REGIONAL APPROACHES TO URBAN SUSTAINABILITY:
A FOCUS ON PORTLAND
A NATIONAL ACADEMIES WORKSHOP
May 28-29, 2013
Ecotrust Natural Capital Center
The Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center
721 NW 9th Avenue
Portland, OR
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
|
10:00 AM |
Welcome and Introduction Rob Bennett, Executive Director, EcoDistricts and Chair, Workshop Planning Committee |
Morning Keynotes: Urban Sustainability—A National Imperative
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10:10 AM |
Representative Earl Blumenauer, 3rd Congressional District of Oregon |
|
10:40 AM |
Jared Blumenfeld, EPA Regional Administrator, Region 9 |
Session I: Update and Lessons from Portland Region’s Sustainability Activities
Objectives: (1) To provide a common understanding for all workshop participants of the substance and current status of Portland and Cascadia sustainability activities, and (2) to develop a summary of “lessons learned” that could be productively transferred to other communities.
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11:10 AM |
The History and Lessons of Portland—What Has Worked and What Has Not Michael Armstrong, Policy, Research and Innovation Manager, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland |
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11:40 AM |
Balancing Development and Urban Sustainability in Vancouver, Cascadia, and Beyond Amanda Pitre-Hayes, Director of Sustainability, City of Vancouver |
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12:10 PM |
LUNCH BREAK |
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1:00 PM |
Sustainable Development in the Region Moderator: Gil Kelley, Practitioner-in-Residence, Urban Studies & Planning—Urban & Public Affairs, Portland State University Renee Loveland, Sustainability Manager, Gerding Edlen Lew Bowers, Central City Division Manager, Portland Development Commission Alisa Kane, Green Building Program Manager, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland |
Session II: Leveraging the Effectiveness of Portland Area Sustainability Activities
Objectives: (1) Building upon the morning session, with input from both local and national participants, explore ways, both organizational and financial, to make ongoing efforts in Portland and the rest of Cascadia more effective and relevant through partnerships with state and federal agencies, companies, and associations of cities; and (2) envision how regionally-based urban sustainability initiatives could be leveraged through creation of a multi-agency, multi-sector, National Urban Sustainability Laboratory.
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2:15 PM |
Leveraging the Effectiveness of Portland Area Sustainability Activities: Perspectives from the Public Sector Moderator: Loren Lutzenhiser, Professor, Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University Robert Liberty, Director, Urban Sustainability Accelerator, Portland State University Dave Porter, Economic Development Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce Jon Belmont, Program Lead, Energy Conservation, Oregon Department of Energy |
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3:30 PM |
BREAK |
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3:45 PM |
Leveraging the Effectiveness of Portland Area Sustainability Activities: Perspectives from the Private Sector Moderator: Tim Smith, Principal, SERA John Southgate, Director of Business Development, Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce Lorie Wigle, General Manager, Eco-Technology Office, Intel Charles Kelley, Associate Partner, ZGF Architects |
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5:30 PM |
ADJOURN |
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
|
8:20 AM |
Wim Wiewel, President of Portland State University |
|
8:30 AM |
Charlie Hales, Mayor, City of Portland |
Session III: Can Scientific and Engineering Research Usefully Inform Sustainable Urban Policy?
Objectives: To assess ways that scientific research on cities carried out by universities, federal agencies, and the private sector can be translated into forms that are useful and relevant to urban practitioners while still being close enough to the cutting edge of science to interest the most creative thinkers and obtain competitive peer-review funding.
| 9:00 AM |
Multi-Sector Urban System Initiatives Colin Harrison, Distinguished Engineer Emeritus, IBM Corporate Strategy |
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9:15 AM |
Integrating Research into Urban Sustainability Strategies Moderator: Lawrence Baker, Research Professor, Ecological Engineering Group, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota Jonathan Fink, Vice President for Research and Strategic Partnerships, Portland State University Colin Harrison, Distinguished Engineer Emeritus, IBM Corporate Strategy Joseph Danko, Managing Director, Urban Programs, CH2M HILL |
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10:30 AM |
BREAK |
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10:45 AM |
The Role of Federal Agencies in Promoting Urban Policy and Research Innovations Moderator: Jim Lester, President, Houston Advanced Research Center Ann Bartuska, Deputy Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics (REE), U.S. Department of Agriculture Danielle Arigoni, Deputy Director, Sustainable Communities, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Jay Williams, Director, Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, Department of Labor André N. Pettigrew, Executive Director, Climate Prosperity Project, Inc., Clean Economy Solutions |
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12:00 PM |
LUNCH BREAK |
Session IV: How Can Cities Advance Society’s Larger Goals?
Commentators, political scientists, and academics have recently begun making the case that sustainable cities offer the solution to many of society’s most vexing problems, from climate change to energy shortages to poverty alleviation to natural disaster resilience to aging with dignity. But in most cases, the officials who
run the cities have more immediate budgetary and political issues that consume their time and energy. Can private foundations and other funding institutions help fill gaps by supporting initiatives that simultaneously advance a city’s local agenda while also contributing to the larger societal goals?
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1:00 PM |
The Role of Cities in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Moderator: Jennifer Allen, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, Portland State University Elizabeth Willmott, Project Manager, New Energy Cities, Climate Solutions John Robinson, Associate Provost, Sustainability, University of British Columbia Mike Hoglund, Director, Metro Research Center Lillian Shirley, Director, Multnomah County Health Department, Oregon |
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2:30 PM |
BREAK |
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2:45 PM |
Moving Best Practices Forward for Sustainable Communities Moderator: John Cleveland, President, Innovation Network for Communities Melanie Nutter, Director, San Francisco Department of the Environment Jill Fuglister, Program Officer, Meyer Memorial Trust Susan Anderson, Director, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland Julia Parzen, Coordinator, Urban Sustainability Directors Network |
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4:15 PM |
Workshop Conclusion Rob Bennett, Executive Director, EcoDistricts and Chair, Workshop Planning Committee |
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4:30 PM |
ADJOURN |
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