Invited Speakers’ Abstracts and Biographies
Felix Ekardt, Ph.D.
Director of the Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy – Leipzig. Professor for Public Law and Legal Philosophy, Rostock University – Rostock
Country: Germany
Title: “Climate Protection – Urban or Transnational Level?”
Abstract: The 1.5 degree limit in the Paris Climate Agreement requires zero emissions worldwide in the near future, i.e. also zero fossil fuels in all sectors and greatly reduced livestock farming. The lecture discusses how the interaction of the necessary measures between the municipal level on the one hand and the national, continental and international level on the other hand can work.
Biography: Felix Ekardt is Director of the Research Unit Sustainability and Climate Policy in Leipzig which he founded in 2009. Since 2009, he is also Professor for Public Law and Legal Philosophy at the Rostock University (Faculty of Law) as well as member of the Leibniz Science Campus on Phosphorus Research – as well as member of the Interdisciplinary Faculty (Department Knowledge-Culture-Transformation). His scientific focus as a lawyer, philosopher and sociologist lies in issues around human science sustainability studies. More specifically issues of transformation and social learning processes, justice (particularly human rights), governance and law (sustainability law/ environmental law and sustainability politics/ environmental politics in terms of developing policy instruments on international, European, national and regional level).
E-mail: felix.ekardt@uni-rostock.de
Lixiao Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor and deputy dean of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University – Beijing
Country: China
Title: “Urban Food-Energy-Water Nexus: Dynamics and Optimization“
Abstract: With increasing urbanization but growing resource scarcities, the effective provision of essential resources as food, energy and water (FEW) has become a unique challenge for urban sustainability. However, most of existing studies focus on the qualitative discussion of existing linkages and quantitative changes in specific nexus problems. It is imperative to build a better understanding of the dynamics and optimization management of urban FEW systems. Using the STELLA platform, a system dynamics model named the BJ-FEW was developed by incorporating both the production and consumption sides of FEW systems into a single system-of-system model that considered the interactions between the FEW sectors within and beyond the city. This model was run for the megacity of Beijing over the period from 2000 to 2050 to simulate changes in the FEW demand and supply. Results showed that Beijing City will face an increasing challenge of FEW resource securities with regard to the enlarging gap between the total demands and the local provision capability. Under the baseline scenario, the total demand for food, energy, and water in Beijing will reach 10 Mt, 129 Mtce, and 6.4 Bm3, respectively, in 2050. Additionally, it was estimated that approximately 75% of food, 88% of energy, and 48% of water will depend on trans-boundary imports. Besides, a systematic and integrated optimization framework was established to quantify the saving potential of FEW consumptions and to identify the optimal path for urban sustainable development. We identified that the amount of FEW consumptions could decrease by 10%. The scenario analysis indicated that the adjustments in production-consumption patterns, urban planning and regional coordinated management would contribute to promote urban sustainability.
Biography: Lixiao Zhang is a professor and deputy dean of School of Environment, Beijing Normal University (BNU), China. He obtained his Master degree and Ph.D. degree in environmental sciences from Peking University. Prior to joining BNU in 2005, he was a research fellow in BOKU university of Austria. Zhang has been involved in research on various aspects of environmental accounting and modeling, with special focus on renewable energy systems, food-energy-water nexus, and urban metabolism since 2007. Over this time, he has conducted research on life cycle assessment (LCA), Environmental Input-Output Analysis (EIOA), and Ecological Modelling techniques. He is also recognized for his productive and most highly cited scholarly output in environmental accounting and management. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers and 5 books. His research work is widely recognized and has more than 3000 citations with H-index of 30 according to Web of Science. He has served as the General Secretary of Environmental Geoscience Branch of Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Environmental Management (IF 5.6), and has served as principal investigator for more than 20 large-scale research projects.
Email: zhanglixiao@bnu.edu.cn
Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, New York Institute of Technology – Westbury, New York
Country: United States of America
Title: “Blockchain and Carbon Footprint Tracking of The Food Supply Chain”
Abstract: Growing population and increasing food demand have had a great impact on the environment and the climate. Efforts have been made to reduce carbon footprint in many recent studies. Calculating the carbon footprint of food products is complex and requires the cooperation of all the stakeholders of the food supply chain. This study presents a new implementation of Blockchain for tracking of carbon footprint on food production and transportation stages. We designed the carbon footprint chain system that uses cluster-based distributed record keepingsystem to provide the food processing facilities and transportation parties to share carbon footprint of food without compromising their privacy. We implemented the proposed carbon footprint chain and evaluated its throughput and latency under different scenarios. We show that our Blockchain implementation is scalable and can operate with a larger number of nodes.
Biography: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New York Institute of Technology (New York Tech). She received her B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China, M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, NJ. She was awarded the Hashimoto Prize for the best Ph.D. dissertation in Electrical Engineering, NJIT. She is the recipient of 2006 and 2007 Hashimoto Fellowship for outstanding scholarship and the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame Graduate Student Award for her inventions in network switches. She received the New York Institute of Technology Presidential Award in Student Engagement in Research and Scholarship in 2015, Innovate Long Island’s Fifth Annual Innovator of the Year Award in 2020, and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering Research Council 2020 Curtis W. McGraw Research Award in non-PhD program for research accomplishments and innovation. Her research interests include communication networks, network security and forensics, wireless sensor networks, assistive medical devices, and data analytics and innovative sensing technology to improve sustainability and resilience of both natural and built environment. Her research is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, Northrop Grumman, Motorola, Xilinx, Venturewell, and New York Tech. Her current research projects are interdisciplinary including the development of an autonomous soil nutrient sensing system to help with precision agriculture while reducing environmental impact and international collaborative project on the development of decision support visualization models and tools to understand the interconnection among food, energy, and water and their infrastructure in an urban environment. She is the principal investigator of a five-year NSF INFEWS grant to establish a research coordination network that use “City-as-lab” concept to study Food, Energy, and Water Nexus for a sustainable urban environment. She is a senior member of IEEE, a member of IEEE Communication Society and Women in Engineering, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), ACM, and the Environmental Sensing, Networking and Decision-Making (ESND) technical committee. She served as the general co-chair of the Food, Energy, and Water Nexus Conference 2019, the Networking Networking N2Women Workshop 2019, and the 37th IEEE Sarnoff Symposium 2016. She has served in technical program committee of IEEE HPSR, IEEE Sarnoff, IEEE ICC, GLOBECOM, GreenCom and ChinaCom, and as a reviewer for IEEE journals, conferences and NSF panels.
Email: ziqian.dong@nyit.edu
Yuan Chang, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Management Science and Engineering, Central University of Finance and Economics – Beijing
Country: China
Title: “Quantifying the GHG mitigation potential of urban roadway lighting in China”
Abstract: Roadway lighting is critical for creating safe environments for drivers and pedestrians. As China continues to urbanize, the increase in the number of street light facilities will exacerbate the energy and environmental burdens of urban areas. Adopting energy-efficient lighting luminaires and using renewable energy can improve the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of urban roadway lighting, contributing to the development of a low-carbon urban environment. In this study, we used a bottom-up approach to estimate GHG mitigation potential associated with replacing current high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps with light-emitting diode (LED) lamps and deploying solar and/or wind street lights in 662 cities in China. The results showed that the LED-HPS lamp replacement and renewable energy utilization can annually reduce GHG emissions by 21.2 million tons (Mt) of CO2e, which is dominated by branch (38%) and trunk roads (31%). East China, especially Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, has the largest GHG mitigation potentials. Dalian, Shanghai, and Tianjin are among the top cities with the greatest GHG mitigation potential. For cities with different administrative levels, prefecture-level cities can achieve a GHG mitigation potential of 56%, approximately 11.9 Mt CO2e/year.
Biography: Yuan Chang is a professor at School of Management Science and Engineering, Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), Beijing, China. He received a PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology and a PhD in Design, Construction and Planning from the University of Florida. Prior to joining the CUFE in 2014, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Northwestern University. Chang integrates interdisciplinary approaches from the fields of industrial ecology, sustainable engineering, as well as economic and management sciences to promote more sustainable engineering practices and policies. Specially, his research interests include sustainable building and infrastructure systems, environmental policy management, and economic-environmental-social assessment. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed journal papers, and served as principal investigator or investigator for more than 10 research projects. He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Environmental Management, as well as an Accredited Professional of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED AP) issued by U.S. Green Building Council.
E-mail: yuan.chang@cufe.edu.cn
Keith Kline
Distinguished Research Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Country: United States of America
Title: “Opportunities for standards to support more sustainable urban systems: Circular Economy Standards in development with the International Organization for Standardization“
Abstract: This presentation provides an overview of the scope and current status of ISO standards development activity on circular economy:
- ISO 59004 Framework and principles for implementation (including terms and definitions);
- ISO 59010 Guidelines on business models and value chains;
- ISO 59020 Measuring and Assessing Circularity;
- ISO 59040 Circularity Product Data Sheet; and ISO TR 59032 Review of business model implementation.
Related standards, complementary methods, and some of the issues the ISO Technical Committee (TC 323) has grappled with in the process thus far, will be noted. Trends and advantageous conditions for urban areas to contribute to more sustainable circular economies will be highlighted. The presentation is based on Keith’s contributions to the ISO Standards as a member of the US Technical Advisory Group to the International Organization for Standardization/ISO TC 323 Circular Economy. Additionally, the role and activities of the national Technical Advisory Groups will be described, along with information on how people can join and engage in the standards drafting process.
Biography: Keith L. Kline, a Distinguished Research Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, assesses renewable energy options to identify approaches that support beneficial land management. Keith spent 24 years in developing nations supporting community forest management, biodiversity conservation, and SDGs. Since 2008, Keith has led research and authored 90 publications on bioenergy, natural resource management, and sustainable development. Keith supports the ISO Technical Committee 323 on Circular Economy and the International Research Network on the nexus of Food-Energy-Water. For more info, see the Climate Change Science Institute and Center for Bioenergy Sustainability.
E-mail: klinekl@ornl.gov
José G. Vargas-Hernández, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Technological Institute of Zapopan – Zapopan, Jalisco
Country: Mexico
Title: “Urban Spaces and Public Sphere: Institutional Design of Democratic Decentralization“
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to conduct a critical analysis based on the institutional design of the democratic processes of the public sphere and urban spaces in the empowerment of local governments. The approach is a theoretical construction after reviewing some important developments in the issues of the roles of the state, economy, civil society and the media on the decentralization processes of empowerment of local governments in their public spheres and urban spaces. This critical analysis is sustained on the political ideology, macro institutional design, political leadership and authority, developed by the New Left´s theoretical approach. With this critical analysis, it is intended to further develop the ongoing debate on democratic decentralization and the implications of the roles of the state, economy, civil society and the media on the public sphere and urban spaces in the empowerment of local governments.
Biography: Research professor at Tecnológico MM Unidad Zapopan, formerly at University Center for Economic and Managerial Sciences, University of Guadalajara. Member of the National System of Researchers of Mexico. Professor Vargas-Hernández has a Ph. D. in Public Administration and a Ph.D. in Organizational Economics. He has been visiting scholar at Carleton University Canada, University of California Berkeley and Laurentian University, Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Economic, Keele University; Ph.D. in Public Administration, Columbia University; studies in Organizational Behavior at Lancaster University and has a Master of Business Administration; published nine books and more than 300 papers in international journals and reviews (some translated to English, French, German, Portuguese, Farsi, Chinese, etc.) and more than 300 essays in national journals and reviews. He has obtained several international Awards and recognitions. He has also experience in consultancy. His main research is in organizational economics and strategic management. He teaches for several doctoral programs.
Email: josevargas@cucea.udg.mx
Daohan Huang, Ph.D.
Researcher, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture– Beijing
Country: China
Title: “Urban Water-Energy Nexus: Evidence from Water Evaluation And Planning Model”
Abstract: Water and energy are intertwined in varied scales. In the mega city scale, the amount of energy consumption in urban water supply system is relatively small, but using unconventional water sources to address water scarcity issue increases local energy consumption, especially in the water scare mega city like Beijing. However, the local nexus evidence in using unconventional water sources is largely ignored. With water evaluation and planning (WEAP) system, the WEAP Beijing model is developed to explore nexus evidence in Beijing water supply system via scenario analysis. Results show that the total energy consumption in Beijing water supply keeps rising since 2001. While the average energy intensity is increasing between 2001 and 2014, and it is varying since 2015. The transferred south water since 2008 totally consumes 3.946 billion kWh, while the groundwater storage and reservoir storage increase 5 billion and 0.677 billion cubic meter, respectively. Furthermore, the structure of water sources by demand node is also estimated in WEAP, Beijing model.
Biography: Daohan Huang is from Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA), Beijing, China. He focuses on water-energy-food nexus (WEF nexus) at the urban level, and Beijing is his focal area at WEF nexus modeling and governing. He has published a series of papers at WEF nexus issues, builds the WEAP_Beijing model to explore water-energy nexus, and holds WEF nexus projects funded by NSFC (2021) and BUCEA (2020). Daohan earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Central University of Finance and Economics in 2019, and he worked as an intern at the water group of Stockholm Environment Institute-US center in 2018, aiming to build the WEAP_Beijing model.
E-mail: huangdaohan@bucea.edu.cn
Jennifer Givens, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Utah State University – Logan, Utah
Country: United States of America
Title: “Focusing on FEW managers, stakeholders and academics: Results from FEW focus group research“
Abstract: Food-Energy-Water systems are inextricably linked, however, managers of food, energy, and water systems are often working on specific tasks and goals that pertain to one of the sectors. We conducted focus groups with food, energy, and water managers and stakeholders, in addition to a group of academics studying system resilience and sustainability, in the Columbia River Basin. We were interested in looking for connections across sectors, and exploring what is emphasized compared to what may be left out. Our results suggest perspectives to consider when moving forward in system sustainability research, policy development, and planning.
Biography: Jennifer Givens is an assistant professor at Utah State University, Logan, USA. As an environmental and comparative international sociologist, she studies coupled human and natural systems. Her research examines environmental quality and social well-being and equity at various scales, and she studies how these relationships change over time. Her current interdisciplinary research explores resilience and sustainability in food, energy, and water systems, and the complexities of incorporating both social and biophysical aspects into models. In other research she investigates variation in countries’ carbon intensity of well-being, which is a way to measure a country’s progress toward simultaneous environmental sustainability and equitable social well-being by asking how carbon intensely nation-states produce well-being for citizens. This research explores the effects of unequal global integration and militarization, addresses issues of inequality, human well-being, sustainability, and energy use, and explores the connections between development and drivers of climate change. This research is quantitative, and she employs both longitudinal and multilevel modeling techniques. In a third area of research, she explores various forms of environmental concern and action and their causes and consequences, both across and within nations.
E-mail: jennifer.givens@usu.edu
Sheryll Durant
Urban farmer, Educator and Food Justice Advocate – Bronx, New York
Country: United States of America
Title: “Food is the gateway to all things justice”
Abstract: Kelly Street Garden’s focus is to use food as the entry point to healing a community. The garden functions as a vehicle for addressing generational trauma which has caused many health disparities resulting from systemic racism. Through a multi-tiered programming structure, they bring nutrition, art, herbal medicine and community engagement to our South Bronx neighborhoods. Food is the gateway to all things of justice.
Biography: Sheryll Durrant is an urban farmer, educator, and food justice advocate. She has been the Resident Garden Manager at Kelly Street Garden since 2016, and is also the Food and Nutrition Coordinator for New Roots Community Farm, managed by International Rescue Committee (IRC). She currently serves as Board President for Just Food. Prior to her work in urban agriculture, Sheryll spent over 20 years in corporate and institutional marketing.
E-mail: kellystgreen@gmail.com
Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira, Ph.D.
Faculty, Getulio Vargas Foundation – Rio de Janeiro. Visiting Chair Professor at the Institute for Global Public Policy, Fudan University – Shanghai
Country: Brazil
Title: “Urbanization, Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals”
Abstract: Is urbanization a wicked problem or a solution to climate change? The role of cities for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has become increasingly apparent as the world keeps urbanizing. Cities consume huge amounts of water, energy, food and other resources and discharge large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs); but, cities also present great opportunities for leading us towards a sustainable future. Cities are centers of knowledge, technological innovation, financial resources, and decision making that can catalyze changes quickly. This talk will present the opportunities and challenges for tackling climate change and achieving the SDGs by looking at the trends in urbanization, its relation to climate change and the emerging solutions from cities around the world, as well as the research challenges and opportunities in the field of global climate change and sustainability.
Biography: Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira is a faculty member at FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas) in Brazil with extensive experience in managing research programs, organizations and transdisciplinary projects. He is also Visiting Chair Professor at the Institute for Global Public Policy (IGPP), Fudan University (Shanghai). His research and policy interests concentrate in patterns of governance, institution building and policy implementation at different levels, looking at how global environmental change and national institutions are interlinked to steer governance and local action. His experience comprises research, consultancy and policy work in more than 20 countries in all continents. He held positions of Senior Research Fellow and Assistant Director of UN University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in Japan between 2009 and 2015. Previously, he worked as faculty member at the University College London (UK), where he co-directed the MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, and the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) as a Marie Curie Fellow. He has published several books and more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, which fed in policy processes such as IPCC and governmental and UN discussions. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Public Administration and Development (PAD, Wiley) and member of several editorial boards. He has a PhD in Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Email: jose.puppim@fgv.br
Webpage: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sV0VZncAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Bruce Tonn, Ph.D.
President of Three3, Inc. – Knoxville, Tennessee
Country: United States of America
Title: “Sustainable and Affordable Household-Level Self-Sufficiency Enabled by Integrated Abundance Advances”
Abstract: A future is imagined where economically disadvantaged households are empowered to achieve economic self-sufficiency through the employment of affordable and integrated abundance advances. Millions of American households struggle to make ends meet, due in part to a lack of living wage jobs and growing dependence of elders on Social Security as their only source of income. It is anticipated that continued automation of the American economy will displace a large percentage of the workforce in the coming decades. The COVID-19 pandemic forcefully showed that low-income households severely lack financial savings and are not economically self-sufficient in the strongest sense. They do not have the ability to produce much if any of their own electricity or food, for example. How abundance advances can be integrated and employed at the household-level to achieve economic self-sufficiency will be discussed. Policies to facilitate and accelerate the transition to strong self-sufficiency will also be addressed..
Biography: Bruce Tonn is president of Three3, Inc., a 501 c3 non-profit organization located in Knoxville, Tennessee. His research on the health benefits of weatherizing low-income homes and affordable multifamily buildings cross-cuts the fields of public health, energy efficiency, and climate change by demonstrating how weatherization can reduce heat-related thermal stress medical interventions and death. He has authored/co-authored over 300 publications. Recently, his book titled Anticipation, Sustainability, Futures and Human Extinction: Ensuring Humanity’s Journey into the Distant Future was released by Routledge Press. He is a former Senior Researcher of the Environmental Sciences Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and holds the position of Professor Emeritus at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He has degrees from Stanford University (B.S. Civil Engineering), Harvard University (Masters in City and Regional Planning), and Northwestern University (Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning).
Email: btonn@threecubed.org
Xiaoyu Liu
Senior Program Officer, Energy Transition to 100% Renewable. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – Beijing
Country: China
Title: “Urban Carbon Emission Reduction – Low Carbon School Project”
Abstract: In August 2019, WWF carried out the lighting and air-conditioning equipment low-carbon upgrades in Xinglong Middle School in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province in China. Based on the international leading standard, this project was aiming at playing the demonstration and pilot role for the local school lighting and air-conditioning system upgrade, to provide data support for the development of local standards for low-carbon schools. As an excellent case to tell China’s low-carbon transition story, this project has been presented to the international community at COP25. In January 2021, Zhenjiang City released Low-carbon School Construction Guidance as an official municipal local standard. This is not only the practical achievement of the Zhenjiang City’s green development, but also the first complete campus construction standards in Jiangsu province. According to government official press, Zhenjiang is planning to carry out energy-saving lighting and lighting renovations in 50 schools in the city in 2021.
Biography: Xiaoyu Liu is the Senior Program Officer of Energy Transition to 100% Renewable Department at WWF China. She has spent over 6 years on sustainable development project coordination and promotion. Her current responsibility at WWF China included energy transition at the sub-national level, and the application and promotion of high proportion of renewable energy in buildings, transportation, and other sectors. Prior to WWF, she worked successively in China Network Television, and Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) The Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21). As the project coordinator of China, she participated in the management of the United Nations Development Program (UDNP) “China-Ghana/Zambia Renewable Energy Technology Transfer” project, which won the Second Prize of Science and Technology Progress of China Renewable Energy Society. She supported ACCA21 along with UNDP to initiate the “Technology Transfer South-South Cooperation Center”. She is one of the co-authors of Exploration of Renewable Energy Technology Transfer Model in South-South Cooperation (Science Press, 2020). Several decision-making consultation reports that she participated in were adopted by government departments.
E-mail: xyliu@wwfchina.org
Chris Pianta
Environmental Program Manager, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation – Nashville, Tennessee
Country: United States of America
Title: “A State Agency Perspective: The Role of TDEC’s Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices in Tennessee”
Abstract: The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s (TDEC) Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices (OPSP) plays an important role in ensuring that TDEC fulfills its mission and vision through a two-pronged structure: environmental policy and sustainability programs. On the policy side, OPSP works collaboratively with TDEC leadership and technical experts, the Governor’s Office, federal agencies, state agencies, communities, and other stakeholders to identify proposed environmental policy projects and changes of importance to Tennessee. On the sustainability side, OPSP administers a number of educational, technical assistance, networking, and recognition programs which support building sustainability and resilience in three stakeholder areas: Communities, Businesses, and Institutions & State Government. In this session, we will discuss OPSP’s roles and how OPSP supports environmental sustainability and resilience in Tennessee.
Biography: Christopher Pianta is an Environmental Program Manager for the Office of Policy and Sustainable Practices. He has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee, and a Masters in Environmental Engineering from Vanderbilt University. Chris spent the early part of his career in consulting, working mostly on solid waste and remediation projects. Since transitioning to his current career with the State, Chris has developed both an expertise and a passion for sustainability, particularly in the field of waste reduction and energy efficiency. He is one of the Office’s Team Leads and is responsible for managing several programs that focus on assisting State entities to improve their triple bottom line through implementation of sustainable practices.
Email:christopher.pianta@tn.gov
Todd Lawrence
Director for Urban Green – Nashville, Tennessee
Country: United States of America
Title: “The Nashville Food Waste Initiative”
Abstract: The Nashville Food Waste Initiative (NFWI) works to grow policies and strategies for reducing wasted food at the city level through rescuing surplus food for those in need, recycling and composting food scraps, and preventing food waste. Started in 2015 by the Natural Resources Defense Council, and led by Urban Green Lab in partnership with the Environmental Law Institute, the NFWI is proving cities in the heartland of the U.S. can make great strides toward achieving national goals.
Biography: Todd Lawrence is executive director for Urban Green Lab in Nashville, Tennessee, which teaches communities how to live sustainably. A Nashville native, Todd spent most of his career in global public health and communication education prior to his career in environmental sustainability. He has a masters in International Development from American University.
Email: connect@urbangreenlab.org
Jennifer Jurado, Ph.D.
Chief Resilience Officer and Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Growth Management Department, Broward County – Broward, Florida
Country: United States of America
Title: “Advancing Community Resilience through Regional and Private Sector Collaboration”
Abstract: The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact was established in 2010 as a voluntary collaboration among four counties (Broward, Miami Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe) to partner in meeting the shared challenges of climate change. The Compact collaboration has led to the joint creation of planning tools, capacity building workshops, a regional climate action plan, and delivery of annual Climate Leadership Summits. More recently, engagement with the private sector has brought a new dimension to the Compact’s efforts, with a joint advocacy and focus on risk reduction and economic considerations extending to credit rating, insurance and finance. In Broward County, the engagement of business leadership has contributed to the successful adoption of resilient building standards, land use planning criteria, and funding to produce a community-wide risk assessment and infrastructure improvement plan.
Biography: Jennifer Jurado is responsible for leading climate resilience and environmental planning initiatives for Broward County, FL with a focus on urban adaptation, sustainable resource management, and clean energy strategies. For nearly two decades she has guided the integration of science to inform resilient design standards and has led multi-jurisdictional initiatives involving public-private partnerships key to large-scale initiatives. She is an original contributor to the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact and serves on the board with the American Society of Adaptation Professionals and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange.
E-mail: JJURADO@broward.org
Chairs:
Dr. Mingzhou (Ming) Jin, Dr. Wendy Tate, Dr. Tom Gill
Emails: jin@utk.edu; wendy.tate@utk.edu; tgill4@utk.edu
