Urban Water Sustainability Leadership Conference focuses on green infrastructure

PHILADELPHIA — The Clean Water America Alliance will shine the spotlight on seven major urban areas for their green infrastructure innovations at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, on Dec. 6-7, 2010. Leadership teams from Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Milwaukee, Portland (greater area), San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago will share innovations, strategies, and best practices for making green infrastructure the centerpiece of the urban water world. In addition to the formal program, sidebar conversations will be organized of small groups to strategize solutions for those obstacles the cities have in common.

Cities are shifting at ambitious scales to green infrastructure; a rapid and thorough exchange of experience is needed. Leaders from the fields of philanthropy, water, sustainability, infrastructure, planning, politics, and science will identify the policy and system changes needed for substantive progress toward water sustainability.

The Honorable Mayor Michael Nutter will open the event at noon on Monday, Dec. 6. Other keynotes include Nancy Stoner, deputy assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water, and Vivian Chang, director of state and local initiatives, Green for All, to discuss how best practices in green infrastructure can ensure high quality jobs and equitable access to new opportunities.

This event is supported in part by a grant from the William Penn Foundation. In addition, the event is being sponsored by CDM, the Philadelphia Water Department, Greeley and Hansen, Penn Institute for Urban Research, and the Wharton School’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership.

Visit https://bit.ly/uwslc for a detailed agenda and registration information.