Friday, November 16, 2007

Moving on in Pima County


AAEE held its annual conference in Tucson, October 25-27, at the University of Arizona campus. Educating for Sustainability attracted over 100 educators and students. Area experts on climate change, permaculture, water conservation, and local food production offered hands-on classes and field trips that advanced participants’ knowledge about principles of sustainability. Guidelines for Excellence was held on Saturday morning to help educators identify effective environmental education materials correlated to national and state education standards.

The Conference culminated in the Livin’ la Vida Verde Festival, held in conjunction with Sunnyside Unified School District. Over seventy green vendors provided opportunities to learn about new energy and home building technologies. Honor of the Frog certificates (Green Frog News) were awarded to outstanding students and schools working on sustainability projects.
AAEE Awarded Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust Grant
The Arizona Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) received a grant of $45,000 from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust on November 16 to support conservation and environmental education in Tucson and Pima County.

During the project year, a Sustainability Coordinator will write grants to support the efforts of Sustainable Tucson.

The current funding supports a Models for Sustainability workshop to take place in Phoenix during 2008 that will feature Sustainable Tucson while inviting groups from around Arizona to come learn and to share what they are doing. The workshop will link sustainability efforts in Arizona cities and counties providing web site points of contact and downloadable resources to any community working toward sustainability goals.

AAEE will continue to provide regular professional development workshops such as Guidelines for Excellence in Environmental Education as well as other workshops and opportunities for networking that support environmental educators’ efforts to promote environmental literacy.

For more information on the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust: http://www.nmpct.org/

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Green October: Tucson's Sustainability Month

The month of October in Tucson is packed with events that focus on the city's transformation to a more sustainable place to live and work. The recognition that this activity is the beginning of what will become a lasting effort and a way of life is the shared sensibility among affiliates of Sustainable Tucson who recently attended a Special Action Meeting at the Main Library. Nearly 100 people gathered to form Affinity Groups focused on everything from water efficiency, to health and climate change impacts, to green faith initiatives in Tucson faith communities, to public education.

Affinity groups that formed will be supported by Sustainable Tucson with a list serve for each group, web space, and general support from the Core Team - a group of leaders whose focus is the administration of Sustainable Tucson and liaisons with city, county, university, and community leaders for coordinated action toward sustainability goals and objectives.

Sustainable Tucson will serve as the follow-up support to a Community Sustainability Forum organized by the City of Tucson, Pima County, University of Arizona, and Pima Association of Governments which will be held on October 31. This forum brings 150 representatives together from an array of community groups to held focus action on a few tangible goals for the next year. It is anticipated that people attending the forum will join Sustainable Tucson's affinity groups or form new ones that will come under Sustainable Tucson's supporting umbrella.

Here are links to upcoming events:

Sustainable Tucson Home Page and Calendar http://www.sustainabletucson.org/

Arizona Association for Environmental Education Fall Conference http://arizonaee.org/aaee-events/fall-conference
University of Arizona's Campus Sustainabilty Week http://www.sustainability.arizona.edu/

Community Sustainability Forum http://www.pagnet.org/calendar/SustainabilityForum/tabid/636/Default.aspx

Sustainably,
Susan

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Sustainable Tucson Special Action Meeting


Sustainable Tucson Special Action Meeting

Dear Members of Sustainable Tucson,

This past year has been an exciting one for the ST Core Team as we have presented community events, expanded our membership, and organized our efforts toward our goal of a truly sustainable Tucson. We have reached a critical juncture where we now have the capacity to expand our efforts exponentially—and we need your help to do it.

You are receiving this email because you indicated, at a meeting or elsewhere, that you’d like to stay informed and take action as a member of Sustainable Tucson. Many of you expressed interest in joining an “affinity group” that seeks to tackle a particular aspect of Tucson’s sustainability. We are now ready to activate these affinity groups. We envision the groups organizing themselves with our assistance, engaging the sustainability conversation on their topic, and launching hands-on projects. The ST Core Team will facilitate the development, integration and networking of these groups to serve ST’s mission: to help build a sustainable community for all of us.

Interested? Mark your calendars to attend Sustainable Tucson’s Affinity Group Activation meeting on the evening of Tuesday, Oct 2, 6-8 pm at the Joel Valdez (Main downtown) Library. Meet other Tucsonans as passionate about sustainability as you are! We will provide light refreshments. Please R.S.V.P. to info@sustainabletucson.org if you plan to attend so we have a head count for refreshments. There will be a Sustainable Tucson presentation of who we are, short presentations describing the different affinity topics, and a networking session to organize Affinity Group members.
The current member-generated list of affinity topics include:
Water Building Economy Education Energy
Food/Agriculture Health Transportation Faith/Spirituality

Other Affinity Groups are encouraged to form as well. If you feel a sense of leadership arising within yourself and you would like to facilitate this first session organizing a particular Affiinity Group, please reply to this email address so we can help get you set up. We do need your help..

If Affinity Groups aren’t your gig, Sustainable Tucson needs ongoing internal help with our events, website, communications and administrative operations. Simply email info@sustainabletucson.org to join in our efforts on a volunteer basis.
Other upcoming events for you to be aware of:
• Oct 2: ST Gen. meeting, Activating Affinity groups, Main Library Downtown, 6-8pm.
• Oct 14: ST Film Festival, Main Library Downtown, large meeting room, 1-5pm
• Oct 25-27: Education for Sustainability Conference
Oct 26: Public Water Conference by Water Research Resource Center, UA
• Oct 27 Livin' La Viva Verde Green Festival
• Oct 31: City of Tucson Sustainability Forum

Check out http://www.sustainabletucson.org/ for more information on these events. We appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm. We invite you and others who are interested in joining us at this critical time for Tucson’s sustainable future.


Warmest Regards, the Sustainable Tucson Core Team

Monday, July 30, 2007

Focus on Water Sustainbility

August 23, 6 p.m. at Woods Library on First Avenue in Tucson, Sustainable Tucson will sponsor a panel of experts to discuss key issues about water sustainbility in the Old Pueblo and region. To read current reports and articles go to http://www.sustainabletucson.org./

The panel discussion on August 23rd is a prequel to the address by Dr. Peter Gleick, Director of the Pacific Intitute in California, and internationally recognized scholar on water and the West and impacts of climate change:

Peter Gleick Presents Tucson Public Lecture on Sustainable Water Use

Peter Gleick will discuss innovate strategies for achieving sustainable water use at a public lecture at Temple Emanu-El, 225 N. Country Club, Tucson at 7:30 on Thursday, Aug. 30. The lecture is free and open to the public. He is co-founder and president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security.

Gleick has a Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship for his work on water issues, and the BBC named him a "visionary on the environment" in its Essential Guide to the 21st Century. He is the principal author of the recent publication, "The World's Water 2006 - 2007, The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources," published by Island Press. Sponsors of the event include Pima County, Arizona Hydrological Society, Southwest Hydrology, Southern Arizona Leadership Council and Temple Emanu-El.

Along with Southwest Hydrology, the other University of Arizona sponsors are the Water Resources Research Center and the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth. Gleick will be in Tucson participating in a regional water symposium, "Sustainable Water, Unlimited Growth, Quality of Life: Can We Have it All?," an event sponsored by the Arizona Hydrologic Society and Southwest Hydrology.

Check the symposium web site for information about the event: http://www.watersymposium.org/.

Contacts:Sharon Megdal, Water Resources Research Center, smegdal@cals.arizona.eduGregg Garfin, Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, gmgarfin@email.arizona.edu
Cas Sprout, Administrative AssociateWater Resources Research Center350 N. Campbell Tucson AZ 85721Office: 520-792-9591 ext. 55 Fax: 520-792-8518

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sustainable Tucson Summer Events


Sustainable Tucson launched a summer film and discussion series last month with a film on relocalization featurning Mike Schumann (Going Local). About 40 people attended and engaged in a brainstorming session about the local businesses in Tucson that represent the network that currently exists here and need our support.


Thursday, July 19,Woods Memorial Library, 3455 N. First Ave.6:00 pm - 7:45 pm. For more information contact Kitty at 622-0525 x251. The Community Food Bank will join Sustainable Tucson for the second of our summer films, "Broken Limbs: Apples, Agriculture and the New AmericanFarmer." Guy Evans' father is losing the family farm. To discover why,Evans sets out on a hometown journey that ultimately takes him through theglobal issues facing all of America's small farmers. Along the way, he discovers a new breed of farmer and a new hope for the future ofagriculture (2004). A discussion of the film will follow.


Education for Sustainability Conference October 25-27, 2007
This event is hosted by the Arizona Association for Environmental Education, a state-wide professional society for environmental educators (http://www.arizonaee.org/). It will take place at the University of Arizona.

Thursday night the 25th, John Overpeck, Director of the UA Institute for the Study of Planet Earth will be the keynote, talking about the need for sustainability education and climate change. Friday night, the 26th, Gary Nabhan, Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities at NAU, will be the keynote, talking about principles of sustainability education. October 26th during the day, workshops and field trips take place (permaculture, water conservation, climate change, and local food production are the four tracks of educational workshops/field trips. October 27th in the a.m. are volunteer, hands on projects implementing principles learned at the workshop, and the afternoon is a Green Festival at Mission Manor Park on 12th Avenue in conjunction with Sunnyside School District’s Make a Difference Day volunteer projects in their district. We encouraged the 25 schools to do green projects in the morning.

Contact for Info: Jessi Williams, jessiwilliams@hotmail.com; Floyd Gray (President of AAEE), domino_gray@hotmail.com. Contact for the Green Festival (Viva Verde! A Green Festival for Kids and the Kid in You): susanleewilliams@cox.net.


October 24th: Campus Sustainability Day at UA: contact Jackie Moxley at the AZ Water Research and Resource Center. http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/
Jackie Moxley, Program Coordinator - WRRC520-792-9591 ext.17 jmoxley@ag.arizona.edu

"Community Conversation on Water"Friday, October 26, 2007

Approximate Time: 8:30 to 2:30 Doubletree Hotel (445 S. Alvernon, Tucson, Arizona).


This event will be an important opportunity to learn, listen and participatein a discussion on water resource issues in the Tucson regionThe “Community Conversation” is being organized by:The University of Arizona, Water Resources Research CenterArizona Department of Water Resource, Tucson Active Management AreaPima Association of Governments


Monday, May 28, 2007

Sustainable Tucson in Summer Mode with Film and Discussion Nigths


Summertime and the living is easy!
Himmel Library Film Nights!
1035 N. Treat Ave.
Organic popcorn, great documentary, savory discussion! Join us to learn more about the issues!
6 to 7:45 pm
Thursday, June 21
The film is “Relocalization and the SmallMart Revolution” by Michael Shuman: a comprehensive introduction to relocalization - solutions for strengthening small businesses and community economics.
Next Film Nights:
Monday, July 23 TBA
Thursday, Aug. 16 TBA

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Moving into Summer Mode in the Old Pueblo


Sustainable Tucson continues to gain new members. Each General Meeting brings more people who have heard about a group for them that is forming a network to support the transition of Tucson to a sustainable city and region. This summer Affinity Groups are working on:
  • Youth involvement in sustainability;

  • PowerPoint and Speaker's Bureau for "Steps to Sustainability;"

  • Training by Nature Conservancy of Green Audit teams;

  • Film and Discussion nights;

  • Education for Sustainability Conference (AAEE sponsored) at UA campus in October;

  • Water Forum with Peter Gleick (co-hosted with the UA Water Research Resource Center and the Southern Arizona Leadership Conference) August 30;

  • The first annual Tucson Green Festival (October 27).

The recent Tucson Regional Town Meeting brought with it the realization that much work needs to be done to reconsider assumptions we have made in the past about water and growth. Sustainable Tucson will continue to work with government, business and the community to craft a realistic vision of the future for our city. We envision water harvesting city-wide, refitting older homes for greater energy efficiency, increased local food production, new forms of local economy and a sweeping revamp of the transportation plan.

AAEE applied for funding to the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust to support projects resulting from the Arizona Crossroads Summit. Sustainable Tucson applied for a full-time coordinator position to support the rapid growth of the network and put it on firmer administrative and financial ground for the long-term.

Sustainable Tucson will meet with the Sierra Club's Cool Cities group on May 21 at 6 pm at Himmel Library to discuss how we can work collaboratively for mutual goals.

Next meeting: May 24, Thursday, 4-6 pm at Ward VI offices on Anderson at 1st (behind Rum Runner), one block south of Speedway just east of Country Club. Youth will present projects, and plans for sustainability in Tucson. Come celebrate the work of young leaders, network with other sustain-ers and pick up the summer schedule of meetings and events.

www.sustainabletucson.org

Susan



Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Moving on and stepping into summer mode....


Sustainable Tucson (ST) continues to grow in affiliates by leaps and bounds. The tipping point in citizen's interest and action was passed in a flurry sometime early this year. Last night at Ward VI offices about 50 people attended, each involved or keenly interested in achieving on the ground projects from making their own home greener to presenting at conferences.


ST is changing over to summer mode with film, potluck chat groups, neighborhood gatherings, and four specific projects for the hotter months when working inside is tolerable:


  • PowerPoint and Speaker's Bureau team training on Steps into Sustainability;

  • Green Audit Training by The Nature Conservancy volunteers for an ST Green Audit Team to help families and businesses assess how to get started reducing their ecological footprint;

  • Planning for the August Water Forum co-hosted by ST with UA Water Research Resources Center and the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, bringing Peter Gleick from the Pacific Institute to a public forum on water and climate change;

  • Planning for Education for Sustainability Conference in October sponsored by the Arizona Association for Environmental Education, UA Campus Sustainability Office and ST.

Check the website for more activities taking place within affinity groups that are forming around specific issues: www.sustainabletucson.org.


Sustainably,


Susan

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Affinity Groups Form in Sustainable Tucson


Sustainable Tucson's evolution continues to unfold through the actions of Affinity Groups that share common goals.

The Youth Involvement group is exploring ways that youth can train and be hired to accomplish key sustainability goals: 1.) learn about watershed management and the role of waterharvesting and be hired as a water harvester for neighborhood water conservation; 2.) train and be hired in construction skills to retrofit older homes in Tucson that could become more energy efficient with modest renovations. We are meeting with the City of Tucson to explore funding to develop these and other projects that link groups that share mutural outcomes.

The Water affinity Group is exploring a partnership with the University of Arizona and other municpal groups to host Peter Gleick from California for several meetings to help our community and region reconsider its water management rules and regs in light of the emerging global warming/climate change scenarios for our region.
Membership Group
Sustainable Tucson is actively recruiting an Office Coordinator to help us manage the emerging level of activity and need to link people and groups by phone, email and meetings: http://www.volunteersolutions.org/vctucson/org/opp/10234237204.html

Public Education Affinity Group
We hosted a table at the Peace Fair in Tucson and attracted a diverse group of organizations and individuals to our next general meeting. We will participate in the Global Warming Rally at U of A on April 14, Earth Day on April 21, and the Tucson Solar Cook Off on the 28th of April. Each of these events will give us opportunities to alert the public to the coalition and invite them to our next meeting or to explore the wesite: www.sustainabletucson.org

The Arts and Lecture Series will feature Tom Greco, author and economist, on March 13, Tuesday from 6 pm - 8 pm at the El Ojito Springs Center for Creativity. Tom will describe new ways of working with the concept of money that create sustainble local economies. Music and food and drink from 6-7 pm, address from 7-8 pm followed by Q&A. The Center is located two blocks south of Cushing St. on Stone Avenue. http://www.elojitosprings.com/ Come visit Sustaianble Tucson's adopted "clubhouse".

Our next General Meeting is:
Sustainable Tucson
March 20, Tuesday
4 pm-6 pm
Councilwoman Karen Uhlich's Offices
Ward III
1510 E. Grant Rd.
Tucson, AZ
Program:
Dennis Dickerson
Pima Association of Govenments
Indicator Reports & Q&A
Networking
Sustainable Tucson continues to grow as people in our community become aware of the challenges we face together to make sure we act now for the youngsters in our midst, and those to come, to assure they can enjoy the beauty and abundance of the Old Pueblo as so many generations have been privileged to experience over the centuries.

Respectfully,
Susan


Friday, February 16, 2007

Sustainable Tucson Focus on Water Conservation

February 15 General Meeting Notes

Sustainable Tucson's General Meetings are a time to learn and to discuss issues as well as network and get to know members of this large and growing coaltion of groups and citizens.

About 50 people gathered at Councilwoman Nina Trasoff's Ward VI offices. Members of the coalition delivered short descriptions of groups forming to accomplish common objectives of sustainability (water conservation, alternative transportation, food security, youth education, public education, business opportunities, greening the built environment, etc.)

Focus on Water Conservation
Fernando Molina, Director of Conservation at Tucson Water, delivered a summary of Tucson's water future. He described the City's current strategies to secure water for the future.

His presentation followed Melanie Lenart's discussion of the IPCC's February 2 Report to Policy Makers on Climate Change. Melanie represented the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at UA. Tucson faces increasing average temperatures as a long-term drought continues and will intensify.

Brad Lancaster, Rainwater Harvesting in Drylands, summarized the most important actions citizens can make and that the coalition can support. During the Q&A that followed, it became apparent that we must be proactive to conserve as much groundwater as possible and be prepared for the liklihood that the CAP supply will be not be the steady source now projected, but subject to decline with years of drought and related decreased precipitation/snow melt.

Coalition members brought up the need to curb growth as a key part of the solution. Guy McPherson described the problems we face as a community (growth, food security, water supply) as the "elephant in the room."

An important connection between engaging youth to be a part of the solution and water conservation was offered by Patty Weiss, who suggested we seize the moment and engage the high schools whose mission includes community service experience. Patty offered that youth can be trained and then hired to help us implement the simple actions suggested by Lancaster that will decrease residents use of potable water for irrigation (which Molina noted is 60% of residential use of water). This offers youth opportunities to learn about water management, science and appropriate technologies AND earn some income.

Using rainwater exclusively for irrigations of trees, plants and gardens through landscaping and rainwater harvesting principles makes sense. The control of flood waters that now gush down paved streets can be redirected to irrigate fruit-bearing, trees that also cool the built environment for an integrated approach to managing the effects of drought. These kinds of projects can be done by neighborhoods creating community along the way.

Following the discussion, Sustainble Tucson sponsored a networking hour with opportunities to join many Affinity Groups that are engaged in projects ranging from food security to permaculture to building codes. ST'smembership team produced an Interest Card to begin to build a data base that will help us facilitate the work of our members.

This is the fourth general meeting called by Sustainable Tucson (October 17, December 12 2006 & January 17 and February 15, 2007). In January we heard from the City of Tucson's Office of Sustainablity and Conservation and Pima County's Department of Environmental Quality.


See www.sustainabletucson.org for more information and to joint the coalition.

Our next meeting is March 6, Tuesday from 4-6 pm. Location and program to be announced.

On the trail together,
Susan

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Sustainable Tucson Forms Core Team

Sustainable Tucson
Next General Meeting
February 15, Thursday
4-6 pm
Ward Six Office
3202 East 1st Street
Phone: (520) 791-4601

Tucson Trail Notes
During January Sustainable Tucson moved forward using a natural systems model, ACORN, to form a Core Team of volunteers who agreed to work together weekly and to assume responsbility for guiding the forming coalition to transform our bioregion into one that thrives economically and equitably withing the natural resources of the upland desert and the subregions of the Sonoran Desert.

On January 9, Leslie Liberti (Director of the City of Tucson Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development) and Beth Gorman (Program Coordinator at the Department of Environmental Quality for Pima County) gave short presentations updating the coalition of current and future projects that will impact how sustainble Tucson and the surrounding communities become. Both women suggested ways that the coalition can help them gain the cooperation of their respective governing council and board to achieve their objectives. Members of the coalition raised concerns about cooperation between government and the private citizen and what the city and county have planned for meeting the Peak Oil crisis.

Following the general meeting, the Core Team met at Stone Curves on January 16th. Fifteen leaders in green building, permaculture, faith-based environmental coalitions, water conservation, sustainable economies, education, neighborhood development and other disciplines met for two hours. It was agreed that the team will meet on Wednesday evenings to map out the direction of the coalition's work based on feedback and participation of the whole coalition. The next meeting is Wednesday, January 24 from 7-9 pm. If you are interested in being part of the Core Team, please contact Susan Williams through this blog using the comment feature at the end of this article, or by contacting Sustainable Tucson at the link below.

Sustainable Tucson is a melding of an exisiting coalition by the same name which began in early 2006 under the umbrella of Nest, Inc. - a community development non-profit in Tucson that sponsors citizen initiatives for improving community life. Bob Cook, President of Nest, and Linianne Sarno of Sustainable Tucson began the work of establising relationships with numerous individuals and groups working for water conservation, new building codes and other issues related to sustainability. For the past eight months Sustainable Tucson has worked to establish a web site and formalize operations. www.sustainabletucson.org.

In October of 2006, the Arizona Association for Environmental Education held a meeting in Tucson calling for a diverse coalition to galvanize all the separate efforts toward sustainability (University of Arizona, City of Tucson, Pima County, environmental and education institutions, faith-communities, neighborhoods and business communities). The meeting was one of three sponsored by AAEE in Arizona as follow-up to the April 2006 Arizona Crossroads Summit on sustainability held at the Heard Museum and supported with a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

The AAEE-led coalition has now melded with Sustainable Tucson to create a coalition that currently represents over two hundred organizations and individuals. We are officially called Sustainable Tucson.

Other Accomplishments:




  • In December AAEE and Sustainble Tucson wrote a letter of support to the Arizona Water Institute for an application by UA Campus Sustainbility Office to fund an intern position that would link UA sustainability efforts with those of Sustainble Tucson. We learned last week that the position was funded. Over the next week students at UA will be interviewed. Hopefully the intern will begin working with us in early February.

  • The Web Team headed up by Bob Cook and Communications Team led by Tom Greco have both met twice over the last two weeks. The web site is currently being populated with articles, events and more information for the public and for anyone interested in joining our efforts.

  • Suzanne Dhruv, Director of the Ironwood Tree Experience, offered to lead a Youth and Education Team that will bring resources to involve teens in all aspects of the coalition's work. This group will meet February 6, 4:30pm at Prescott College in Tucson, at 2233 East Speedway (northside Speedway between Tucson Blvd. and Campbell Avenue).

  • A Letter of Inquiry to the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona from Nest, Inc. was sumitted for the Spring Grant round to help fund operations for Sustainble Tucson.





  • AAEE has planned a conference on Education for Sustainablity for the weekend of September 28, 2007. More on location and workshops is upcoming here on this blog and on the AAEE web site: www.arizonaee.org


**Check this blog for other sustainability projects in Arizona.



Susan