Sustainable Cities – Green Urbanism Down Under
Thursday April 2nd 2009
The East Melbourne Library
Peter Newman and Tim Beatley have collaborated on two new books. They will speak about them together in the context of the global financial crash. How do we begin to respond to this and at the same time participate in making our world safe from damaging climate change and the looming peak in world oil production which sparked the crash after a tripling in oil prices last year. Politicians are beginning to see that the next economy must be green and hence Obama for example has $150 billion in his stimulus package for green economy innovations such as smart grids, electric vehicles and transit, renewables and energy efficiency. Can Australia compete in this new green economy? Peter and Tim will report on why they think we can.
SPEAKERS:
Professor Timothy Beatley - Resilient Cities and the New Planning Agenda
Timothy Beatley is Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the University of Virginia. His books include Green Urbanism (Island Press, 2000) and Ecology of Place (Island Press, 1997). Professor Beatley has written 13 books on the subject of cities, planning and policy and is considered one of America’s finest thinkers within the area of sustainability. His new book Green Urbanism Down Under was written after an extensive tour of Australian cities and provides perspectives on how Australian innovations in sustainability at a local and regional level can be applied in American cities and regions.
Professor Peter Newman - Resilient Cities and the New Planning Agenda
Peter Newman is Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University in Western Australia and Director of the CUSP Institute. He is the author of Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence (Island Press, 1999), Cities as Sustainable Ecosystems and Resilient Cities (Island Press, 2008) and the new book Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change (Island Press 2008). Professor Newman is internationally recognized as one of the world’s leaders in sustainability. He has written 8 books on the subject of sustainability, transport planning and cities and well over 200 refereed journal articles. He is a member of the Board of Infrastructure Australia which is delivering $20 billion of infrastructure to Australian cities and regions using a new sustainability based approach.
Professor Rob Adams AM - Sustainable Initiatives in the City of Melbourne
Rob Adams is the Director of City Design & Urban Environment for the City of Melbourne.