Sustainable Cities Conference

Posted by on April 16, 2004

http://www.global-community.org/cgi/gc/200407/index.html?id=vnmbSmQa

The Challenge
Cities, towns, regions, and states all over the world are struggling to make ends meet. They are being asked to provide more services at the same time revenues are falling, but the prices for energy, health care, and insurance are going up. Communities need strategies that are sustainable, strategies that will increase their capacity to continue to meet all their needs ? for economic security, social services, good governance, and environmental health.

Sustainable Development is no longer an academic exercise or a debate that is limited to improving environmental conditions. It?s the central question for all of our communities today.

The Response
Communities need to come together to share their experiences, to learn from each other, and to find the common ground among the diverse issues they face. In this conference, examples from many cities will demonstrate how to use a participatory approach and how to apply vision, principles, and criteria that shape effective strategies. It is a working conference, where time will be dedicated to in-depth action planning, so that community leaders can come away with concrete ideas for moving forward. Communities from around the world will be invited to participate in the conference; and people who respond to this call for presentations will help set the agenda.