Greening From The Ground Up: A Sustainability Leadership Conference

Event on March 16, 2012

Drawing from the innovative Brooklyn Greens Initiative and other neighborhood sustainability initiatives, Greening from the Ground Up Conference will showcase successes, make tools available and share strategies among community based organizations to harness collective action in the effort to make neighborhoods more environmentally friendly. You can view a summary of this event here.

Goals: The purpose of Greening from the Ground Up is to bring together community organizations from across New York City and beyond to share interim lessons learned as organizations seek to make urban neighborhoods healthier and more environmentally sustainable. Community leaders will be joined by government officials, funders and practitioners in energy efficiency, environmental justice, workforce development and related professions to share their successes and challenges. Pratt Center will document and disseminate copies of the presentations and outcomes of the conference.

Speakers: We are pleased to announce our Keynote speaker, Judith Enck, Regional Administrator of Region 2 of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Enck administers federal programs governing air and water pollution, industrial discharges, toxic substances, pesticides, protection of streams, lakes and the ocean, solid and hazardous wastes, the cleanup of chemical spills and abandoned hazardous waste sites, and much more.

Additionally, award-winning community organizer and urban planner, Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, will lead a plenary session on Neighborhood Influence on NYC environmental policy.

Sponsors: Greening from the Ground Up Conference is a joint effort of the Brooklyn Community Foundation and the Brooklyn Greens partners that it supports - Pratt Center for Community Development, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Cypress Hills LDC, El Puente and LISC New York City's Green and Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative with additional support from State Farm and National Grid.