Join us for a free screening of the award-winning film Go Ganges!. This film follows adventure travelers Josh Thomas and J.J. Kelley as they travel down the entire 1,500-mile length of India's most sacred river, from its source in the Himalayas, to where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. Go Ganges! examines the paradox of why a river that one-third of the world's population worships as a god is also the planet's most polluted body of water.

View the trailer.

This one-night showing is free, but we encourage you to support Goodwill of Central Arizona with a gently used clothing donation. Free parking is available at the Brickyard Parking Garage. Bring your ticket and the theater will validate.

Thursday, June 20, 2013
6:30 p.m. doors open
7:00 p.m. showtime
Valley Art Theater
509 S. Mill Ave.
Tempe, AZ

Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema

• Arizona District 9

Brig. Gen. John Adams

• Army, USA, retired
• Deputy U.S. Military Representative, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Lt. Col. Joe Knott

• Army National Guard, retired
• ASU School of Sustainability Doctoral Candidate

Capt. Brett Hunt

• Army, USA, retired
• Member, Operation Free, The Truman National Security Project

The U.S. Department of Defense is the world's largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels. The Pentagon recognizes both its dependence on fossil fuels for operations and changes in the earth’s atmosphere as national security threats. Here in Arizona, the Air Force has already installed 30 MW of solar power on Luke and Davis Monthan Air Force bases to help those installations sustain themselves if the civilian power grid fails due to a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

Iraq War veteran and Operation Free supporter Capt. Brett Hunt (USA, ret.) will moderate a lively discussion with notable leaders and decision-makers engaged in the issue of energy and national security. Panelists are: Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, who represents Arizona’s 9th Congressional District; Brig. Gen. John Adams (USA, ret.), who has a storied 30-year military career that concluded at NATO; and Lt. Col. Joe Knott (USA, ret.), who served as the National Guard’s Sustainability and Energy program manager before he became a doctoral candidate at Arizona State University's School of Sustainability.

Video

Energy and National Security

Luis Farías

• Senior Vice President for Energy and Sustainability, CEMEX

In this talk, Farías, in charge of global building supplies company, CEMEX's sustainability, will discuss Mexico's energy structure and the conditions needed to grow the country's energy supply.

After obtaining his doctorate in metallurgy from Imperial College, Farías spent over 30 years in the energy field in the steel and cement industries. For the last 10 years, he has been actively involved in developing small- and large-scale renewable energy projects around the world.

Friday, May 31, 2013
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Wrigley Hall, Room 481
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(light refreshments will be provided)

Writers: ASU's Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives' Sustainability Solutions Festival and Creative Nonfiction magazine are looking for remarkable true stories that illuminate and present the human side of environmental, economic, ethical, and/or social challenges related to the state of the planet and our future. We welcome personal essays or stories about extraordinary individuals or communities, and stories about innovative solutions to sustainability. Whatever the subject, we want to hear about it in an essay that blends facts and research with narrative—employing scenes, descriptions, etc.

All essays submitted will be considered for publication in a special “Human Face of Sustainability” issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine. One writer will be awarded the $10,000 Walton Sustainability Solutions Best Creative Nonfiction Essay Award.

Find out more and enter »

Artists: The Sustainability Solutions Festival and Creative Nonfiction are also looking for artists to illustrate the Winter 2014 issue of Creative Nonfiction #51: The Human Face of Sustainability. We will consider various media (e.g. line drawings, watercolor, collage); all styles of interpretation, providing they are well suited to a print format, are welcomed. The artist chosen will receive $3,500 from the Sustainability Solutions Festival for their work and will be profiled prominently for at least three months on Creative Nonfiction’s website. A special event will be hosted by ASU's Global Institute of Sustainability in 2014; the prize-winning artist will be honored at the event and their art will be displayed.

Find out more and enter »

Deadline for entries: Friday, May 31, 2013

Anna Barker

• Professor and Director, Transformative Healthcare Networks
• Co-Director, Complex Adaptive Systems Network

Denise Meridith

• CEO/President, Denise Meridith Consultants, Inc.

How will we treat diseases in the future? Today, many people have access to effective treatment for medical conditions. But as technology (and costs) rise, the potential for some people to lose access also increases. How can we ensure equitable distribution of new treatments? This café will focus on the equity and equality in the distribution of health services enabled by future technology.

Science Cafés are free, informal discussions that bring together members of the community and university faculty to discuss how science and technology can change the future.

Sponsored by ASU's Center for Nanotechnology in Society, the Arizona Science Center, and ASU's Project Humanities.

Friday, May 17, 2013
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Arizona Science Center
600 E Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), a program of Society for Science & the Public, the world's largest international pre-college science competition, is coming to Phoenix.

The premier global science competition for students in grades 9–12 provides an annual forum for more than 1,500 high school students from 70 countries, regions, and territories to display their independent research.

Learn more »

Become a judge »

Sunday, May 12 - Friday, May 17, 2013
Phoenix Convention Center
100 N. Third St.
Phoenix, AZ 85004

The spring 2013 graduation ceremony for the School of Sustainability will be held in ASU Gammage. Contact schoolofsustainability@asu.edu for more information.

A congratulatory reception for our graduating students and their families immediately follows the ceremony. Please join us in Wrigley Hall.

Thursday, May 9, 2013
9:00 a.m.
Gammage Auditorium

Join us at The Tavern on Mill in Tempe as we welcome our newest graduates to life as alumni. Celebrate with free appetizers, cocktails, and cake.

This event is open to graduating students (undergraduate and graduate), their families, School of Sustainability faculty, staff, and alumni.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
The Tavern on Mill
404 South Mill Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281

Vince Matthews

• Director, Colorado Geological Survey (Retired)

Join us for a lunchtime conversation at the intersection of geology, sustainability, and art—in the midst of the exhibition, Cu29: Mining for You.

Ongoing demands for mineral resources in the U.S., coupled with exploding economies in India and China, are straining energy and mineral resources in unprecedented and unnerving ways. Colorado’s former state geologist Vince Matthews will offer a chilling presentation about our dwindling mineral resources.

After the presentation, Phoenix artist Matthew Moore and ASU geologist Steve Semken will join Matthews in a free-wheeling discussion. Moore will showcase the Cu29 exhibition, a collaboration with London artist Clare Patey, ASU faculty, and students. The exhibition centers on the endangered elements in the periodic table, specifically copper, a mineral at the core of Arizona’s history, economy, environment, and cultural life.

Co-sponsored by the ASU Art Museum. Limited free parking available at the Ceramics Research Center on the northeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street.

Video

Who’s Going to Get the Goodies Globally?

Reverend Doug Bland

• Pastor, Community Christian Church
• Co-Executive Director, Arizona Interfaith Power and Light

In this talk, Reverend Doug Bland will tell the story of Arizona Interfaith Power and Light and its effort to mobilize people of faith in Arizona to reduce the causes of global climate change through education, advocacy, action, and prayer.

As the Co-Executive Director of Arizona Interfaith Power and Light, Revered Bland's mission is to inspire and mobilize Arizona's faith communities—Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and others—to build an equitable and sustainable future for all.

Video

Is God Green? An Interfaith Response to Climate Change

Henry Foley

• Vice President for Research and Dean of The Graduate School, Penn State University

Foley oversees Penn State’s research enterprise and has served as director of the Center for Academic Excellence in Intelligence Studies, dean of College of Information Sciences and Technology, and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. His extensive industrial experience includes working for the American Cyanamid Company and consulting with many others. Foley has authored over 100 papers, holds nearly 20 patents and, in February 2011, became the executive director of the Energy Efficient Buildings (EEB) HUB through the US Department of Energy.

In this talk, Foley will discuss successes at the EEB Hub (a collaboration of major research universities, industrial firms, and national labs) and the potential of a mini-EEB Hub at Arizona State University.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Wrigley Hall, Room 102
Arizona State University at the Tempe campus
(lunch will be provided)

Mike Pasqualetti

• Senior Sustainability Scientist, ASU Global Institute of Sustainability
• Professor, ASU School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning

Grant Smedley

• Manager, Environmental Policy and Innovation, Salt River Project

Stephen B. Etsitty

• Executive Director, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency

Vincent Yazzie

• Community Member

Brandon Loomis

• Moderator
• Environmental Reporter, Arizona Republic

The Navajo Generating Station (NGS), the largest coal-fired power plant in the West, provides electrical power to customers in three states and for pumping Colorado River water for the Central Arizona Project (CAP), which delivers water to central and southern Arizona. Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the 40 year-old plant, Arizona's largest single source of carbon pollution, needs to update its pollution controls.

The NGS is at a critical stage of its lifespan, with the U.S. EPA, CAP, the Salt River Project, the Navajo Nation, as well as the state governments of Arizona, California, and Nevada, in negotiations about its future.

Join us for a conversation with representatives from the Navajo region, energy field, and policy realm on the complex web of sustainability issues, ranging from environmental protection, social and environmental justice, economic development, as well as water and energy policy, both regional and federal.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Old Main, Carson Ballroom
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(lunch will be provided)

It's that time again! Time to celebrate everything great about the Earth, sustainability, and ASU! Feel free to join in on the festivities below. You can live tweet us during events using @ASUGreen and #EarthMonth2013.

Tempe Campus

Wednesday, April 17
Bike to Work Day
6:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m., participating Tempe locations
Learn more

Thursday, April 18
Free Film Screening: A Place at the Table
6:30 p.m. doors open, Valley Art Theater
Learn more and RSVP

Friday, April 19 - Saturday, April 20
Going Native: Savouring the Southwest Concert and Workshop
Community Christian Church
Learn more

Friday, April 19
ASU Book Arts Collective's Earth Day Letterpress Keepsake
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., ASU School of Arts Letterpress Studio, Room 45
Learn more

Saturday, April 20
Zero Waste Day
7:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Tempe Fire Training Facility
Learn more

Saturday, April 20
SOLS Takes a Hike
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch
Learn more

Monday, April 22
Wrigley Lecture Series: Naomi Oreskes
Who is Responsible for Climate Change?
4:00 - 5:30 p.m., Old Main, Carson Ballroom
Reception to follow
Learn more and RSVP

Monday, April 22
Free Film Screening: Bidder 70
6:00 p.m., Cottonwood Hall, Room 101
Learn more and RSVP

Tuesday, April 23
Farmers Market @ the ASU Tempe Campus
9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Orange Mall, west of the Memorial Union fountain

Wednesday, April 24
School of Sustainability Open House and Poster Session
Wrigley Hall, Room 102

Monday, April 29
Sustainability Series: Richard Morrison
Ethics and Sustainable Practices
12:00 - 1:30 p.m., Wrigley Hall, Room 481
Lunch will be provided
Learn more and RSVP

Through Friday, May 31
Free Exhibit: Looking for the Future in the Past: Archaeology's Long-Term View
Monday-Friday, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., School of Human Evolution and Social Change Building
Learn more

Polytechnic Campus

Thursday, April 11
Earth Day of Service
4:30 - 6:30 p.m., House of Refuge, West Desert Village
Students and community volunteers are invited to lend a helping hand to improve the community garden at the House of Refuge. Big kids and little kids will be able to test their knowledge about sustainability by playing recycling games as well as participating in a water tasting event.

Saturday, April 13
Polytechnic Date Palm Workshop
8:00 a.m., ASU Date Palm Germplasm Grove, ASU Polytechnic Campus, 7127 E. Upton Ave, Mesa, 85212.
Learn how to work your backyard date palms for a delicious harvest, care for your palms year-round, remove offshoots, and propagate new palms. Guest speaker Arthur Futterman of Futterman Farms, Indio, CA.
Sign up for this workshop here or call 480-268-4165.

Saturday, April 27
Polytechnic Date Palm Workshop
8:00 a.m., ASU Date Palm Germplasm Grove, ASU Polytechnic Campus, 7127 E. Upton Ave, Mesa, 85212.
Learn how to work your backyard date palms for a delicious harvest, care for your palms year-round, remove offshoots, and propagate new palms. Guest speaker Arthur Futterman of Futterman Farms, Indio, CA.
Sign up for this workshop here or call 480-268-4165.

Richard Morrison

• Managing Member, Morrison Brothers Windmill Ranch, LLC
• Co-founder, ASU's Morrison Institute

In this talk, Richard Morrison will describe his experience in both managing business enterprises and counseling professional clients with reference to ethical standards and, specifically, what he calls a “standard of public virtue.” He will argue that a commitment to sustainable business practices is necessary for the common good.

Morrison received his law degree from the University of Houston in 1977. He is an attorney, a partner in several farming and ranching businesses, and an Episcopal priest, having received a master's from the San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1991. He chairs the advisory board of ASU’s Morrison Institute, which he co-founded in response to Arizona’s growing need for objective research on public-policy issues.

In 2011, Morrison received an honorary degree from the University of Arizona for his legal and professional contributions to natural-resources leadership, resolution of Indian water rights claims, and infusion of ethical considerations into managing and conserving natural resources.

Video

Ethics and Sustainable Practices

Join us as Wrigley Hall opens its doors for a showcase of real-world learning.

Students will present their projects, posters, and elevator speeches. Faculty will present their research and course offerings. Advising staff will present information about degrees and programs in sustainability.

The day's events will include a poster session; short lectures; formal discussions; video presentations; several opportunities to mingle with faculty, students, and project partners; and refreshments throughout the day. RSVP Now.

10:00 - 12:00 Student Project and Poster Presentations, Room 102
11:00 - 11:45 Information Session for Prospective Undergraduate Students, Room 323
11:00 - 11:45 Information Session for Prospective Graduate Students, Room 401
12:00 - 1:30 Faculty-Student Mixer, Room 481
2:00 - 3:00 Conversation for Action: The Sustainability Revolution in Education, Room 481
3:00 - 4:00 Conversation for Action: Sustainability Project Design and Management, Room 481
4:00 - 4:45 Information Session for Prospective Undergraduate Students, Room 323
4:00 - 4:45 Information Session for Prospective Graduate Students, Room 401
4:30 - 5:45 Student Project and Poster Presentations, Room 102

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
10:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.
Wrigley Hall, 800 S. Cady Mall, Tempe

John Nederstigt

• Alderman for the Municipality of Haarlemmemeer, The Netherlands

Arthur van Dijk

• Alderman for the Municipality of Haarlemmemeer, The Netherlands

The Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, which borders Amsterdam and includes Schiphol Airport, the principal international airport of the Netherlands, has established a reputation as a leading international place for corporations to establish their businesses. Haarlemmermeer has developed a unique approach to sustainability that includes the Netherlands’ first cradle-to-cradle business development designed by William McDonough.

Aldermen John Nederstigt and Arthur van Dijk are ambassadors for a sustainable economy and society in the greater Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. In this talk, they will describe how their municipality is becoming the Dutch front-runner in sustainable innovation and economic development.

Video

Haarlemmermeer: The Heart of the Netherlands’ Sustainable Region

Celebrate Earth Day with a free screening of the award-winning film Bidder 70. The film follows Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student who, on December 19, 2008, in an act of civil disobedience, derailed the outgoing Bush administration’s Bureau of Land Management oil and gas auction. As bidder number 70, DeChristopher bid $1.8 million and won 22,000 pristine acres surrounding Utah’s national parks. He had no intention to pay or drill.

In February 2009, the new Obama administration agreed the land should be safeguarded and invalidated the entire auction. Nevertheless, DeChristopher was indicted on two federal felonies with penalties of up to 10 years in prison. A personal portrait, BIDDER 70 illuminates how the choices we make determine our future and the world in which we live.

Following the screening, DeChristopher, a former Arizona State University student, will participate in a live-video chat with audiences from coast to coast on his first full day of freedom—Earth Day!

Sponsored by the Arizona Student Environmental Coalition.

Monday, April 22, 2013
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Cottonwood Hall, Room 101
Barrett, The Honors College
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(dinner will be provided)

Naomi Oreskes

• Science Historian and Author
• Professor, University of California, San Diego Department of History
• Adjunct Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Naomi Oreskes has a long-standing interest in understanding the establishment of scientific consensus and the role and character of scientific dissent. For the past decade, she has primarily been interested in the problem of human-caused climate change. She has won numerous prizes, including the 2011 Climate Change Communicator of the Year.

Oreskes and co-author Erik Conway argue in their 2010 book, Merchants of Doubt, that some scientists with extensive political connections have run campaigns for over four decades denying well-established scientific knowledge about tobacco, acid rain, DDT, and, most importantly, climate change.

Video

Who is Responsible for Climate Change?

Put on your hiking shoes and join ASU’s School of Life Sciences (SOLS) for its 8th annual SOLS Takes a Hike event. This year is sure to be filled with family-friendly adventure of the kind that birds, snakes, and dragonflies might enjoy! This free event is open to the public and hosted at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch in Gilbert.

Spend the morning learning about birds, insects, reptiles, and mammals as scientists from SOLS lend their expertise and guide a series of interactive hikes. Explore the geology, plant life, water resources, and urban ecology of this beautiful preserve. Enjoy more than 4.5 miles of trails that weave through 110 acres including marshlands and native riparian areas.

Be sure to bring water, sunscreen, binoculars, and a hat, and wear comfortable walking shoes. Feel free to bring your own snack and come enjoy the morning.

For more information, contact Barb Hoffman at barb.hoffman@asu.edu or (480) 965-2705.

Saturday, April 20, 2013
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch
2757 E. Guadalupe Road
Gilbert, AZ, 85234

Braden Allenby

• Distinguished Sustainability Scientist, ASU Global Institute of Sustainability
• President's Professor and Lincoln Professor of Engineering and Ethics, ASU School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment

Peter de Marneffe

• Professor, ASU Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies

How might nanotechnology change the power dynamics of future cities? The word “power” can mean different things depending on context. It may simply mean electricity, or it may mean who has authority in a society. How do political power structures influence distribution of electricity? This café will wrestle with these two definitions of power, and will explore how they may be used interchangeably.

Science Cafés are free, informal discussions that bring together members of the community and university faculty to discuss how science and technology can change the future.

Sponsored by ASU's Center for Nanotechnology in Society, the Arizona Science Center, and ASU's Project Humanities.

Friday, April 19, 2013
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Arizona Science Center
600 E Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ

Mick Dalrymple

• Energize Phoenix, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability has compiled a book of many of the best ideas from across the nation tailored to grow energy efficiency in Arizona. Energize Phoenix is a three-year energy efficiency building upgrade program managed by the City of Phoenix and in partnership with Arizona State University and Arizona Public Service. The $25MM program is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program.

Get an early glance and provide feedback on our just-released Energy Efficiency Idea Guide. We want to hear from you about how to most efficiently take the lowest hanging fruit from idea to implementation!

The Guide

• Provides brief and non-technical EE solutions specific to Arizona’s unique economic, regulatory and political environment
• Adapted from successful policies, programs and ideas from across the country
• Intended for policymakers and stakeholders to spark ideas and discussions that lead to implementation

Mick Dalrymple manages the research work on the Energize Phoenix project. Dalrymple launched into the green building and sustainability movement in 2001 when he co-founded the Arizona Chapter of the US Green Building Council. He served two terms on the national board of USGBC and served on numerous committees and task forces over 11 years. His diverse background includes co-founding a.k.a. Green Environmental Building Supplies and a.k.a. Green Services, creating a green building television series that PBS sought to air nationwide, helping write ICC-700 the National Green Building Standard, and remodeling his own home to achieve a 75% energy use reduction. As a higher education lobbyist, he played a major role in creating a statewide financial aid system for university students and as an associate partner in a large internet consulting firm, he developed IT strategies for Fortune 100 clients.

Dalrymple, a produced feature film screenwriter, is a graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management’s MIM program and Arizona State University’s MBA program, and studied Electrical Engineering, Math and International Relations at the University of Arizona, graduating with High Distinction. The Business Journal of Phoenix named him Green Pioneer in 2009 and AZ Magazine named him one of the Valley of the Sun’s “most intriguing” people.

Hosted by the Arizona Energy Consortium

Friday, April 19, 2013
9:30-10:30 a.m.
Greenberg Traurig LLC
2375 E. Camelback Rd, #700
Phoenix, AZ 85016

Please bring parking ticket for validation.

This celebrated documentary film examines the issue of hunger in America through the lens of three people struggling with food insecurity. Their stories are interwoven with insights from experts including sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel, nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle, and activists like Witness to Hunger’s Mariana Chilton, Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, and Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges.

This moving film shows us how hunger poses serious economic, social, and cultural implications for our nation. Watch the trailer here.

Join a post-film discussion with The Urban Farm's Greg Peterson, Green Papillion's Debra Emmanuelle, the United Food Bank's Bob Evans, and St. Mary's Food Bank's Beverly Damore.

This one-night showing is free, but we encourage you to support the United Food Bank with a monetary or a non-perishable food donation.

Free parking is available at the Brickyard Parking Garage. Bring your ticket and the theater will validate.

Thursday, April 18, 2013
6:30 p.m. doors open
7:00 p.m. showtime
Valley Art Theater
509 S. Mill Ave.
Tempe, AZ

Mick Dalrymple

• Energize Phoenix, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability has compiled a book of many of the best ideas from across the nation tailored to grow energy efficiency in Arizona. Energize Phoenix is a three-year energy efficiency building upgrade program managed by the City of Phoenix and in partnership with Arizona State University and Arizona Public Service. The $25MM program is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program.

Get an early glance and provide feedback on our just-released Energy Efficiency Idea Guide. We want to hear from you about how to most efficiently take the lowest hanging fruit from idea to implementation!

The Guide

• Provides brief and non-technical EE solutions specific to Arizona’s unique economic, regulatory and political environment
• Adapted from successful policies, programs and ideas from across the country
• Intended for policymakers and stakeholders to spark ideas and discussions that lead to implementation

Mick Dalrymple manages the research work on the Energize Phoenix project. Dalrymple launched into the green building and sustainability movement in 2001 when he co-founded the Arizona Chapter of the US Green Building Council. He served two terms on the national board of USGBC and served on numerous committees and task forces over 11 years. His diverse background includes co-founding a.k.a. Green Environmental Building Supplies and a.k.a. Green Services, creating a green building television series that PBS sought to air nationwide, helping write ICC-700 the National Green Building Standard, and remodeling his own home to achieve a 75% energy use reduction. As a higher education lobbyist, he played a major role in creating a statewide financial aid system for university students and as an associate partner in a large internet consulting firm, he developed IT strategies for Fortune 100 clients.

Dalrymple, a produced feature film screenwriter, is a graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management’s MIM program and Arizona State University’s MBA program, and studied Electrical Engineering, Math and International Relations at the University of Arizona, graduating with High Distinction. The Business Journal of Phoenix named him Green Pioneer in 2009 and AZ Magazine named him one of the Valley of the Sun’s “most intriguing” people.

Hosted by Rogue Green

April 17, 2013
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Room 314, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
Arizona State University at the Downtown Phoenix campus

555 N. Central Ave, #314
Phoenix, AZ 85004

RSVP »

On April 17 from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., all bicycle riders who stop by one of the participating Bike to Work Day locations in Tempe will receive a free breakfast. The first 350 riders will receive free t-shirts. At 7:00 a.m., join Mayor Mark Mitchell along with members of the Tempe City Council on a bike ride.

Participating Bike to Work Day Locations:

Back East Bagels (northwest corner of Southern Avenue and McClintock Drive)
Berning’s Fine Jewelry (southwest corner of McClintock Drive and Warner Road)
IKEA (northwest corner of Warner Road and Priest Drive)
REI (Daley Park on the northeast corner of College Avenue and Encanto Drive)
Ncounter (southwest corner of Mill Avenue and 3rd Street)
Wildflower Bread Company (southwest corner of McClintock Drive and Guadalupe Road)
Whole Foods Market (northwest corner of Rural and Baseline roads)

Wednesday, April 17, 2013
6:30 - 8:00 a.m.

Susannah Lerman

• Post-Doctoral Research Associate, U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station
• Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability Fellow, National Science Foundation

Residential yards and gardens have an important role to play in urban biodiversity conservation. For example, when residential landscapes in Phoenix mimic the natural environment, they provide habitat for desert bird communities. In addition, yards and gardens offer opportunities for urban dwellers to reconnect with nature. In this talk, Susannah Lerman will provide examples from her research that demonstrate how birds interact with residential yards, introduce management tools for improving urban habitat, and emphasize the importance of scientific engagement with the public.

Susannah Lerman partners with the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Massachusetts to investigate ways to strengthen urban stewardship and identify household management practices that support urban wildlife. She has a Ph.D. in organismic and evolutionary biology from the University of Massachusetts. Her doctoral research was part of ASU's Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Research (CAP LTER) and uncovered some of the patterns and processes driving urban bird diversity in residential landscapes.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Wrigley Hall, Room 481
Arizona State University, Tempe campus

Fonz Dekkers

• Site Coordinator, Global Sustainability Solutions Center, Haarlemmermeer
• Industrial Ecologist, TU Delft

Every local government in the Netherlands has the ambition to be more sustainable in the future. But how can you measure sustainability on this scale?

The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is the first Dutch local government to have a certified sustainability monitor. As the designer of the system, Fonz Dekkers will elaborate on how he reduced this complex system to a set of 19 critical performance indicators and how these can be used for policymaking.

Fonz Dekkers, site coordinator for ASU Global Sustainability Solutions Center at the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, is a Dutch consultant in the field of sustainability and renewable energy. He has been involved with policy and area development for the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer since 2012.

Co-sponsored by the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Wrigley Hall, Room 481
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(breakfast will be provided)

Tamara “TJ” DiCaprio

• Senior Director, Environmental Sustainability,
• Microsoft® Corporation

Peter Byck

• Director and Producer, Carbon Nation

The Global Institute of Sustainability is offering a new event series entitled "Carbon Nation Conversations" hosted by Carbon Nation Director and Producer Peter Byck. The Carbon Nation Conversations series are climate change solution conversations (that don't even care if you believe in climate change).

For the first event in the series, join us for a conversation with Microsoft's® T.J. DiCaprio, who will discuss the company's new carbon-neutral policy that uses an internal carbon-fee model that drives accountability while supporting efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon-offset projects.

DiCaprio is the chief architect responsible for designing and managing Microsoft’s® carbon-neutral policy. Recently, she won the U.S. EPA's Individual Leadership Award, was listed as one of Triple Pundit's "Top 35 Women Leaders in Sustainability," and participated in the 2013 White House Women and Environment Summit in Washington, D.C.

You can live tweet DiCaprio and Byck at the event using @tjdicaprio, @peterbyck, and #carbonfree.

Video

Carbon Nation™ Conversations: You Taxed Yourself?

Angelina Snodgrass Godoy

• Director of Center for Human Rights, University of Washington

Many of the most vexing challenges in human rights today involve protecting vulnerable populations from the ravages of environmental degradation, food insecurity, and climate change— threats that can only be tackled through truly interdisciplinary work bridging the natural and social sciences, humanities, and law. Since 2010, at the request of campesino groups in Guatemala, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights has been engaged in such a project.

The work examines the causes and implications of environmental changes in relation to access to water and food in a specific area affected by the recent expansion of large agroindustrial plantations. They have supported the work of local leaders by conducting scientific research into the nature and causes of the threats driving their vulnerability, such that they might more effectively advocate for long-term solutions. The work reveals the urgency of greater engagement with these issues in the face of accelerating climate change, and yet also underscores the limitations of the ways we usually think about sustainability, research, and responsibility.

Angelina Snodgrass Godoy is the Helen H. Jackson Chair in Human Rights and Director of the Center for Human Rights at the University of Washington.

This event is sponsored by ASU's Institute for Humanities Research and co-sponsored with the School of International Letters and Cultures, Chasqui, and the master's in Social Justice and Human Rights, New College.

Friday, April 12, 2013
12:00 - 2:00 p.m.
G. Homer Durham Language and Literature Building, Room 165
Arizona State University, Tempe campus

Sir Crispin Tickell

• Advisory Council Member, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

When we know something of our past, we think we know the present. Some may see the future as a continuation of past and present, but according to Sir Crispin Tickell, this outlook is ineffective. In this visionary talk, Sir Crispin will urge us to confront the issues of our day: the multiplication of our species in all its aspects; the economics of health and wealth; the future source of food and energy; adaptation to climate change; and the shortcomings of conventional wisdom. Will the Anthropocene epoch represent no more than a relatively short episode in the story of life on Earth?

A pioneer in linking environmental and climatic change to the realms of politics and business, Sir Crispin Tickell is a former diplomat, warden of Green College Oxford, Chancellor of the University of Kent, and serves as an adviser to ASU's President Michael M. Crow. He is the author of many papers and books, including "Climate Change and World Affairs" and "Mary Anning of Lyme Regis."

Welcoming remarks by:
ASU's President Michael M. Crow
Global Institute of Sustainability's new director, Gary Dirks

Video

The Human Future

Scott Smith

• Critical Futurist and Founder of Changeist

Facing and affecting the social, economic, technological, political and environmental uncertainties of the early 21st century has meant breaking down the intellectualization of futures thinking that defined the field for much of its first fifty years. To develop effective, insightful and agile creators for the next fifty means helping them become not only thinkers, but also actors and shapers of possible futures. Scott Smith will describe what changes are taking place to futures thinking and education, and how these are manifesting themselves in new learning approaches and environments.

Scott Smith is a critical futurist and founder of Changeist, a futures research lab. His main focus is exploring the nexus between technological change and culture, and how we perceive and construct the future. He is columnist for Quartz and Current Intelligence, and writes, and travels the globe looking for weak signals of change. He also co-founded and leads the Duke TIP Futures Institute.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013
4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
University Club, Traditions Room
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(light refreshments will be provided)

John Robinson

• University of British Columbia

The entire University of British Columbia (UBC) campus is a living laboratory for sustainability in which researchers, students, operational staff and private and public partners can build, test, learn, teach, apply, and share the outcomes of their inquiries. Join Dr. John Robinson as he describes the ways in which UBC is striving to prove out the technical, economic and behavioral aspects of sustainability in its simpler institutional environmental and prepare the next generation of sustainability leaders.

Robinson is the Associate Provost, Sustainability at UBC and is a professor with UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability and Department of Geography. Robinson’s research focuses on the intersection of climate change mitigation, adaptation and sustainability; sustainable buildings and urban design; the use of visualization, modeling, and citizen engagement to explore sustainable futures; the intersection of sustainability, social and technological change, behavior change, and community engagement processes.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013
2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
University Club, Traditions Room
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(light refreshments will be provided)

Join us for a fast-paced evening of intriguing ideas, as five finalists, limited to 5-minute presentations, pitch their innovative sustainability solutions to a panel of esteemed judges and a live audience.

These solutions include solar inventions, water conservation ideas, public-awareness campaigns, and collaborative community building through technology. The top five finalists—a mix of students, alumni, and local entrepreneurs—submitted their solutions in March to www.10000solutions.org.

The Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives will award $5,000 in prizes:
1st Place: $2,500; 2nd Place: $1,500; and People's Choice (audience vote): $1,000

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Wrigley Hall, Room 101
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(refreshments will be provided)

Mahesh Morjaria

• Vice President, Global Grid Integration
• Power Plant Technology, First Solar

Join ASU's LightWorks at two event opportunities featuring Mahesh Morjaria from First Solar.

The Development of Utility Scale PV Plants
This talk will cover a number of technical challenges in achieving both scale and reliability of utility scale photovoltaic (PV) plants required to make solar energy affordable and sustainable. Experience gained from the development and execution of utility scale projects for a very large (over 3 GW) contracted pipeline provides valuable lessons. The discussion will include a road map to cost-reduction through standardization and scale, critical developments in grid integration systems, and the advancements in these cost-effective systems.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
10:30 a.m.
Memorial Union, Alumni Lounge, Room 202
Arizona State University, Tempe campus

Solar Power's Transition into a Mainstream Generation Resource
After a brief reception, this lecture will address how electricity produced from solar resources is now well within reach to be competitive with conventional sources. Morjaria will discuss how this transition is opening up greater opportunities for solar power to be a compelling solution to meet a variety of contemporary energy demands by a number of factors that will play an important role in solar energy growth.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
6:00 p.m.
ASU Skysong, Enterprise Room 151

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ASU archaeologists and Sustainability Scientists Dave Abbott, Michael Barton, Michelle Hegmon, Ben Nelson, Peggy Nelson, Mike Smith, Kate Spielmann, and doctoral students present case studies that look at how archaeology can contribute new and innovative ways of using the past to inform the decisions we make about the future. The projects demonstrate the advantages of a long-term view versus short-term perspectives on sustainability.

The faculty believes that ancient and historical material, particularly archaeological evidence, can make significant contributions in the transformation of contemporary society to a more sustainable trajectory.

Museum hours are Monday–Friday, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Admission is always free. For more details, visit asuma.asu.edu or call 480-965-6224.

Friday, February 8 - Friday, May 31
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
ASU Museum of Anthropology
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Room 240

A Fierce Green Fire chronicles environmental grassroots and global movements over five decades and explores how we got to where we are today. Inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff and informed by advisers like E.O. Wilson, this documentary highlights stories of triumph and struggle—like halting dams in the Grand Canyon to battling 20,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal—and explores the current state of climate-change activism.

Narrated by Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, and Isabel Allende.

Please join us for a post-film discussion with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Mark Kitchell, whose films focus on environmental and social justice issues.

Co-sponsored by ASU's Human Rights Film Festival.

View the trailer.

Friday, April 5, 2013
6:00 p.m. doors open
6:30 p.m. showtime
Armstrong Hall, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Building
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(light refreshments will be provided)

Sustaining Urban Rivers: Visions and Actions Across the Southwest and in Metro Phoenix

This year’s three-day, annual meeting workshop will bring together managers, researchers, and stakeholders involved in the Salt River-Phoenix metropolitan area to engage in a dialogue about how to make the river a more accessible, desirable place for people and wildlife.

Invited speakers will share their experiences in developing, managing, and restoring urban rivers in other arid land cities. Participants will conduct working sessions, each initiated by short presentations by panelists with particular expertise in the Salt River. The meeting also includes a field trip to the Rio Salado Audubon Center.

See flyer for complete schedule. Individuals may submit abstracts for a poster session on research, monitoring, and restoration of desert rivers. Those are due March 15, 2013. See flyer for abstract requirements.

Co-sponsored by ASU's Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research Project and ASU's Center for Biology and Society.

Thursday, April 4 - Saturday, April 6, 2013
various times
ASU SkySong
1475 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, AZ

Kimber Lanning

• Founder and Executive Director, Local First Arizona
• Small Business Owner

The economy isn't something far away that someone else is going to fix for us—we have the power to turn the economy around. Learn how your own purchasing habits can improve the local economy, create jobs, and contribute recirculating dollars for community establishments like libraries and fire departments.

Kimber Lanning is an entrepreneur and economic specialist who works to cultivate vibrant, sustainable communities and inspire a higher quality of life throughout Arizona. Lanning is actively involved in fostering cultural diversity, economic self-reliance, regional planning, and responsible growth in the greater Phoenix area.

Video

The Upside of a Down Economy: Buying Locally

The Walton Sustainability Solutions Festival encourages, rewards, and celebrates inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, and creative thinkers who develop solutions to sustainability challenges. Through a partnership with Changemaker Central @ ASU and 10,000 Solutions, the Sustainability Solutions Showcase is seeking to reward up to $3,500 for financially viable ideas that solve a multifaceted sustainability challenge. A strong idea submission will illustrate a positive impact on society, the economy, and the environment.

Participants can enter their sustainability solution video pitch on 10000solutions.org and enter "#showcase" in the description. The top five entries will be selected to pitch their idea to a live audience on April 9, where the Walton Sustainability Solutions Festival will award $2,500 for first prize, $1,500 for second prize, and $1,000 for the People’s Choice Award. A single idea could win up to $3,500.

All entries must be submitted by midnight on March 31. If you have questions, contact Kelly Saunders at Kelly.R.Saunders@asu.edu.

Dipesh Chakrabarty

• Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor in History, South Asian Languages, and Civilizations, University of Chicago

In this talk, historian Dipesh Chakrabarty will suggest that man-made global warming spells the collapse of the age-old humanist distinction between natural history and human history. He will ask us to contemplate how our planetary crisis qualifies our sense of human universals while challenging our capacity for historical understanding.

Chakrabarty obtained his Ph.D. in History from the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia in 1984. He holds honorary degrees from the University of London and the University of Antwerp. His current research focuses on anthropogenic climate change and its implications for historical thinking, on the history of the idea of historical truth, and on historical genealogies of crowd-politics in India.

Co-sponsored by ASU's Institute for Humanities Research. For questions or more information, contact the Institute for Humanities Research at (480) 965-3000 or ihr@asu.edu.

Thursday, March 28, 2013
4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Wrigley Hall, Room 101
Arizona State University, Tempe campus
(refreshments will be provided)

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Pamela Mar

• Fellow, Fung Global Institute
• Project Director, Fung Group

Asia is forecasted to become a major driver of global economic growth, while simultaneously making significant strides in environmental protection and social development. It is increasingly clear that growth models of the past are not sustainable; Asia needs to rethink how it grows to ensure that social progress and environmental protection can coexist and even reinforce business activity. This global challenge is particularly resonant in Asia, where wide-scale human needs rub against the possibility of progress.

In this talk, Pamela Mar will highlight the factors that will impact Asian development and discuss how business, policymakers, and civil society can help spur a more sustainable growth.

Pamela Mar’s work focuses on Asian development, corporate sustainability, international trade, economics, and strategy. Prior to her current positions, she was the director of the Global Finance Center of TCL Multimedia Technology Holdings, associate director for China at World Economic Forum, and worked at the Population and Community Development Association based in Bangkok. Pamela has authored several books, including Global Future: The Next Challenge of Asian Business.

Video

Asian Perspectives on Sustainable Development

Sunita Narain

• Director General, The Centre for Science and Environment
• Director, The Society for Environmental Communications
• Publisher, Down to Earth magazine

In this age of extreme weather events and crippling water shortages it is time for the birth of a new environmentalism. Climate change is making the world populations, particularly the poor, more vulnerable. Globally, we are failing to reduce emissions at the scale and pace needed. Countries like India are failing to deal with the challenges of pollution and environmental degradation. It is now time to learn from the environmentalism of the poor how to reinvent growth that is affordable, sustainable, and inclusive.

Sunita Narain is a writer and environmentalist who was named one of the world's 100 Public Intellectuals three times by the U.S. journal, Foreign Policy. She received the World Water Prize for her work on rainwater harvesting and policy influence for community-based water management.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Asian Research and the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies.

Video

Environmentalism of the Poor vs. Environmentalism of the Rich