Sustainable Communities conference in Burlington a success
By T. Jack Heckelman with Gwen Hallsmith
The
first Sustainable
Communities conference was held in Burlington, VT. July 14-18,
2004. It attracted more than 400 participants from 45 states and 35
countries around the world. It featured outstanding sustainability
practitioners as keynote spekers, session leaders and presenters of
papers. The substantive and intensive program filled the 3 1/2 days
from 8:00 AM through the evening hours. The principal conference organizer
was Gwendolyn Hallsmith, Executive Director of Global
Community Initiatives. (The conference
proceedings can be viewed online.)
Major keynoters included Hon. Madeleine Kunin, founder of the Institute
for Sustainable Communities and former three-term Vermont governor,
Governor James Douglas, Burlington mayor Peter Clavellle, and UVM President
Dan Fogel. Three subsequent plenary sessions featured seven quality
speakers, each with a quality message. Memorable for me were Enrique
Penalosa, ex-mayor of Bogota, Columbia who, in spite of major drug-related
conflicts, made massive city improvements, especially for the poorer
people of his city. Also Bernard Lietaer, world-famous banker-economist
and architect of the European "Euro" who argued strongly for
complimentary currencies such as the Ithaca Hour or Burlington Bread
can work in the local economy to counteract the destructive effects
of the more limited national currencies. Senator Patrick Leahy spoke
at the banquet Saturday night with a statement that was very supportive
of strengthening cities and towns across the country.
Luncheon speakers were informative and entertaining, including Hunter
Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain
Institute and now president of Natural
Capitalism, Inc, whose grasp of the scope of sustainability was
most impressive. Videos of the principal speakers are being included
on the website listed above with the conference proceedings.
The heart of the program was in the thirteen focus areas or interactive
working groups, each including papers, case studies, and workshops over
the three days, featuring over 160 session presenters and facilitators.
These groups allowed participants to get to know each other, explore
their subjects in more depth, and, most importantly, have the opportunity
for active dialog. Typical subject areas included Civic Spirit, Cultural
Regeneration, Youth Engagement, Participatory Governance, Revitalizing
Local Economies, Driving Forces, and a cross-cutting track on the Earth
Charter. Each group reported to the conference as a whole in the closing
session on Sunday. More details, including copies of many of the papers,
are being included on the web site.
Related activities included a town meeting led by the National
League of Cities, revealing the growing inequities threatening
the future America's cities and towns detailed in their annual
report "Divided We Fall." A Burlington Sustainability
tour highlighted the numerous sustainability initiatives taken by
the city, including waterfront renovation, a wood-burning electric
generating plant, and major organic agriculture partnerships. A packet
of Burlington "bread dollars" provided an opportunity to
experience how local currencies work to keep assets in a community.
An outdoor Earth Charter
reception, unfortunately visited by heavy rain, featured food catered
by local farmers and restaurants. Our cruise on Lake Champlain was
also somewhat rainy, though it cleared later. All in all, a very successful
and stimulating conference.