Greetings,

In five months, Ecocity World Summit (ECWS) will mark its Middle East debut, and has made its preliminary program available highlighting key speakers including H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi; Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar City; and Lang Ng, CEO, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, among other visionary experts who will share their knowledge at the event.

The Summit's program contains plenary and breakout sessions around key environmental topics, including Ingredients of an Ecocity, The Ecocity as Urban Technology, and "Eco"nomics of Ecocities. The City Form and Resource Flows Workshop, and the Sustainable Urban Indicators and Frameworks Roundtable Workshop are also part of ECWS's dedicated workshops, and the Summit will further feature side events, field trips and optional weekend excursions.

How ecologically healthy is your city, town, village, or neighborhood? How can cities and citizens maximize resilience while responding to critical risk factors for climate change and natural disasters? How do cities concurrently work with a network of cities around the world taking action to restore planetary boundaries to safe and stable conditions?

Finding the answers to these questions and taking actions towards building an ecologically restorative human civilization is the greatest challenge of our time.

I encourage you to benefit from the early ECWS registration discount available until 30 June 2015. http://www.ecocityworldsummit.com/register

As we build, so shall we live,

Kirstin Miller, Executive Director

Keeper of the International Ecocity Conference Series, Ecocity Builders is a non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping cities, towns and villages for long-term health of human and natural systems.

Ecocity Builders

339 15th Street, Suite 208

Oakland CA 94612 USA

www.ecocitybuilders.org

www.ecocitystandards.org

REGISTRATION IS OPEN AT WWW.ECOCITYWORLDSUMIT.COM

Defining the sustainable local government
by Dr. Costis Toregas, The George Washington University

There is a big increase in the interest that global organizations such as the World Bank and the United nations are placing on the "sub national" scale - in other words primarily counties and cities. It is clear that if we are to move on some of the big problems that confront humanity - from hunger to poverty, housing and health - it can only be done when we engage our governance structures at the level closest to the people. And that would be the local government one. And in order to ensure that this interest in fact translates into beneficial change, administrators must make sure that they have a seat at the table and a strong voice in shaping the articulation of the issues.

A big buzz word in the current discussions regarding cities and counties is "sustainable" or "resilient". While different, they both tend to define a similar future for our residents: to live in an environment that preserves resources for future generations, that can survive the onslaught of attacks from natural and man-make cases and can preserve the essential elements of pleasant, safe and productive life for its residents. In a way, it defines an ideal city in which to live, work and enjoy the benefits of life.

Doxiadis at his Athens office, showing a plan for Karachi

The search for an ideal city is not a new one. Costantinos Doxiadis, the wonderful planner of the 60s in his small treatise "Between Dystopia and Utopia" summarized efforts through the last 20 centuries to define such an ideal place "...J.V. Andrae proposed Christianopolis, Etienne Cabet his Icaria, Edward Bellamy his America, Le Corbusier his Ville Radieuse, Frank Lloyd Wright his Broadacres City, and Aldous Huxley his Island." At different times in history, we are drawn to imagine an ideal place that is in balance with nature and our own dreams. And so it is today, with our efforts to build a sustainable or resilient city.

Read more

Celebrate Urban Creeks!

20th Anniversary Party for Codornices Creek Daylighting Project

Saturday June 27, 2015 noon to 3:00pm

Join Ecocity Builders founder Richard Register, staff, and friends in celebrating nature in the city. All are welcome! Two blocks north of Gilman Street between 8th and 9th streets, along the Berkeley / Albany border. DIRECTIONS

~ Bring eats, drinks and good cheer!~

From Shangri-La to Baku and Back

By Richard Register, Founder, Ecocity Builders

Winding up my series, Part Three, on the recent conference "Toward a New Paradigm in Human Development" held in Baku, Azerbaijan, April 30, 2015

I picked up Lost Horizon at a small bookstore just before I left Kathmandu in 1995. The James Hilton yarn is famous for many in the Western World who never read it - or even heard of it - for introducing the timeless land of Shangri-La, a warm climate paradise sheltered behind the towering stone and ice teeth of the Himalaya mountains. Noting the book's small size and reasonable 275 pages and knowing its popular almost mythic status, I thought it was just the entertainment for my flight out of Nepal and back to the world of my everyday affairs.

Cover clip from James Hilton's Lost Horizon

It was night at the airport, no posted sign of when our plane was to leave, though my ticket said departure in 45 minutes. Lightning was rippling through the dark beyond the mountains to the south, the height of the Rockies in the US, and shimmering off the luminous wall of the Himalaya range to the north - 15,000 feet higher than the Rockies. Interment sheets of rain were swirling about. Not a good sign.

ECOCITY INSIGHTS

Remembering Ecocity Author and Activist Dr. Mike Carr (1942-2015)

by Jennie Moore, Director, Sustainable Development and Environmental Stewardship, British Colombia Institute of Technology

Mike Carr obtained his PhD in the study of Bioregionalism and Civil Society from the University of British Columbia's School of Community and Regional Planning in 1999. He studied under Professor Emeritus Dr. William Rees, co-founder of the ecological footprint concept, who describes Dr. Carr as "one of North America's foremost bioregional thinkers and advocates for a socially just and sustainable society." The university subsequently published Dr. Carr's dissertation as a book (Carr 2004).

However, Dr. Carr had also been an ecocity activist for many years before that. During the previous decade he was a founder of Vancouver's EcoCity Network and it was he who fostered the connection between Vancouver's efforts to green its city and the work of Richard Register, documented in Ecocity Berkeley (1987), to daylight Strawberry Creek and advance the concept of urban ecology generally.

British Colombia Institute of Technology School of Construction and the Environment is a Lead Sponsor of the International Ecocity Framework and Standards Initiative.

bcit logo

Car Free Journey: Reno Nevada
By Steve Atlas

Image courtesy of visitrenotahoe.com

In early 2014, we spotlighted Lake Tahoe. However, some of us may prefer a more city-like getaway nearby. This month, we will spotlight nearby Reno: Nevada's third largest city. Reno offers cultural attractions, biking and hiking trails, including one along the Truckee River, casinos, history, shopping, professional sports, and several special events you won't want to miss.. Best of all, downtown Reno is a convenient location to enjoy many of these attractions without needing to drive.

In this issue

:: Ecoccity World Summit

:: Defining the sustainable local government

:: Richard Register

:: Ecocity Insights

:: Car Free Journey: Reno, NV

Become a member of Ecocity Builders

Ecocity Builders members receive benefits including discounts to all Ecocity World Summits and access to special events. Membership is affordable and easy.

Become a member today and save!

Ecocity Builders' Events

June 2-5, Nantes, France
Velo-city 2015

ECB Board President Steven Bercu is representing Ecocity Builders at Velo-city 2015 - Cycling: Future Maker. The Velo-city conference series is largely regarded as the world reference in terms of urban cycling policies.

Learn more

June 8-9, Switzerland
IUCN World Environmental Hubs Program

ECB Executive Director Kirstin Miller will be joining the expert working group for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) World Environmental Hubs Program. The World Environmental Hubs is a global initiative by IUCN to establish a system for evaluating and certifying cities and regions which place environmental sustainability, biodiversity, and ecosystem services at the heart of urban and regional development. It aims to help subnational governments embrace nature based solutions and provide them with a platform for exchange and learning.

First meeting of the working group is June 8-9, Gland, Switzerland.

Learn more

June 12, London
International Conference: Tomorrow's City Today - prospects for standardizing sustainable urban development

ECB Board Member Rick Pruetz, Founder Richard Register and IEFS Core Adviser William Rees will be attending this international conference to review the recent proliferation of different types of eco-city frameworks around the world. It will include the launch of a report drawing on a three-year multi-centre programme of research, and presentations from a series of leading international policy-makers and practitioners.

Learn more

June 25, San Francisco
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Creative Ecosystem

ECB has been invited to join the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Creative Ecosystem, a community think tank that gathers Bay Area's thinkers, designers, entrepreneurs, community organizers, and artists to explore questions of ecology, art, and humanity.

The Ecology think tank will meet four times over the course of 2015-16. The first meeting is Thursday, June 25.

June 27, Berkeley/Albany
12 noon-3pm
Codornices Creek Daylighting 20th Anniversary Celebration & Potluck

Join us to celebrate 20 years of restored ecosystem at the lower Codornices Creek. Bring drinks and food to share, and relax in this urban oasis.

Location

Founded in 1992, Ecocity Builders is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reshaping cities for the long-term health of human and natural systems.

www.ecocitybuilders.org

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PRINCIPAL SPONSOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL ECOCITY FRAMEWORK AND STANDARDS

Additional Partners and Sponsors

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U.S. Bikeshare Programs on the Rise

By Haley Jordan, Ecocities Emerging Contributor

Philly Bike Share

Creating more walkable and bikeable neighborhoods means fewer cars on the road, easier access to public transportation, and healthier communities-all important ecocity goals. Metropolitan areas around the world are working to encourage bicycle use by taking actions such as increasing cycling-specific infrastructure and establishing bike sharing programs.

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