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Community Corner

Thurs Dec 5, Sustainability on the Ground with Speaker Steve Nicholas

Join the Virginia Tech’s Metropolitan Institute (MI) and the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) in welcoming Steve Nicholas as the next keynote speaker in the MI+SPIA Lecture Series.
Steve recently co-authored the book, The Guide to Greening Cities, which he will discuss in his presentation. Rich in tools, insights, and tricks of the trade, this is the first book written from the perspective of municipal leaders with successful, on-the-ground experience working to advance green city goals. Through personal reflections and interviews with leading municipal staff in cities from San Antonio to Minneapolis, the book shares lessons for cities to lead by example in their operations, create programs, implement high-priority initiatives, develop partnerships, measure progress, secure funding, and engage the community.

As Vice President for U.S. Programs at the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), Steve oversees a broad portfolio of projects including the Sustainable Communities Leadership Academy (a peer-learning program to advance and accelerate urban climate solutions), and the Sustainable Communities Learning Network, a capacity building program serving about 200 cities and regions across the country that are implementing sustainable communities planning grants from the Federal Government’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Steve joined ISC as Vice President of Climate and Environment Programs in October 2008. Prior to that, he was Director of the City of Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment for eight years, where he led several urban sustainability initiatives, including the development and implementation of the Seattle Climate Protection Initiative, winner of the 2007 Innovations in American Government Award. He co-authored Seattle’s first-ever climate action plan, as well as the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which sparked a national movement of more than 940 mayors taking local action on global warming and demanding stronger federal action. He also staffed the Mayor’s Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection, led the creation of the Seattle Climate Partnership, and established the Directors’ Climate Network, a coalition of environment directors and senior climate protection staff from about 20 U.S. cities. In 1991 Steve co-founded Sustainable Seattle, a nonprofit organization promoting sustainable practices throughout the Puget Sound region. He holds a Master of Public Policy from Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a BA in Public Policy from Colby College.

RSVP at https://miplusspia-lecture-sustainabilityontheground.eventbrite.com



Thursday, December 5
6:30 to 7:30 pm (presentation); 7:30-8:00 (discussion)
Virginia Tech Research Center, 900 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, VA
East/West Falls Church Room

5 minute walk from Ballston Metro (Orange Line); On-street parking and pay parking garage available.

*MI+SPIA is a joint research venture between the Metropolitan Institute of Virginia Tech and the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs.


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