[SustainableTompkins] Fwd: Cool Communities/Living Economies Conference Oct. 14

[Kenneth Schlather]

>COOL COMMUNITIES / LIVING ECONOMIES
>Addressing global warming by creating a sustainable
>regional economy in the Hudson Valley October 14, SUNY
>New Paltz
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>CONTACT: MELISSA EVERETT
>845-331-2670
>Executive Director, Sustainable Hudson Valley
>http://www.sustainhv.org/
>
>
>A creative economy geared toward protecting
>environment and renewing communities ­ this modest
>vision is the topic of a regional conference set for
>October 14 at SUNY New Paltz. COOL COMMUNITIES/ LIVING
>ECONOMIES will bring together innovators in business,
>government, and financing, along with citizens,
>educators and leaders in the creative economy. The
>conference focuses on key industries including clean,
>renewable energy, recycling-based manufacturing,
>nontoxic and locally sourced materials for buildings
>and health care. And it weaves in the broader creative
>economy including information, communications and the
>arts, as catalysts and supports for innovation as well
>as industries in their own right.
>
>Opening keynote speaker L. Hunter Lovins is an
>internationally known figure in sustainable economic
>development. She is a coauthor of Natural Capitalism
>(Harvard Business School Press, 1999) and an advisor
>to governments and industry. She will speak on the
>depth of the climate crisis and ­ at the same time ­
>the rich opportunities for industrial and fiscal
>innovation to address it through market strategies
>that promote economic vitality. These opportunities in
>“clean tech” -- including renewable energy
>technologies, recycling based industries and natural
>resource industries -- will be explored as aspects of
>the technological “creative economy” that deserves
>that title along with communications industries and
>the arts. Lovins will also present a public lecture on
>the evening of October 13 at SUNY’s Lecture Center,
>sponsored by the SUNY Student Government Association,
>Synthesis, NYPIRG and other groups.
>
>Produced by Sustainable Hudson Valley with many
>partners including the New York Planning Federation
>and the SUNY Environmental Action Task Force, the
>event blends education and strategy with celebration
>of the local leadership already emerging to build this
>new economy.
>
>According to Melissa Everett, Executive Director of
>Sustainable Hudson Valley, “All summer, people have
>been going to see ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and saying
>‘Wow. We need to take action.’ But the responses seem
>either abstract ­ like big changes in energy policy ­
>or insignificant. We are focusing on a middle ground,
>the choices of economic direction and community vision
>that are within the scope of our towns, villages and
>cities. Protecting climate is about new sources of
>energy, including conservation ­ but it is also about
>economic innovation in every industry, and about
>meeting basic needs locally to reduce dependency on
>long-distance transportation of goods.”
>
>The day will publicly launch a Sustainable Business
>Network for the region, bringing together
>locally-owned enterprises committed to community and
>environmentally friendly operations. Over thirty
>similar networks around the United States serve as
>resources for existing business groups, provide
>training and marketing support for greener business
>practices, and in some cases make policy
>recommendations. Charter members of the Sustainable
>Hudson Valley Business Network represent the building
>and home products, communications, food, recycling,
>finance and business services industries.
>
>Architect Rick Alfandre, a charter member of the
>Network, observes, “I believe we are finding ways to
>marry economic vitality with ecological preservation
>and restoration. It’s time to be talking about
>restoration of the natural environment alongside with
>economic growth and quality of life. The connections
>that are crystallizing through this network help to
>accelerate these innovations.”
>
>This “action conference” is focused on outcomes that
>will strengthen industries and businesses oriented
>toward environmental sustainability, with specific
>collaborative projects. Initiatives to be considered
>will include:
>• marketing mechanisms such as a regional online
>marketplace;
>• training of key work force groups such as youth,
>• new financing sources,
>• consumer education campaigns,
>• and incubation of selected business ventures.
>Sustainable Hudson Valley will provide active project
>development support after the conference and help to
>develop funding for priority partnerships.
>
>Local and regional strategies for protecting jobs and
>strengthening community vitality will be discussed by
>experts including Wayne Fawbush, founder of the
>Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, and Gwendolyn Hallsmith
>of Global Community Initiatives. Hallsmith guided
>Burlington, Vermont in its Legacy Project, which
>framed a successful development strategy including the
>integration of arts and technology industries, a
>vibrant waterfront, and the targeting of job creation
>in areas of poverty. She is now bringing the same
>systemic approach to the Hudson Valley City of
>Newburgh. Kim Lundgren, director of Cities for Climate
>Protection at Local Governments for Sustainability,
>will report on leading municipal efforts around the
>U.S.  Lunch speaker is David Gershon, well known
>educator and trainer, author of The Low Carbon Diet, a
>workbook on lowering climate impact for households and
>workplaces.
>Sponsors include more than twenty businesses.
>Additional co-sponsors include the Hudson Valley
>Regional Council, Regional Farm and Food Project,
>Mid-Hudson Pattern for Progress, the New York State
>Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson
>River Estuary Program, which is hosting a companion
>conference December 4 at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel,
>“Climate Change in New York’s Hudson Valley.”
>The first annual Jane Jacobs Community Vision Award
>will be presented at the conference lunch forum.
>Event sponsors as of September 30, 2006 are:  NEW YORK
>PLANNING FEDERATION, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF
>ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION’S HUDSON RIVER ESTUARY
>PROGRAM, MID-HUDSON PATTERN FOR PROGRESS, HUDSON
>VALLEY REGIONAL COUNCIL, REGIONAL FARM AND FOOD
>PROJECT, HUDSON VALLEY SMART GROWTH ALLIANCE, ALFANDRE
>ARCHITECTURE, ALTREN GEOTHERMAL, BARD COLLEGE CENTER
>FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, BEYOND THE BOX WEB DESIGNS,
>DIRECT GLOBAL POWER, LAW OFFICES OF STEPHEN FILLER,
>GREEN COURAGE, HUDSON VALLEY CLEAN ENERGY, LANCE
>PAHUCKI, REALTOR, LUMINARY PUBLISHING, NEW WORLD HOME
>COOKING, ON BELAY BUSINESS ADVISORS, PRISM SOLAR,
>SUSTAINABLE JOBS FUND, SMART BUILDING PRODUCTS,
>SOLAQUA POWER AND ART, SPRAGUE BIOFUELS, HANK STARR,
>BUILDER, STORM CHAMBERS, INC., SUSTAINABLE
>PROFITABILITY GROUP, WILLIAMS BUSINESS SERVICES, WOOD
>CLASSICS
>
>INFORMATION AND A PRINTABLE REGISTRATION FORM MAY BE
>FOUND ON WWW.SUSTAINHV.ORG <http://WWW.SUSTAINHV.ORG>
>- OR BELOW.
>
>REGISTRATION
>
>The conference fee structure is:
>n    $75 for an individual (including meals, breaks
>and resource CD)
>n    $250 for a group of 5 from any community,
>workplace or educational institution
>n    $500 for a group of 12 from any community,
>workplace or educational institution.
>
>Your name:
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>Phone:
>Email:
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>Affiliation:
>
>Amount enclosed:
>
>To register a team, list members here:
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>Mail this form with name(s), phone and emails (full
>addresses appreciated) to: SHV, Box 4112, Kingston, NY
>12401.  Make checks payable to Sustainable Hudson Valley.
>
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