Start Date

14-2-2022 3:45 PM

End Date

14-2-2022 5:00 PM

Access Type

Open Access

Abstract

The 20th century in the USA was characterized, among other things, by historic national movements: feminism and women's suffrage; the labor movement; civil rights; the peace movement; and the environment. Indeed, the highly pronounced trends today in urban areas of all sizes around the country of a commitment to green our architecture while expanding public housing, conserve energy, further develop renewable energy resources, green public and private transportation, recover recyclable materials from the waste stream, expand parks and open space, advance public transportation, democratize food security, make public education and health care more comprehensive, improve urban air quality, and more wisely manage water resources demonstrate that the social justice and environmental movements have morphed into something that is institutionalized on a once unimagined scale. Urban governments now have a "sustainability agenda." That took collective action. Where is this movement going today? What are the lessons we can learn from it? What are the challenges it faces? What are some of the metrics we might use to measure progress? What are some of the established and emerging best practices being adopted by urban governments? Surely there are many worthy manifestations of these trends beyond our borders but due to time limitations this discussion will remain focused on our domestic scene as it attempts to address these questions.

Biography

H. James ("Jim") Quigley, Jr., Ph.D., retired in 2018 from his role as Director of Environmental Policy and Design in the Sustainability Studies Program of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University of the State University of New York after three decades in academia. He is currently an Adjunct Instructor in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program at the School of Social Ecology of the University of California Irvine.

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Feb 14th, 3:45 PM Feb 14th, 5:00 PM

America's Urban Sustainability Agenda: Advancing a Climate of Hope

The 20th century in the USA was characterized, among other things, by historic national movements: feminism and women's suffrage; the labor movement; civil rights; the peace movement; and the environment. Indeed, the highly pronounced trends today in urban areas of all sizes around the country of a commitment to green our architecture while expanding public housing, conserve energy, further develop renewable energy resources, green public and private transportation, recover recyclable materials from the waste stream, expand parks and open space, advance public transportation, democratize food security, make public education and health care more comprehensive, improve urban air quality, and more wisely manage water resources demonstrate that the social justice and environmental movements have morphed into something that is institutionalized on a once unimagined scale. Urban governments now have a "sustainability agenda." That took collective action. Where is this movement going today? What are the lessons we can learn from it? What are the challenges it faces? What are some of the metrics we might use to measure progress? What are some of the established and emerging best practices being adopted by urban governments? Surely there are many worthy manifestations of these trends beyond our borders but due to time limitations this discussion will remain focused on our domestic scene as it attempts to address these questions.