Seattle Mayor Nickels Will Headline Atlanta Sustainability Forum Co-Hosted by Blank Family Foundation and ARC
(ATLANTA - March 28, 2008)
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who launched the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, will be the keynote speaker at a forum co-hosted by The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and the Atlanta Regional Commission on April 10 at 9 a.m. at the Blank Foundation’s LEED-certified headquarters. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who has made adoption of sustainable practices a priority for the city, will introduce Mayor Nickels.
Mayor Nickels has earned a national reputation as a champion for green practices by challenging mayors across the country to join Seattle in taking local action to reduce global warming pollution. More than 780 mayors representing 78 million Americans have accepted the challenge, pledging to meet or beat the United Nation’s Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. One in four Americans now lives in a city committed to reducing greenhouse gas pollution.
Following Mayor Nickels, a panel of local experts will explore initiatives that are balancing the demands of today with the needs of future generations. Some of the more promising sustainability efforts include green-friendly building, using renewable and alternative fuels and conservation of land and water – topics vital to metro Atlanta’s present and future.
Seating is limited for “Going Green: Creating Sustainable Cities,” but the event will be Webcast live, accessible at www.atlantafiftyforward.com.
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Speaker Series aspires to spur civic action and citizen involvement for positive change in people’s lives by convening individuals around issues, innovations and ideas that will shape the quality of life for families in Atlanta and beyond.
The sustainability forum is also the inaugural event of ARC's Fifty Forward visioning effort to explore the critical issues that will shape metro Atlanta 50 years into the future. This will be achieved through a series of forums held quarterly for two years, attracting the best national thinkers on a variety of key topics. The effort will culminate with a capstone event to integrate what has been learned and to develop a preferred plan for the Atlanta region’s future success.
“Mayor Nickels is a national trailblazer in sustainability. We are honored that he’ll be the one to kick off our efforts to plan for metro Atlanta’s preferred future in 50 years,” ARC Chairman Sam Olens said.
In addition, ARC just announced that Secretary of State Karen Handel, Atlanta Gas Light President Suzanne Sitherwood and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta President Milton Little Jr. will serve as co-chairs of Fifty Forward, representing the active governmental, business and civic aspects of metro Atlanta.
Other Fifty Forward forums will focus on topics such as regional economic trends, health issues and advances, population and employment shifts, technological innovations and future development patterns.
For more information or to find out how you can participate, please visit www.atlantafiftyforward.com.
