New Symposium on Sustainable Urban Development
The “ELEVATE 2009: Climate Change and the New Frontiers of Urban Development” symposium brought together more than 30 of the nation’s leading thinkers and practitioners in real estate, law, business, and public policy for a groundbreaking symposium about sustainable land use and real estate development. The two-day conference was hosted by Colorado Law in conjunction with the CU Leeds School of Business’ Real Estate Council Annual Conference.
Featured speakers included some of the most visionary urbanists at work today, including writer and social critic James Howard Kunstler; noted University of Pennsylvania professor Witold Rybczynski; and architect, design entrepreneur, and American urban innovator Teddy Cruz. Interdisciplinary panels discussed how policy design, social forces, and the private market intersect and accelerate or impede sustainability practices. Speakers, panelists, and attendees explored sustainable economic, social, and environmental solutions to pressing issues in the areas of housing, transportation, energy, and economic development.
ELEVATE 2009 marked the launch of CU’s newest environmental program, the Initiative for Sustainable Development (ISD), an interdisciplinary program housed in the School of Business working closely with the Law School. ISD will pursue the best ideas, practices, and policies in the growing field of sustainable land use and real estate development to build and train the next generation of development professionals—developers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, engineers, planners, designers and policymakers—who are committed to sustainable, triple-bottom-line approaches to real estate and economic development, who have the mind-set and skill set to balance commerce and the common good.
“With the looming crisis of climate change and other threats, we are being forced to reconsider basic assumptions about growth, energy, land use, transportation, and housing,” says ISD Director William Shutkin. “There’s a lot of money to be made in the transition to a sustainable society.”
“Few sectors of our economy—or of the global economy—are more vital to the transformation climate change requires of us,” adds Professor Nestor Davidson, “and this symposium could not have be a more timely opportunity to refocus the industry toward the right alignment of policy and development strategy.”
The symposium was sponsored by: Boulder Green Building Guild; Business Catapult; Chelsea Green Publishing; Climate Smart; Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy; Enterprise Community Partners Green Communities; Housing Colorado; INC – Innovation Network for Communities; Island Press; Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Main Street Resources; MIT Press; Namaste Solar; New Belgium Brewery; Rockefeller Foundation; Rocky Mountain Institute; Sonoran Institute; University of Colorado Center for the American West; University of Colorado Center for Energy and Environmental Security; University of Colorado College of Architecture & Planning; University of Colorado Law School; University of Colorado Leeds School of Business; University of Colorado Leeds School of Business Deming Center for Entrepreneurship; Urban land Institute; Urban Ventures; and U.S. Green Building Council.