As a food system organizer and researcher, I try to find events to attend that draw together many different sectors and initiatives. Last year, this sustainability conference focused on Local Foods and was held in conjunction with the Projects For Public Spaces International Public Market Conference. I attended the PPS conference and as a result, saw a few of Cleveland’s excellent food initiatives and met the local folks working on the same things that many PPS attendees are working on in their areas. This year, I am going back to follow up on what I saw in that food system work in Northeast Ohio and also to sit and work with the folks who are at this conference to hear about their 2013 focus: their renewable energy and climate change work.

Cleveland’s “conscious capitalism” and renewable industries strategy is impressive and needs a deeper look. As someone who did consumer and environmental campaigns in that area in the 1980s and early 1990s, I want to see what has changed since my organizing days and how the food system work really fits in.

         Summit 2013       

Together, We’re Building a Thriving Green City on a Blue Lake

 

The 5^th Annual Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit will be October 3-4 at Cleveland Public Auditorium in Downtown Cleveland.  As we approach the halfway milestone of this ten-year initiative, we are charged with taking stock of our accomplishments and outcomes, gauging our progress, honoring the work of many, and charting the course for the next five years.

Summit Focus:

Summit 2013 will focus on the Year of Advanced and Renewable Energy and implementing Cleveland’s Climate Action Plan.  

Keynote Speakers: The City of Cleveland is pleased to announce two dynamic keynote presenters during the Summit on the topics of Advanced and Renewable Energy, Climate Change and Conscious Capitalism.

John Montgomery, Author of Great from the Start, is a frequent speaker on sustainable business, benefit corporations and venture capital at such forums as the Future Salon, TEDx, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. John transforms public and private corporations for success in the new economic paradigm where corporations not only optimize profits for shareholders but also provide a material positive impact on society and the environment. 

Chuck Kutscher, National Renewable Energy Lab, is a Principal Engineer and Group Manager in the Center for Electricity, Resources, and Building Systems Integration. His projects have included the design and construction of a solar cooling test laboratory; production of NREL’s solar industrial process heat design handbook; modeling of advanced power cycles and cooling systems for geothermal power plants; and development of transpired solar air collectors, which won an R&D 100 Award and a Popular Science “Best of What’s New” award. He is editor of the 200-page ASES report, Tackling Climate Change in the U.S., and writes a monthly column on climate change for SOLAR TODAY magazine.  He recently received the 2008 Colorado Governor’s Excellence in Renewable Energy Individual Award. 

2013 Sustainable Cleveland Summit Tickets, Cleveland – Eventbrite.