Wendy Pulling at Day 2

Director of Environmental Policy for PG&E Wendy Pulling speaks at day 2 of the Ecocity World Summit.

Jaime Lerner at Day 3

Jaime Lerner, former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil

If there is a Mr. Ecocity anywhere on the planet, it is without question our keynote speaker and former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil. Lerner is the architect planner who led the work to transform his city, starting in 1972, into a world model of ecological and social policies, designs and built projects. The chief architect of the Curitiba Master Plan, he was appointed mayor during Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1971. When the nation returned to democracy, he was elected to two more terms. During his 12 years in office, Lerner devised many of Curitiba’s innovative, inexpensive solutions to city problems. For example, to combat Curitiba’s growing litter problem, he created more incentives for recycling, including exchanging bottles, cans and other recyclables for food. Lerner believed in implementing plans swiftly — in just 72 hours, he converted several blocks of the downtown into Brazil’s first pedestrian mall. Lerner’s track record in Curitiba helped him gain the trust and confidence he needed to attain the governorship of his State of Parana from 1994 to 2002. Today, Lerner consults with cities on their plans for addressing long-term growth and sustainability. At the Ecocity World Summit he will be describing his new ideas for strategic intervention and course-correction in city development he calls “urban acupuncture.”

In this conference, Mr. Jaime Lerner will approach what in his views are the main issues concerning cities nowadays and their future perspectives, portraying them as important solidarity refuges.  Strongly supporte by concrete examples, it will focus on the role they plan in contemporary society, enhancing the meaning of design both in structuring urban growth and in the development project of a city, a state, a country.  It will also target mobility – stressing the importance  of public transportation – sustainability and identity as key areas for intervention.  The concept of “Urban Acupuncture” as a strategy to achieve effective results in the qualification of the urban environment will also be explored.

Jaime Lerner: www.jaimelerner.com

Rusong Wang at Day 3

Rusong Wang, President, Ecological Society of China, co-convener, Ecocity World Summit

Wang Rusong is head of the Center for Ecological and Environmental Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Science and has been one of the pioneering leaders in ecological city theory and support of those practicing the sciences and arts of ecocity building. He is one of the founders of the Ecology Society of China he has been one of the most accomplished ecologists and champion of solutions in waste treatment and pollution abatement for the health delivery systems in China.  Internationally he is known as one of the founders of SCOPE - the Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment.  Rusong has convened many conferences for SCOPET kindred to our International Ecocity Conferences. He expounds a theory based on ancient Chinese tradition and modern science, with a growing emphasis on remapping cities for reshaping them for minimum energy demand and maximum ecodiversity.  He is also a member of the Peoples Congress of China.

Ecological Society of China: www.rcees.ac.cn/dse/en/team

Interview: Mathis Wackernagel

 

Recently featured Ecocity presenter Mathis Wackernagel was interviewed on Treehugger Radio last year, and discussed his Ecological Footprint project.

You can listen here:

Mathis Wackernagel on Treehugger Radio

Thanks, Treehugger!

Liz Walker Radio Interview

Deborah and Spencer Lindsay of Tomorrow Matters are featuring a series of Ecocity presenters and speakers, and this week we have Liz Walker. We featured Liz Walker a couple of weeks ago and talked about her Ithaca, NY project the Ecovillage, one of the oldest and most successful projects we’ve featured here.

Liz Walker on Tomorrow Matters

Thanks to the good folks at Tomorrow Matters for this great interview!