[SustainableTompkins] ST Gathering, This Thu. Oct. 12 : Developing Community Sustainability

[Elan Shapiro]

The next Sustainable Tompkins gathering on Thurday October  12., 6:00 
- 8:30, including potluck. Facilitated by Gay Nicholson, this will be 
a rich community conversation that  I HIGHLY recommend.
Elan


"DEVELOPING  COMMUNITY SUSTAINABILITY"
Today's headlines bring us the latest news on  the next development project
or new business in our community, but how will  these influence the health of
our community in 20 or 30 years?  How can we make plans today that  anticipate
our needs in the future?
Local governments and community leaders generally try to  address the
challenge of linking economic development, land use, and  transportation
infrastructure in an effective manner.  But the models we've  used to 
attempt that
synthesis have not anticipated factors such as global  warming and 
the transition to
a new energy economy.  Citizens and community  leaders have expressed a
growing concern about the need to plan for a future  that may be dramatically
altered by these forces and other emerging trends.
Sustainable Tompkins will host a conversation on  Thursday, October 12 about
guiding growth and development in a more sustainable  manner in the Ithaca
area.  We know  we need to take a systems approach, and to do that we will need
to engage people  working in different sectors of the sustainability equation
and help them  integrate their efforts.  We will need both a plan for how to
adapt to  rapidly changing conditions, and an infrastructure for communication
and  partnership as we attempt to implement our design for a more sustainable
future.
How  can we get started in this process?  What organizing framework should we
use?  What tools and resources are  available?  We don't know what the
answers are yet, but in this first conversation we can come together to explore
and refine the questions that we need to answer.
All are invited to attend the  meeting, to be held 6:00 to 8:30 PM, Thursday,
October 12 at Cornell Cooperative  Extension on 615 Willow Ave.  The  monthly
Sustainable Tompkins gatherings are a place for local citizens to  network
and learn about each other's interests and involvements in the  sustainable
community movement. The event will begin with a potluck dinner  -including many
locally-grown and processed foods.  Please join  us and bring a friend or two!
Sustainable Tompkins is a  coalition of citizens, community organizations,
elected officials, educators and  professionals from diverse fields - all
working to promote a more just and  sustainable community
(_www.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/) 
).  For more information, contact:
Gay  Nicholson, Sustainable Tompkins Program Coordinator,
gaynicholson at aol.com,  607-533-7312.


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