This past weekend was the EcoCity World Summit, hosted in San Francisco, California from April 21^st through the 26^th. On hand were top city officials, planners, designers, and futurists from around the world. San Francisco was lucky enough to be chosen for this years conference. Previous years were held in India, China, Brazil, etc.

I was lucky enough to attend this great venue and meet some of the top thinkers on sustainability and cities of the future. The speakers are carefully selected by their impacts and research into the future of cities and sustainability. Speakers ranged from local Professors, to developers, to government officials, to world leaders in sustainability. The sessions covered topics ranging from transportation, to energy, to panning, to ecology. 

A friend of mine, Scott Fossel, an “eco-futurist” with two future projects which will help excellerate green living and business, happened to be moderating one of the sessions. I’m glad I stopped by to see him speak, as I enjoyed that panel of speakers. This may be due to my personal interests, but I believe they did a great job of engaging the audience more than other speakers I heard, a successful practice I have found to make a speech have more appeal. The panel was made up of Jeff Stein, Board of Trustees Chair, Cosanti Foundation, Arcosanti, Arizona; Liz Walker, Ecovillage at Ithaca, Ithaca, New York; and Gus Yates, hydrologist and founder of Car-free City USA, Berkeley, California. Liz Walker brought a great perspective of first hand experience into Eco Cities, as she has helped create and live in one for several decades. Her experiences learned from Ithaca and knowledge gained from talking with other eco-villages like hers, gave great insight into the challenges we’ll face into creating new Eco Cities. Gus Yates brought a funny demonstration of how cities of the future can be designed to utilize shade and light throughout the year, purely by their orientation and shape of the buildings. From this semi-circle shape, they also create a much easier positioning for car-free cities and utilizing the central space for community endeavors.

A session which I missed and wish I could have made it to, was the keynote address by Jamie Lerne, the former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil and co-founder of IPPUC (Institute of Urban Planning and Research of Curitiba). I have heard about what Jamie has done for the city of Curitiba and his amazing futuristic concepts about city planning. If you haven’t heard of Jamie, definitely look him up. He is a true futurist and carries successful programs under his belt, transforming a small city into a thriving city revolving around creative ideas in sustainability. 

Luckily, I didn’t really miss Jamie’s keynote address, as most of the presentations are available for free on their website! With that said, I have to note that the conference came with a lofty entrance fee, which the average person can’t really afford. The conference is geared towards leaders around the world, many of which may have the funds for such an event, but not all are so lucky to throw down a large sum of money. The diverse backgrounds of the speakers, as well as the international networking gained, might justify the cost. Also, there were breakout sessions in another venue across the street, which were not blocked from outside visitors to take a gander. This, with the free recordings of the sessions posted on their website, maybe the cost is justified to keep the venue from being over-packed with local activists wanting to get their voice heard.

Besides the cost, I also noticed that they did not go very far to be green in their event practices. Yes there was using compost able materials, recycling, organic food, and directions on how to public transportation to get there, but it all just seemed a little lackluster. I could be very wrong though, as maybe I’m seeing and reading about too many events which push the boundaries of being super green!

In my opinion as well as many in the green industry, we should try to look at the positives these people and events are bringing to the world, rather than scrutinizing the minor details. Most world populations have not been built in a sustainable matter and we should be praising those who have to go out of their way to take a stand against the non-sustainable practices, try their best to find more sustainable solutions, and bring about the future of cities and mankind. Here’s a toast to all those trying to make the future a better place! Keep up the good work and ignore the petty hacks. Leaders are always scrutinized the most, no matter how much they try to do the right thing. The future is unwritten and we’re certainly not perfect creatures.

Like always, feel free to cross-post this blog around the Internet, as long as you give credit!

Silicon Valley is Going Green with clean technology experts, investors, and entrepreneurs. These gurus of green are meeting in Palo Alto, California once per month to provide innovative insight into the developing and cutting edge marketplace.

The group, “Going Green,” meets once per month and focuses on discussing real world ecological and sustainable development issues while developing new products, services and companies to address real world issues. A panel of experts in the field discuss their expertise and how to excel in the clean tech industry. Each panel includes investors, funders, entrepreneurs, and innovators making a strong impact in the industry, often owners of leading organizations.

This month’s speaker is Jon Bonanno, President and Co-Founder of Principle Power, Inc., a renewable energy power producing company. In the past, Mr. Bonanno founded such companies as Interbill, Solid Streaming, and ViaMoviles, all large competitors in the global marketplace. Jon was also an early Angel investor in Earth Class Mail, Sierra Nevada Solar and the first investor in Cool Earth Solar, at which he has served on the Board of Directors and as a Commercial Advisor.

He was recently elected by his peers to chair the Cleantech Investment Committee for the Keiretsu Forum Angel Network, the world?s largest angel investing organization. Mr. Bonanno is a member of ACORE (American Counsel on Renewable Energy) and the New Energy Congress and a sponsor of EasyConnect, a Berkeley-based mobility and transportation study group.

If you would like to attend this month’s meeting, it will be held at DLA Piper, at 2000 University Avenue, in Palo Alto, California on March 24, 2008 at 6:30pm. The meetings take place one per month on the fourth Monday of each month. For more information, visit http://green.meetup.com/224/

This month was the one year anniversary of EcoTuesday! EcoTuesday is by far my favorite green event every month. They draw quite a diverse and large crowd, have great speakers, and the networking format is brilliant.

At this event, I was able to meet many green industry people. One such individual, is the owner of GenExe, Alex Ho, who writes blogs about the green industry and takes photography of events. One of the great things about the green industry is their willingness to collaborate instead of compete. Alex beat me to the puch at creating a blog about EcoTuesday, so he allowed me to cross-post his great blog article below:

If you don’t know what EcoTuesday is, it is a monthly mixer event that started in San Francisco and takes place at a different place every month with a special speaker with experience in the Green industry. The event has also spread to Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. This month’s EcoTuesday took place at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and featured Emily Miggins, a Sustainability Consultant who specializes in corporate zero waste strategies. Emily works at SAIC as an environmental scientist working on projects involving government and private sector partners. As usual, the events draw a great crowd of people from different industries who either work or are interested in the green industry.

After the presentation is given, the people in audience at EcoTuesday always gather around in one, two or three circles where everyone introduces themselves, what they do, and what they are passionate about. This month, the room gathered in one big circle but it is good to hear from everyone in the room because it gives people a good way to approach someone else about an interest or topic that they want to discuss more about.

See more pictures from the event here.

The 2008 Green Apple Festival is looking for non-profit organizations and Green businesses to apply for a booth space for the free Earth Day concerts across America. The concert is free, the booth spaces are not. The Green Apple Festival presented by Chase and the Earth Day Network will be happening on April 18-20th, 2008 will be a weekend of music and environmental awareness that will take place at eight different cities including New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Miami, Denver, Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. More info about the festival can be found at http://www.greenapplefestival.com. It should be an interesting event.

THE 2008 GREEN APPLE FESTIVAL

• Is one of the largest Earth Day gatherings in U.S. history
• Presents eight, simultaneous events at landmark parks across the country on April 20, 2008
• Is located in parks, rather than concrete venues, chosen with eco-considerations such as easy foot/bike access and public transportation
• Will “green” over 150 music venues over Earth Day Weekend in each Green Apple city
• Is produced in partnership with Earth Day Network, founders of the original “Earth Day” in 1970
• Kicks off a Green Schools pilot program in three Green Apple cities

More info about booth spaces here

This blog was reposted with permission from our good friends over at GenExe.com

Now here’s an event that needs some much needed attention. The first annual Rothbury Music Festival will be one of the biggest music festivals in the country, but also might be one of the greenest. They are making the claim that they will produce close to no waste! Recycling, compostables, carbon offsets, and clean energy. The “green tickets” will include carbon offsets, which is a new trend popping up in music festivals and many other events wishing to go green.
The festival, commenses on July 3-6, 2008 at Double JJ Ranch and Golf Resort in Rothebury, Michigan. It is expected to draw a crowd of around 40,000 people.

The festival’s goal is to provide “a sustainable music festival to celebrate music, art, and action.”
The Music, which will draw quite a crown, contains 70 bands and headlines big name bands like John Mayer, The Dave Mathews Band, Widespread Panic, 311, Snoop Dogg, and a slew of others from all types of genres.
The Action, will be a “think tank” which will “address the topic of finding Energy Independence.” The goal is to educate and empower people through open dialog, about the impact of their decisions and in business and their everyday lives. Presentations, discussions, workshops, film screening, and audience Q&A will provide the education they want to bring to the people.

Sure they’re enticing people with a great music and and a fun festival of art and music, but check out their website for full details about why this festival will make an impact. It is well thought out, is bringing a wealth of knowledge, and an approach to problem solving that people will see a lot more of in the future.

Green is definitely starting to spread and there’s a good example of an event over in Alabama trying to get people to “go green.”

Here’s a blog article I found over at the Picket Fence Blog about the event, which the writer happily allowed me to re-post a part of:

“I would like to take the time to bring attention to the efforts of Karni R. Perez in conjunction with Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Miss Perez represents The Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve located in Auburn, Alabama. The preserve is over 110 pristine acres of atmospheric nature, providing the community with a wealth of discovery and natural wonder. You can click here to view their home page and pictures.

There is an event taking place there on Saturday, April 5 called GrOw GREEN. The event is designed to draw attention to the positive aspects of going green. Miss Perez and her associates are offing those who attend “a chance to better understand some current resource and environmental issues”. Not only will the attendees get a chance to “enjoy a day in the woods” but they will also be able to learn tips to meet the daily challenges of being Green Minded.”

I recently made it to my first “Sustainability Business Happy Hour” in San Francisco, CA. It is now a part of greendrinks.org, a green/environmental networking happy hour that has spread across the country. They cater to “NGOs, academia, government and business” for those interested or work in the environmental industry.

My impression before going was an informal get together with people lounging around at a table drinking beer or having a snack. The bar, Elixir, turned out to be your average corner bar with minimal seating besides the usual bar stools and a few small round tables. Elixir is a great venue for such an event. Although the building was not built green, they serve many organic beers and liquor from around the world. Yes I know, transporting them from all over is not very sustainable, but it ws nice to see such a wide selection and the market for such products.

The place was full, but I had no idea if everyone at the bar was there for the happy hour or whether some were just locals. Well, some were just locals! Luckily I knew someone going, so I quickly found him and started connecting with others. Now I’ve been to a lot of green events, but I would say this event brought out a few more younger people than I was used to. That or the young ones were the locals, who knows!

After awhile, the sponsors of that month’s event, The Green Zebra, brought party supplies and games because it was valentine’s day. It was a nice little ice breaker to get people chatting and having some fun. We played spin the bottle for prizes (kissing optional), broke a pinata (and almost broke the TV in the process), and passed around some chocolates and treats.

The owner of the bar (see picture) was super nice and a friend of the green industry. The bar was nice and it was overall a good experience. I prefer the business networking, but if I want to go have a beer on the 2nd Thursday of the month, I’ll certainly choose organic at the Sustainable Business Happy Hour!

Welcome to Envirovents!

Here you will find all Environment related events throughout the world! It will be easy to navigate, allow searching for local events, and allow you to post your own event to the list!

Thanks for stopping by!