Events

*TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT * 

                                       

This fall in Cambridge, MA, near Harvard Square, the Institute for Eco-municipality Education & Assistance will present a 3 ½ -day national training session will take place to increase planner and citizen leadership capacity in communities and their local governments to initiate and lead a change process to become a sustainable community. This sustainable communities approach has a substantial track record of successful implementation – possibly the most extensive in the world - in over 100 municipalities in Sweden, U.S., and beyond. The objective of the training is to prepare planners and potential local leaders to lead a planning process that involves community sustainability education, bottom-up participatory planning, a comprehensive and systematic approach, and a strategic implementation process to transition to becoming a sustainable community.  [20 AICP CM credits pending approval].

Faculty:  Sarah James & Torbjörn Lahti, Co-Directors of the Institute for Eco-municipality Education & Assistance (IEMEA), and co-authors of The Natural Step for Communities: How Cities & Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices (New Society Publishers, 2004, winner of the 2005 Planetizen Top Ten Book Award. Torbjörn Lahti is the founder of the Swedish eco-municipality movement, and he and Sarah James are co-founders of the U.S. eco-municipality movement. Between them, they have worked with over 150 municipalities in Sweden and the United States. Sarah James was also a co-author of APA’s Planning for Sustainability Policy Guide and a member of  the APA Sustainability Interest Group Coordinating Committee.

                Ralph Willmer, AICP, Senior Planner for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.’s Planning Division and former Board member of the American Planning Association. One of his master plan projects recently won a Distinguished Project Award, and Ralph was recently inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Cost: Prior to August 20, 2010, the earlybird fee for attendees will be $1,400, inclusive of tuition, lunches, and refreshments. The cost for participants registering and paying after August 20, 2010 is $1,600. Unfortunately, no scholarships or reduced rates are available.  Participants will need to arrange their own accommodations.  A list of nearby hotels will be sent to all interested applicants.  Registration deadline is Wednesday, September 7, 2010.

Registration: To register for this training, send the accompanying registration form and a check made out to IEMEA. (Sorry, no credit cards!) There is a 27-person limit. In the event of oversubscription, priority will be given to individuals presently leading or involved in local sustainable community initiatives. Final registration deadline: September 7, 2010. 

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS TRAINING SESSION

• How to present and communicate sustainability ideas and concepts to a variety of different audiences, plus tools and materials to accomplish this.
• How to design and lead a “bottom-up” comprehensive planning process for transforming a municipal government and its larger community to become an ‘eco-municipality’ – a sustainable community led by APA’s sustainability objectives which are practiced throughout  the government and larger community.
• How to engage and involve the entire community – citizens, businesses, institutions, municipal departments and agencies – in defining a guiding vision and implementing actions to move toward sustainable practices.
• How to bring key municipal tools, such as master plans, land use regulations, capital improvements planning, and municipal budgeting into alignment with sustainability objectives.
• How to develop a comprehensive pla, master plan, or general plan that guides a community toward sustainability.
• An in-depth understanding of what sustainability means both at the global and local community level. 
• An in-depth examination what it means to satisfy human and community needs within a sustainability context.

Program questions: email Sarah James at james.s@att.net

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How To Plan for a Sustainable Community

Eco-municipality Leadership Training

September 29-October 2, 2010

R E G I S T R A T I O N    F O R M  (Please print)

(Discount deadline – August 20; 2010    Final registration deadline – September 10,2010)

Name _______________________________________________________________

Affiliation/organization ________________________________________________

Title _________________________

Mail address _________________________________________________________

Telephone   (day) ________________________ email ________________________

Will you be using the potential AICP CM credits? ____________________

Please describe your current involvement or interest in sustainable community planning.

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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Please send this form with check (sorry, no credit cards!) made out to IEMEA to:

            Institute for Ecomunicipality Education & Assistance (IEMEA)

            47 Cogswell Avenue #12

            Cambridge, MA  02140