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
David Levine | Co-Founder & President, American Sustainable Business Council
Matthew Mehalik | Executive Director, The Breathe ProjectThe Pittsburgh region has long suffered from some of the nation’s most dangerous air and water quality. Drawing on their experience as participants in the national Cancer Free Economy Network, this panel will focus on ways that communities are making sense of the environmental threats they’re facing and collaborating to create healthier places to live, work and play. Panelists will present local examples relating to air pollution, the petrochemical/plastics buildout in the region, and specific chemical contaminants. They will describe the challenges and opportunities of working both on problems and solutions, including using exposure and cancer data to understand and communicate risks to health; alternatives to hazardous materials; green economic development; and working collaboratively through regional and national networks.
Presenters:
Anna Rosenblum | Senior Project Manager, evolveEA
Pete Munoz | Senior Engineer, Biohabitats
Brian Wolovich | Triboro Ecodistrict Director, New Sun Rising
Dave Ramslie | Principal, Concert DevelopmentThe Triboro Ecodistrict sits directly NE of the City of Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. Led by New Sun Rising, the Triboro Ecodistrict promotes coordinated sustainable community development throughout the Boroughs of Millvale, Etna and Sharpsburg through the shared lenses of Equity, Food, Water, Energy, Air Quality, and Mobility. What started as a plan to revitalize Millvale following a series of devastating floods in 2004 and 2007, has become a seven year community education, planning and implementation effort to reimagine these tight knit communities through the lens of sustainability and resilience. With the climate crisis impacting vulnerable downstream communities like the Triboro, this studio will explore the role of integrated ecological design and green infrastructure to protect against future floods, while building local capacity. Studio tour participants will learn about the work happening in the Triboro and assist with design ideation for specific sites where stormwater management interventions are currently being planned.
Presenters:
Daniel Lavelle | Member of Council, City of Pittsburgh
Marimba Millions | President & CEO, Hill Community Development Corporation
Mary Ellen Solomon | Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President, Duquesne University
Kevin Acklin | Senior Vice President & General Council, Pittsburgh Penguins
Grant Ervin | Chief Resilience Officer, City of Pittsburgh
Donzell Robinson | COO Justice & Sustainability Associates
Felicity Williams | Programs and Policy Manager, Hill Community Development Corporation
Derek Dauphin | Senior Planner, Pittsburgh City Planning
Mark Johnson | Plant Manager, Clearway Energy Center, Inc.
Torey Barr | Sales & Marketing Manager, Clearway Energy Center, Inc.The Hill District and Uptown, directly adjacent to Downtown Pittsburgh are two of the city’s most historic and culturally important communities. Both neighborhoods are on the verge of being transformed through investments in Bus Rapid Transit and high density mixed use development around the Pittsburgh Penguins stadium. In this studio, we will meet with community stakeholders and developers to discuss the opportunities and tension that is created when large public and private investments are needing to be carefully knit together to serve the people who call these neighborhoods home. We will visit Center Avenue in the Hill District, the Fifth/Forbes BRT corridor in Uptown and the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site in the Lower Hill that is slated to include almost 1.5 million sq. feet of commercial, retail and entertainment uses, along with 1,400 units of housing.
Speakers:
Katrina Flora, Special Projects Manager, Remake Group (Studio Leader)
Jason Hobbes | General Counsel, RIDC
Jeryl Aman, Architect, MSRAs a former steel mill community, the greater Hazelwood neighborhood was once a literal and metaphorical economic powerhouse of the Pittsburgh region. The 1,305-acre neighborhood and 178-acre brownfield site along the Monongahela River have entered into a new revitalization effort that centers on the redevelopment of the mill site and restoring the heart of the community’s once bustling main street. The decline and eventual closing of the mill was a significant economic blow to the neighborhood. However, given the mill’s decades of pollution and negative impact on public health, its closure has created a chance to build a regenerative community development strategy focused on inclusion, ecological design, and innovation that paves the way for future industrial site redevelopment and restoration of the neighborhood’s physical and cultural fabric. On this tour we will explore redevelopment projects along the Hazelwood business district designed to attract new businesses and residents and RIDC Mill 19, a former steel mill that houses teams from CMU’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative, the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) and the economic development nonprofit Catalyst Connection.
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM — Break
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM — Block Party
Location – Phipps Conservatory, Special Events Hall
1 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Join the EcoDistricts host Committee, staff and board in celebrating 10 years of neighborhood and district scale sustainability at the historic Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Schenley Park. Opened in 1893, the 15 acre museum houses cutting edge sustainable architecture and green practices, stunning seasonal flower shows, and renowned orchid and bonsai collections.
Tuesday, November 5th - Summit Day 2
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM — Breakfast and Registration
8:30 AM - 8:35 AM — Welcome & Announcements
Brionté McCorkle, Master of Summit, Georgia Conservation Voters
8:35 AM - 9:30 AM — Do No Harm: What it Means to Work for Spatial Justice
Introduction by: Regina Smith | Managing Director – Arts and Culture, Kresge Foundation
Liz Ogbu | Founder & Principal, Studio O
Do No Harm: What it Means to Work for Spatial Justice
Concepts like equity have become part of mainstream conversations of what it means to build more inclusive cities is something that we should celebrate. But as we see increasing inequality, rising social and political tensions, and growing areas of exclusion, it’s becoming clear that catalyzing more just cities requires more. This talk will explore what it means to think of community development work in this context and how we need to move beyond basic notions of equity to the more critical framing of justice, one that holds more challenging concepts like harm, complicity, and healing.9:30 AM - 9:45 AM — Break
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM — Breakout Sessions
15 Minute Ignite Talks - Climate
Making Motley Decisions: Fulfilling District Goals
Presentation
Sam Rockwell | Director of Community Development and Innovation, University of Minnesota Foundation Real Estate AdvisorsScaling up Green Infrastructure Initiatives
Presentation
Steve Whitman, EdD, AICP | Founder & Principal, Resilience Planning & Design. LLCKeeping Current: Participatory Design for Climate Adaptation in Miami
Presentation
Jessica Lax | Director of Strategic Initiatives, Van Alen InstituteEnvironmental Justice for Atlanta's Westside
Presenters:
Dhiru Thadani | Thadani Architects + UrbanistsAtlanta’s Westside consists of several low- and middle-income historic African-American neighborhoods that have been flooding for several years. Largely caused by negligent infrastructure planning and an increase in impervious surfaces in the downtown area. Enlisting funds from Atlanta’s commercial and philanthropic groups, a plan was adopted to regenerate over 1,700 acres of blighted historic urban fabric and create a eco-district, promote urban agriculture, and develop a comprehensive stormwater infrastructure plan.
A Case Study for Urban Waterfront Regeneration
Presenter:
Blake Jackson | StantecThis session looks at The Eddy, a case study for urban waterfront regeneration in Boston, MA. It is a mixed-use multifamily project adjacent to Boston Harbor and is the product of a rigorous design brief targeting LEED Gold. It also weaves in tenets of the ImagineBoston2030 masterplan, Boston’s first comprehensive plan in 50+ years, which addresses the need for resilience along Boston’s 47-mile coast. This presentation illustrates how the developer, community, and municipality worked together to weave this project into the masterplan to the benefit of each party and the citizens “upstream”, now and into the future.
Next Generation District Scale Infrastructure
Presentation
Presenters:
Dave Ramslie | Vice President of Sustainability, Concert Properties
Mark Luckhardt | Associate Director of Infrastructure Delivery, Sidewalk Labs
Torey Barr | Sales & Marketing Manager, Clearway Energy Center, Inc.Moderator:
Rob Bennett | Founder & CEO, EcoDistrictsNext Generation infrastructure is a buzz word that sounds exciting but what is it? As cities grapple with the climate crisis and the need to grow smart, there is a recognition that infrastructure must evolve to address water, energy, waste and mobility for effectively. This session will examine what our new infrastructure future looks like through the lens of catalytic projects in North America, including the legacy of the Vancouver Olympic Village in helping to kick off the EcoDistricts movement. With speakers that have firsthand experience on district energy and water systems in Vancouver’s SE False Creek, to the new Sidewalk Labs development on Toronto’s waterfront, to district energy in Pittsburgh’s Uptown District there will be a breadth of projects, in a variety of contexts, told from both the owners and designer’s perspective.
Engaging the Community in Setting & Achieving Resilience Goals
Presentation
Presenters
Jessica Florez | Urban Planning & Design, Perkins & Will
Jeb Brugmann | Principal, Resilient Cities Catalyst
Chelsea Burket | VP Strategy & Team Development, Fourth Economy
Amy Thompson | Senior Project Manager, Perkins & WillModerator:
Mickey McGlasson | Analytics Strategist, Fourth EconomyNeighborhood and district-scale resilience is the ability of a local area to predictably provide promised benefits to residents, businesses, and users under a widening range of sometimes unpredictable circumstances. This is achieved through the design of assets and services and by building the capacity of communities, institutions, businesses to reduce chronic stresses and vulnerability to acute shocks. During this session, panelists will present an array of tools and approaches that will help communities use data to establish clear resilience objectives for project planning, design, and management; assess risks to achieving those objectives; and measure performance over the project lifespan. After a short presentation, participants will be able to join small group break-outs to learn more about the tool of their choice.
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM — Break
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM — Breakout Sessions
15 Minute Ignite Talks - Food
A Systems Perspective of Food in a World of Climate Change
Presentation
Steven Baumgartner | Urban Systems Strategist, Principal SmithGroup
Stacey Anderson | Associate Director, Business Development and Special Initiatives, Van Alen InstituteConverting Urban Food Deserts to Food Oases
Presentation
Mark Buehrer | Director, 2020 ENGINEERINGPlanning for the Future of Food
Presentation
Dawn Plummer | Executive Director, Pittsburgh Food Policy CouncilUNDER THE HOOD OF THE TWIN CITIES URBAN REGENERATION EFFORTS
Presentation
Presenters:
Stephen Klimek | Project Manager, Towerside Innovation District
Catherine Reid Day | Board Chair, Creative Enterprise ZoneLearn how Creative Clustering and Innovation District approaches to community and economic development are actively being used in conjunction with the EcoDistricts Protocol to transform several neighborhoods in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Panelists will present case studies of community-born visions for cohesive neighborhood redevelopment in post-industrial areas with multiple property owners and an influx of investment and real estate development. The session will explore successes and challenges in equitable transit oriented development, integrated district-scale infrastructure systems, creative placemaking and public realm projects – as well as organizational structures, governance, and strategies for influencing real estate development and public policy.
How to Develop a Roadmap to Achieve Equity in Your Community
Presentation 1, 2, 3
Presenters:
Victoria Johnson | Jacobs Engineering
Oluwole McFoy | Buffalo Sewer Authority
Jamil Bey | UrbanKind InstituteAnchor institutions in the community, such as water and wastewater utilities, in partnership with community-based organizations, have a unique opportunity to go beyond their traditional mandate of providing clean water to rate payers, and serve as community leaders that can boost the economy, create jobs and achieve equity in underserved communities. This panel consists of 3 cities: Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Louisville. Each city has developed a customized roadmap to achieve equity in its local communities.
Reality Check: Administration of Place-based Metrics
Presenter:
Uwe Brandes | Georgetown UniversityIs the practice of place management in alignment with prevailing theory? This session will report on a year-long research project to identify the actual metrics being used by place management organizations across the Washington D.C. metropolitan region through the Georgetown Place Leadership Project. An interactive discussion with the executive directors of place-based organizations will follow.
Creating Healthy Communities: Engage, Execute, Evaluate
Presentation
Presenters:
Michaella Whittmann | HDR, Inc.
Doug Bisson | HDR, Inc.
Jeri Brittin | HDR, Inc.Moderator:
Chad Davis | HDR, Inc.Sustainability and health and wellness goals are continuing to converge as priorities on projects. This session will leave attendees with information on how to integrate and address both types of goals on projects ranging from building to neighborhood scale, using one overarching example. Attendees will leave with tools on how to plan for success in meeting these goals, information on rating systems that can be used to measure success and ideas on using pre and post-evaluations to measure outcomes.
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM — Lunch
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM — Building Racial Equity into EcoDistricts' Programs | Highmark Conference Room
Presentation
Donna Hope | Environmental Diversity Consultant, UHope Consulting
Katy Ricchiuto | Program Director, EcoDistrictsEcoDistricts is committed to addressing and improving racial equity through our work. We recognize our responsibility to support people who have fought for racial justice for generations, and that communities of color and indigenous communities are often those most adversely impacted by urban issues. That’s why we are striving to create an organization that makes good on our vision. In 2019, EcoDistricts conducted a survey of current Accredited Professionals to determine if and how currently they use the EcoDistricts Protocol to improve racial equity outcomes in their professional work. EcoDistricts plans to use data gathered to improve the AP program. Led by consultant Donna Hope, EcoDistricts AP, this session will present findings from our racial equity survey, and facilitate a discussion of how EcoDistricts can help strengthen racial equity outcomes and build inclusion of professionals of color through our programs.
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM — Breakout Sessions
Building Healthy Cities: Can We Distribute Health and Wellbeing Equitably?
Presentation
Presenters:
Greg Zucca | Director, Economic and Community Development, MetroHealth
Ricardo Leon | Executive Director, Metro West Community Development Organization
Adam Perzynski | Associate Professor of Medicine and Sociology, Center for Healthcare Research and Policy, MetroHealth
Keisha Mary González Robert | Program Officer for Community Revitalization and Engagement, Cleveland FoundationThe US, like most developed and developing nations worldwide, struggles to meet the ever-increasing demand for healthcare. While life expectancy has increased for most middle and high-income citizens, it has stagnated and even declined in most cities’ poorest neighborhoods and in communities of color. MetroHealth believes that the national approach to health has to transform and, as part of a major campus transformation, MetroHealth seeks to create better health outcomes in the community it anchors, Clark-Fulton on Cleveland’s near west side. Attend this informative panel discussion to hear how Cleveland’s MetroHealth hospital, the local Council Representative, the local CDC and area philanthropies are using the EcoDistricts Protocol to foster cross-sector collaboration moving from isolated projects and programs to systems of programs and projects that are deeply interrelated and mutually reinforcing.
Designing for Zero Waste Districts
Presenters:
Clare Miflin | Principal, ThinkWoven
Christina Mitchell Grace | CEO, Foodprint Group
Juliette Spertus | Co-Founder, ClosedLoops LLCDistrict-scale solutions are often the most effective way of achieving zero waste and improving the quality of the public realm. In this session the team that led the development of the Zero Waste Design Guidelines share best practice strategies and case studies for waste management from e-waste to food waste. Learn the multiple benefits from taking a collaborative approach to developing neighborhood solutions for reducing waste, and how engaging residents and business owners creates transformative and resilient solutions. Attendees will have an opportunity to workshop solutions for a zero waste district.
An Equitable Approach to Governance and Consensus Building
Presentation
Presenters:
Don Edwards | CEO, Justice and Sustainability Associates
Emily McKenzie | Project Coordinator, Justice & Sustainability Associates
Donzell Robinson | Chief Operating Officer, Justice and Sustainability Associates, LLCJustice and Sustainability Associates will conduct an interactive session around the design and implementation of large and small group, multi-stakeholder processes that combine impartial facilitation and mediation, information and education with stakeholder engagement to support equity in decision making.
Introducing Digital Community Currencies in Urban Areas
Presenters:
Daniel Little | CEO, InvolveMINT
Miriam Parson | Pittsburgh Action Strategist, IOBY Pittsburgh
Chardae Jones | Mayor, City of Braddock, PAModerator:
Michael Marks | Groundswell Research AssociatesThis session reviews innovations in digital community currencies (DCCs) and how communities use DCCs to maximize existing and build new community assets/resources that enhance community resilience and self-determination, [MM1] augment quality of life, address health/income inequities and foster circular economies. Presenters will review history and examples of DCCs; highlighting commonalities/differences in mission/vision, governance, architecture, transactionality and stakeholder involvement. Panelists will discuss the potential benefits and challenges of integrating the currency within existing community change efforts. Participants knowledgeable about alternative economies and those initial learners will benefit from the presentations and lively discussion.
Public Realm and Resilience: Inspiring Accelerators
Presentation
Presenters:
Debra Guenther | Design Partner, Mithun
Connie Chung | Managing Principal, HR&A Advisors
Kathy Blaha | President, Kathy Blaha ConsultingHow can parks, streets and open spaces in cities be designed to help communities adapt to climate change, resilience in an equitable way? What is the technical knowledge needed and how can it be shared to advance this work and build neighborhood advocacy? Built on reciprocal exchange of information and self-determination in underserved neighborhoods public realm investments can become tools for social change. This session will ground how to use climate change data, and highlight risk and park management strategies. A reciprocal exchange of information with the audience in a workshop will use each participant’s experience to identify and envision potential ways to accelerate their own neighborhood projects.
3:00 PM - 3:15 PM — Break
3:15 PM - 4:20 PM — The Just and the Green: Confronting Green Inequities
Introductions:
Jenna Cramer | Executive Director, Green Building Alliance
Scott Wolovich | Executive Director, New Sun RisingKofi Boone, ASLA | Professor of Landscape Architecture, North Carolina State University, College of Design
The Just and the Green: Confronting Green Inequities
The impact of racism has long influenced the design of cities and cultural landscapes. Kofi Boone, a Detroit native and Professor of Landscape Architecture at NC State University in the College of Design, has been at the forefront of challenging the design community to confront racism and work towards environmental justice. His award winning design work in landscape architecture focuses on making culture and democratic design fundamental. Kofi will illustrate his research, case studies, and insights from project work in his provocative keynote presentation “The Just and the Green: Confronting Green Inequities”.6:30 PM - 9:00 PM — Networking Dinners / Bar Crawl
Wednesday, November 6 - Post-Conference Events
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM — EcoDistricts Foundation Course
Location: Green Building Alliance
As part of the 2019 EcoDistricts Summit, the EcoDistricts Foundation Course in Pittsburgh will immerse attendees in the approach and tools to create EcoDistricts, a unique standard for urban and community development that puts equity, resilience, and climate protection at the heart of every decision.
This course is for planners, architects, developers, community development professionals, and municipal leaders seeking to advance their skills, apply the EcoDistricts standard, and/or become an EcoDistricts Accredited Professional.