The Concrete Cycle
Urban Strategy Expert and founder of ICLEI Jeb Brugmann talked about the concrete supply chain in China, which includes the recycling of concrete from Hong Kong to build new cities in Mainland China, rather than mining new concrete. The City of Edmonton has operated a Sustainable Aggregate Recycling Program for concrete since 1978, which saves the city around $10.4 million per year.
Pecha Kucha Edmonton 4
Mastermaq has a recap of last night's Pecha Kucha Edmonton 4. While the large audience of over 600 made the event much less intimate than previous Pecha Kucha events in Edmonton, there were some good presentations including Myron Belej and Trevor Anderson. I've been very skeptical of NextGen's mandate in the past, but if they focus on organizing events like Pecha Kucha, they stand a chance in changing my mind (not that they should focus on changing my mind).
Prius
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel awarded the winners of a Edmonton's Zero Footprint Challenge with a brand-new Prius. As usual, the day wouldn't be complete without Scott Hennig and the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation pointing out something negative about the initiative.
Young Municipal Leaders
Thanks to Councillor Don Iveson, Mastermaq and I were invited to the meeting of ICLEIs Young Municipal Leaders, a loose group of municipal leaders within a common age range. I was encouraged to hear that the group wasn't satisfied with sitting at the 'kids table', but also recognized the perspective their age could offer and the knowledge they could gain from some of the older representatives in ICLEI.
Rather than division by age, participants saw the generational gap as key to a positive partnership in ICLEI, rather than a hierarchical relationship. I also thought it was very telling that as traditional politicians continue to discuss important issues in private low-key meetings, this group discussed the potential that online conversation through social media and wikis could have on important discourse. Very encouraging.
Participants in the Young Municipal Leaders meeting included Leduc Councillor Dominic Mishio, Deputy Lord Mayor of Adelaide Stephen Yarwood, Freiburg Councillor Sebastian Muller, Spruce Grove Councillor Jeff Acker, Melbourne Councillor Cathy Oke, Lahti Councillor Eero Vainio, former U of A Students' Union President Michael Janz, and Kelowna Councillor Angela Reid (among others).
ICLEI 2.0
You can follow the ICLEI conversation on Twitter and take a look at my photos on Flickr.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
iclei world congress 2009 edmonton: day three in words.
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5 comments:
I'm feeling a bit cheated by the City. I got an email stating that through my involvement with the Carbon Footprint Calculator, I could be entered into the draw for the Prius. Yet all the media outlets are saying that the winners of the car were those that "reduced their CO2 the most". Was this a random draw open to everyone who used the tool or was this rigged to reward only the biggest CO2 reduction?
Anybody know which is true?
I don't know what the contest entry rules were. I will try to find out though. Thanks for the question!
Old people are so lame....
Is it that unreasonable to ask why the city spent $40000 on an online calculator? That certainly wouldn't be tolerated in many other organizations, what makes it okay in this case?
I've really enjoyed your coverage of ICLEU though, Dave. Keep up the good work!
Looking at the list of young councillors/aldermen (whatever they call them) - Alberta can take pride in its history of electing younger representatives.
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