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Held September 27–Habitat 3 and the New Urban Agenda: Global Negotiations, Local Implications, UC Berkeley, 112 Wurster Hall, Berkeley, 6:00-7:30 pm. The UCB IURD and APA California Norther Sustainability Committee co-hosted a panel discussion on the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat 3) held from October 17-20 in Quito, Ecuador. /1/  The Conference

Biophilia – The DNA for Resilient, Sustainable, and Human 21st Century Cities   OR   Should Cities be “Green” with Nature? “We need nature in our lives more than ever today, and as more of us are living in cities it must be urban nature. Biophilic Cities are cities that contain abundant nature; they are

Sustainable new build: Hammarby Sjöstad is Stockholm’s largest urban construction project. The “Hammarby model” has become a tool for environmentally friendly city development around the world. When completed in 2017, 26,000 people will be living here in 11,500 apartments. The district has been planned using an eco-cycle approach and is intended to showcase ecological and environmentally sensitive construction and

Some References of some of the leading pioneers: Biophilic Cities Network (BCN) Home Page: http://biophiliccities.org Stephen Kellert Yale Bio: https://environment.yale.edu/profile/kellert/ See also his recent book Birthright-People in Nature in the Modern World, which is exceptional (link to NPR interview here: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/20/169523283/connectingwithnature-to-reclaim-our-natural-birthright Recording of Kellert’s Keynote to the Biophilic Cities network Launch Event: http://biophiliccities.org/launch/ (includes link

The APA’s Sustainable Communities Division (SCD) launched its sustainability leadership program, the Sustainability Champion (SC) program after nominations were made and champions were selected in August-September, 2014. Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, ISSP-SA, of the APA California Northern Section was selected as one of the champions and is looking forward to working with the California Chapter Board

More resources on the APA Sustainable Communities Division web site here. There is also a Sustainable Communities Division Group Linked In discussion here. A list or key references and links can be found here (forthcoming July 16th). SHORT Description.  Pivoting from a net negative to net positive trajectory soon is our current sustainability planning challenge.