Sustainable Cities

Conference about efficient, liveable and sustainable cities

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This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

Today cities consume an estimated 75 percent of the world’s energy, and emit more than 80 percent of greenhouse gases. By the year 2050 approximately 75 percent of the world’s population are expected to be residing in megacities. With an estimated increase of the global population to nine billion, the future cities of the world face great challenges.

future-cities-konf2013

This is the focus of a ‘Future Cities’ conference to be held at the Danish parliament in Copenhagen on 7 November 2013 at 12am–5pm. The conference will cover topics such as the green cities of Europe, the intelligent energy-grid and megacities future use of big data as smart cities.

One of the speakers is Claus Bjørn Billehøj who works for the City of Copenhagen to insure sustainable, green growth and realise Copenhagen’s ambition of becoming the world’s first carbon neutral capital by 2025.

The conference is free and open, but registration is mandatory due to security requirements. It is organised by The International Committee of Radikale Venstre.

» More information: futurecities2013.dk

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
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Artists’ Plans for Sustainability – June 5th at Warwick Arts Centre

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Wednesday 5th June 2-4.30pm

beuysimageOne of the Creative Spaces’ research focuses has been the role of the arts and artists in developing sustainable cities. Following our curiosity, we would like to take the opportunity of Mead Gallery’sexhibition “Artists’ Plans for Sustainability” to invite three artists to give 15-minute presentations of their work. This will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Warwick academics, addressing the question of:

‘The Role of Art in Developing the Sustainable City’

Visitors attending the roundtable will have the opportunity to comment or ask questions.

The event is free but places are limited, so please reserve a place in advance by phoning Warwick Arts Centre box office: 024 76524524.

Artists:

  • Nils Norman, Ion Sørvin (N55) and Carolyn Deby (sirenscrossing)

Academics:

  • Dr Nicolas Whybrow (chair, Theatre and Performance Studies)
  • Dr Cath Lambert (Sociology)
  • Dr Jonathan Vickery (Cultural Policy Studies)
  • Dr Ria Dunkley (IATL and Cardiff University Sustainable Places Institute)
  • Dr Susan Haedicke (Theatre and Performance Studies)
  • Nese Tosun (PhD candidate, Theatre and Performance Studies)

Creative Spaces is a network member of the AHRC-funded ‘Making Sense of
Sustainability’ arts and social sciences collaboration based at Cardiff
University.(PDF Document)

Creative Spaces Research at the moment focuses on two main areas:

The Role of the Arts in Developing Sustainable Cities

For Rosalyn Deutsche urban space is not only socially-produced but agonistic. Thus, the practices of urban societies – that which its various constituencies do or are allowed to do – defines or creates the space of the city, and such space is dependent for its very condition of existence on that which is produced by ‘conflicting interests’. As Henri Lefebvre puts it with regard to the abstract space of modernism and capital: ‘Inasmuch as [such space] tends towards homogeneity, towards the elimination of existing differences or peculiarities, a new space cannot be born (produced) unless it accentuates differences’ (1991: 52).

Read more (PDF) >  (PDF Document)

Venice and Sustainability

The city of Venice conveys an impression of sinking. It is known to be doing so literally – some twenty-three centimetres in the last century – with the fabric and foundations of buildings gradually dissolving and the seasonal floods of the acqua alta on the increase, whilst figuratively the sheer weight of tourists – estimated at 16.5 million annually – can be said to be forcing the city down and its citizens to ‘jump ship’ in a desperate bid to save their futures.

Read more (PDF) > (PDF Document)

Minutes of the previous meetings are available here:

24.10.2012 (PDF Document)

30.01.2013 (PDF Document)

CURATING CITIES: SYDNEY TO COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE

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Drawing on case studies from around the world, the Curating Cities project assesses the ongoing and potential contribution of public art to eco-sustainable development and the benefits to Sydney and cities in general.  The project provides a rubric for public art in relation to the fundamental domains of sustainable planning: energy, water, food and waste.

A vital part of the project, the Curating Cities: Sydney to Copenhagen Conference will address the demands on the cultural sector in the face of climate change; namely the need to develop sustainable cities and raise questions about the role of public art in urban ecology. Bringing together artists, designers, curators, educators and creative thinkers the conference will propose new strategies of change toward the fundamentals of urban sustainability.

The conference organized by the National Institute for Experimental Arts, UNSW in association with the City of Sydney, the Danish Arts Agency and the Visual Arts and Design Educators Association. The conference will be opened by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen. For more details and full list of speakers please visit http://curatingcities.org/conferences/curating-cities-sydney-copenhagen

CURATING CITIES: SYDNEY TO COPENHAGEN EXHIBITION

The Curating Cities: Sydney to Copenhagen Conference is held in conjunction with a keynote exhibition that highlights the fundamentals of sustainability: carbon reduction, consumption, and food production. The exhibition (17 Nov – 18 Dec 2011) will be a showcase five influential projects that evoke the city as part of an ecology affected by human action. For more info please visit http://curatingcities.org/exhibitions/curating-cities-sydney-copenhagen

Our project website is: www.curatingcities.org.

GSD Research Centers: The Mission of the Zofnass Program for Infrastructure Sustainability

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Attendees may receive ASLA and AICP professional credits

The Mission of the Zofnass Program for Infrastructure Sustainability at Harvard University Graduate School of Design is to support the development, distribution, and adoption of an independent, third-party benchmark for the sustainability of infrastructure and large-scale projects. This conference marks the release of the alpha version of the Zofnass Rating System, which has been developed in collaboration with the engineering industry and academic experts.

The conference will identify many challenges of sustainability, including the need for infrastructure rehabilitation in developed countries. Through the introduction of the Zofnass Rating System, sustainability metrics will be discussed as well as the branding of sustainability through the adoption of certification and rating systems. Industry experts, along with government officials from major U.S. and international cities, will address the specific challenges of sustainability for infrastructure projects of varying types. Analysis of existing strategies and case studies on sustainable cities will enable us to ask how the planning, design, construction, finance, and operation of infrastructure can contribute to a more sustainable future.

Conference Program

Conference Registration

Free for Current Harvard Community and Public Agency/Government Officials.

$50 Non-Harvard Students & GSD Alumni.

$100 Academic and Non-Profit Employees.

$250 Industry Professionals

Call For Papers for Special Issue on Culture and Sustainable Communities

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Culture and Local Governance / Culture et Gouvernance Locale
Deadline for submission of papers: May 1, 2010

Guest Editors: Nancy Duxbury (Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal) and M. Sharon Jeannotte (Centre on Governance, University of Ottawa, Canada)

In the face of growing environmental and economic urgencies, issues of sustainability and resiliency are moving to the forefront of planning, policy, and programs in cities and communities of all sizes. City planning paradigms are mutating from a focus on building ‘creative cities’ to that of achieving ‘sustainable cities.’ Internationally, this shift is evident among local governments adopting sustainability goals for towns, cities, and regions; creating sustainable community plans; and implementing community projects related to ‘sustainable development.’ Yet cultural considerations, while recognized in urban and community planning contexts, are not integrated into sustainability planning in a widespread way.

Where are cultural considerations in this new paradigm/framework? How might culture be incorporated and situated within sustainability planning and related initiatives? How should cultural planning adapt to this increasingly dominant paradigm and context?

Potential contributors are invited to submit an article (maximum 5,000 words) by May 1, 2010 to Nancy Duxbury at duxbury@ces.uc.pt.

Details: www.ces.uc.pt/cesfct/nd/CFP_Culture_and_Local_Governance.pdf

Nancy Duxbury, PhD
Researcher
Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES) | Centre for Social Studies
Associate Laboratory, School of Economics
University of Coimbra
Coimbra, Portugal
duxbury@ces.uc.pt