The site is attracting urban planners, web programmers, city agency employees and more, all of whom collectively discuss issues confronting the cities they live in and devise ways to address them with open technologies common to the web.

DIYcity has local groups sprouting up in New York City, Portland, Oregon, Sao Paulo Brazil, Copenhagen, and many more. The organization plans to host meetups simultaneously in many of these cities in December, to build and launch free web applications for use by residents.

Please check out the site and get involved. Everyone interested is welcome to join and participate in the conversation getting under way there.

http://diycity.org

New features include:

• a better appearance - our banner has no distortion, we have more pictures of beautiful sustainable cities and the posts are easier to read and comment on;
• more succinct categories and pages - less tags with more clarity of topic, each category now comes with an explanation of what they mean; and
• added “register” and “log in” links at the top of the screen to allow you to register or sign in more quickly to post your environmental initiatives online!

SustainableCitiesNet strongly encourages people and organisations in cities around the world to post their urban sustainable initiatives directly online. In spirit with our goal “to deliver information, to connect people and projects, to accelerate the city’s sustainable transformation” please post your sustainable initiatives today!

Australia’s Strategic Futures

What are the key drivers that will shape Australia’s strategic environment in the first half of the twenty-first centry? How will these drivers impact on the framework within whihc Australia’s future military capabilities and force structures are developed? This conference brings together a range of experts from academia, government, and the private sector to analyse these key questions. Inspired by the scenario building and futures analysis of the US National Intelligence Council and the UK’s Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, the conference will discuss a range of global and regional issues and themes that will influence Australia’s strategic environment over the next two three decades and how important these might shape Australia’s capability development.

Date: 1-2 October 2008,
Time: 8.45am - 5.00pm
Location: Adelaide Town Hall, King William Street, Adelaide.

Speakers include: Professor Hugh White, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU; Dr Paul Monk, Director AUSTHINK; Mr Rory Medcalf, Lowy Institute for International Policy; Professor Mark Phythian, University of Leicester.

For information about the conference, including the program, maps to the venue, registration form, and abstracts as they become available, see our website http://fiap.flinders.edu.au/ASF.html.

If you have any enquiries please contact Mary Lyons:
Phone: 8201 5115 or
Email: mary.lyons @flinders.edu.au

BACKGROUND
Integrated Assessment of Global Environmental Change Many aspects of our planet are changing rapidly due to human activity. Over the last 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in other comparable period of time. All these changes, including climate change, land use change, pollution and biodiversity loss are
strongly interrelated and cannot be seen in isolation. Because their impacts influence the entire planet, the combined changes are commonly recognized as global environmental change.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE
To study and understand the causes of global change and possible responses and to learn how to use scientific information in Integrated Assessments. The course is not only meant to discuss the latest scientific findings on global change issues, but also to train skills that are needed for making this knowledge available for policy making

FOR WHOM?
This multidisciplinary course is especially intended for PhD students from the natural and social sciences.

WHERE AND WHEN?
The summer course will be held 9-16 November 2008, at a central location in the Netherlands.

PROGRAM
The course will consist of lectures by prominent international scientists, model exercises and exercises in writing texts for Integrated Assessments. Besides the regular lectures, each day will end with a stimulating aperitif lecture, which will include controversial and philosophical topics. Active discussion with the lecturers will be stimulated by asking participants to prepare propositions for each lecture. Interaction with lecturers and fellow participants will be further stimulated by poster presentations.

Finally, a small group assignment will encourage discussion the lectures, guided by topical questions. The study load is equivalent to 3 credits (ECTS).

APPLICATION
The course is primarily intended for PhD student, and is limited to 30 participants. However, motivated post-docs and other researchers are also encouraged to apply.

You can send your application to the SENSE Education Desk (educationdesk@sense.nl) before 1 September 2008., including:

1. Your Name
2. Name and address of research group
3. Status: PhD student/ postdoc/ other
4. If applicable: graduate school name
5. a short motivation letter, and
6. CV

After a selection procedure, you will be notified about participation by September 2008. You can also register online http://www.sense.nl/courses/course/S340.

FEE
The course fee is EUR 500, except for PhD students from the Research Schools SENSE, PE&RC and Mansholt with an approved Education Plan (TSP), for whom the fee is EUR 350. For a few participants from developing countries the fee may be waived. Fee includes B&B, coffee, tea, lunches, dinners and course materials.

INVITED SPEAKERS

• Rik Leemans, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
• Robert T. Watson, University of East Anglia, UK
• Ekko Van Ierland, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
• Frans Berkhout, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Pavel Kabat, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
• Carolien Kroeze, Wageningen University
• And many others

ORGANIZED BY
SENSE Research School for the Natural and Socio-Economic Sciences of the Environment (www.sense.nl)

FURTHER INFORMATION
Lindsey Wuisan
Environmental Systems Analysis Group
Wageningen University, The Netherlands
lindsey.wuisan@wur.nl

Date: June 24, 2008 — Updated 1427 GMT (2227 HKT)
Beijing embraces Brave New World of buildings
By Stephanie Busari, For CNN, URL

LONDON, England (CNN) — China’s new found wealth has seen an explosion in the number of new developments springing up in what is, arguably, the world’s biggest building boom.
The construction of the Linked Hybrid project is underway in Beijing.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Beijing, which has transformed into a virtual construction zone as the city undergoes an Olympic makeover.

Once a flat cityscape in the shadow of the formidable Forbidden City, Beijing has been struck by skyscraper fever.

The city is now an architect’s playground with foreign “starchitects,” like Norman Foster flocking to the country armed with individual creations that push aesthetic and technological boundaries.

And the latest addition to the Beijing skyline is no exception.

Standing on the edge of the former site of the city’s historic walls are a series of eight asymmetrical towers that bestride the smog-laden landscape like a colossus.

Dubbed the Beijing Linked Hybrid, this architectural maverick has certainly pushed the design envelope to its very limit.

The brainchild of New York architect Steven Holl, the mixed-use unit is a ring of eight 21-story towers, linked at the 20th floor by gently sloping public sky bridges, lined with galleries, cafes, restaurants, bars and shops.

The development has been widely praised for its forward thinking sustainable design that includes a waste water recycling plant that sits beneath the complex and one of the world’s largest geothermal systems, which eliminates the need for boilers or electrical air conditioners.

Attitudes to conservation and water consumption
Bill Randolph and Patrick Troy / City Futures Research Centre
Posted: 18-07-2008
Link: http://www.apo.org.au/linkboard/results.chtml?filename_num=221820

Sydney’s water supply is under great pressure as the demand continues to rise. Demand mitigation strategies have had some success, but domestic consumption remains high. This paper discusses the attitudes of households to their water consumption in a search for ways in which domestic demand for water may be reduced. Evidence on attitudes of households in different kinds of housing was obtained using a telephone interview survey supplemented by information derived from focus groups drawn from households in the same areas. The information was collected in a period when strong water use restrictions were in place and major arguments were being mounted in favour of water pricing as a way of moderating demand. The paper argues that the complexity of the forces shaping demand needs to be understood in the context of the socio-demographic composition of households in different kinds of dwellings, as well as the cultural, behavioural and institutional aspects of consumption, if public policy is to be successful in reducing consumption and/or providing alternative domestic supplies of potable water.

Full Text [pdf]

When: April 18-19, 2009
Where: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
What: Join 2,500 conference participants for a stimulating international conference
As Featured On CNN: The Unite For Sight Conference Is What CNN Calls “A Meeting Of Minds”

NOW OPEN: Registration and Abstract Submission http://www.uniteforsight.org/conference
First abstract deadline is August 15 (oral presentation deadline and early bird poster presentation deadline).

200 Speakers, Including Keynote Addresses by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs and Dr. Sonia Sachs
Register For Conference: REGISTER BY JULY 31 TO SECURE LOWEST RATE. Rate escalates each month.
Who is eligible to submit an abstract? Anyone may submit an abstract. Abstract submitters range from students to professionals.
Who should attend? Anyone interested in international health, public health, international development, medicine, nonprofits, eye care, philanthropy, microfinance, social entrepreneurship, bioethics, economics, anthropology, health policy, advocacy, environmental health, service-learning, medical education, and public service.

Keynote Addresses

• Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Director of Earth Institute at Columbia University; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University; Special Advisor to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon
• Sonia Sachs, MD, MPH, Health Coordinator, Millennium Villages

200 Featured Speakers (Listed Below Are The Speakers Confirmed Thus Far)

• Sam Abbenyi, MD, MSc, Director, Programs and Logistics, International Trachoma Initiative
• Jane Aronson, MD, Director, International Pediatric Health Services; Founder and Executive Executive Officer, Worldwide Orphans Foundation (WWO); Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Thomas Baah, MD, MSc, Ophthalmologist, Our Lady of Grace Hospital, Ghana
• Richard Baraniuk, PhD, Founder, Connexions; Victor E. Cameron Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University
• Paul Berman, OD, FAAO, Senior Global Clinical Advisor and Founder, Special Olympics Lions Clubs, International Opening Eyes
• David Bloom, Chair, Department of Global Health and Population; Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health
• Peter Bourne, MA, MD, Visiting Scholar, Oxford University; Vice Chancellor Emeritus, St. George’s University; Formerly Special Assistant to the President of the United States for Health Issues; Chair, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC)
• Ronald Braswell, MD, MS, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alabama-Birmingham
• Harry Brown, MD, Founder, Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International
• Richard Bucala, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine
• James Clarke, MD, Ophthalmologist and Medical Director, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana
• Emmanuel d’Harcourt, Senior Child Survival Technical Advisor, International Rescue Committee
• Margaret Duah-Mensah, RN, ON, Ophthalmic Nurse, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana
• Dabney Evans, MPH, Executive Director, Emory University Institute of Human Rights; Lecturer, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
• Susan Forster, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Medical Studies, Department of Ophthalmology, Yale School of Medicine; Chief, Ophthalmology, Yale University Health Services
• Stanley O. Foster, MD, MPH, Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
• James Fraser, MA, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Dignitas International
• Ulrick Gaillard, JD, CEO, The Batey Relief Alliance
• Gannon Gillespie, Director of US Operations, Tostan
• Susan Hayes, MD, President and CEO, Interplast
• Scott Hillstrom, Chairman of the Board, CEO and Co-Founder, HealthStore Foundation
• Samuel Ho, MD, Lui Hac Minh Professor of Surgery; Director, Asian Liver Center; Director, Liver Cancer Program, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Debbie Humphries, MPH, PhD, Clinical Instructor, Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Social and Behavioral Sciences Program, Yale University School of Medicine
• Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena, PhD, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
• Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD, Assistant Professor in Public Health Practice, Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health
• Karen King, MA, Elementary School Teacher, Reed Intermediate School; Unite For Sight Volunteer in Accra, Ghana
• Laura Murray-Kolb, PhD, Assistant Professor, Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Jamie Lachman, Clowns Without Borders
• Doug Lawrence, Vice President/General Manager, BD Medical - Ophthalmic Systems
• Robert Lawrence, MD, Center for A Livable future Professor; Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Health Policy & International Health; Director, Center for a Livable Future, Department of Environmental Health Sciences; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Robert Malkin, PhD, Professor of Practice of Biomedical Engineering Director, Duke-Engineering World Health, Duke University
• Charles MacCormack, PhD, President and CEO, Save The Children
• John McGoldrick, JD, Senior Vice President, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)
• Michelle McMurry, Director, Health, Biomedical Science and Society Initiative, The Aspen Institute
• Benjamin Mason Meier, JD, LLM, MPhil, Public Health Law Project Manager, Center for Health Policy, IGERT-International Development and Globalization Fellow, Columbia University
• Carol McLaughlin, MD, MPH, Global Health, Center for High Impact Philanthropy, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania
• Mini Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Science and Community Health, Program Director Global Health, New York Medical College School of Public Health
• Neal Nathanson, MD, Associate Dean, Global Health Programs, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
• Edward O’Neil, Jr, MD, Omni Med
• Santa Ono, PhD, Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives and Deputy Provost of Emory University; Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Emory Eye Center
• Robin Paetzold, MBA, Director, Global Programs, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
• Steven C. Phillips, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Global Issues and Projects, Exxon Mobil Corporation
• Suzanne Rainey, Forum One Communications
• Susan Reef, MD, CDC
• Steven Rothstein, President, Perkins School For The Blind
• Lisa Russell, MPH, Filmmaker
• Jinan Saaddine, MD, MPH, Medical Epidemiologist, Vision Health Initiative Team Leader, Division of Diabetes Translation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, Director of Earth Institute at Columbia University; Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University; Special Advisor to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon
• Sonia Ehrlich Sachs, MD, MPH, Health Coordinator, Millennium Village Project
• Sarwat Salim, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Tennessee-Memphis
• Sarang Samal, Kalinga Eye Hospital, Orissa, India
• Shlomit Sandler, MD, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
• Harshad Sanghvi, MD, Medical Director, JHPIEGO, Johns Hopkins University
• Howard Schiffer, President and Founder, Vitamin Angels
• Daniel D. Sedmak, MD, Director, Office of Global Health Education; Executive Vice Dean, College of Medicine; Executive Director, Center for Personalized Health care; Senior Associate Vice President, Office of Health Sciences, The Ohio State University
• Bruce Shields, MD, Chair Emeritus, Yale Department of Ophthalmology
• Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH, Professor of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine
• Ajit Sinha, MBBS, Founder and Director, AB Eye Institute; Former President, All India Ophthalmological Society
• Pooja Sinha, MBBS, Ophthalmologist, AB Eye Institute, Patna, India
• Satyajit Sinha, MBBS, Ophthalmologist, AB Eye Institute, Patna, India
• D. Scott Smith, MD, MSc, DTM&H, Chief of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Kaiser Redwood City Hospital
• Janice K. Smith, MD, MPH, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Training in International Health at UTMB
• Georgia Sambunaris, MA, Senior Financial Markets Specialist, USAID
• Chris Stout, PsyD, Founding Director, Center for Global Initiatives; Clinical Professor, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago
• James C. Tsai, MD, Robert R. Young Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine; Chief of Ophthalmology, Yale-New Haven Hospital
• Philippe Van Denbossche, Executive Director, Raising Malawi
• Harold Varmus, MD, President and Chief Executive, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Former Director of the NIH; Nobel Prize Recipient
• Seth Wanye, MD, Ophthalmologist, Eye Clinic of Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana
• Tanya Whitehead, PhD, Research Associate Professor, University of Missouri - Kansas City
• David Zakus, BSc, MES, MSc, PhD, Director, Centre for International Health; Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences; Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• Debrework Zewdie, Director, Global HIV/AIDS Program of the World Bank Human Development Network World Bank

Robert Coombs is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Pacific division of InterfaceFLOR, Australia’s leading manufacturer of commercial interior products. Hear about InterfaceFLOR’s journey to becoming Australia’s first manufacturing company to have 100% of its products Climate Neutral.

Places are limited, so book now to secure your spot!

Leading Green Thinkers Roadshow August 2008

Leading Green Thinkers Sydney Monday 11 August
When: Monday 11 August 2008
Where: Watersedge, Pier 1, 11 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay
Time: 5:15pm-8:00pm (Light refreshments from 7-8pm)
RSVP: Thursday 7 August 2008

Leading Green Thinkers Melbourne Wednesday 13 August
When: Wednesday 13 August 2008
Where: Sofitel Melbourne, Arthur Streeton Auditorium, Collins St
Time: 5:15pm-8:00pm (Light refreshments from 7-8pm)
RSVP: Friday 8 August 2008

Leading Green Thinkers Brisbane Wednesday 27 August
When: Wednesday 27 August 2008
Where: Brisbane City Hall, King Georges Square
Time: 5:15pm-8:00pm (Light refreshments from 7-8pm)
RSVP: Friday 22 August 2008

Ticket Prices

• $65 for GBCA Members
• $90 for Non-Members
• $40 for Future Green Leaders Members

Book Online!
Registrations for GBCA events are now online, please visit the Green Building Council Australia website to register. If you are having problems logging in, please read the login guide for assistance

International and Australian authorities will present keynote topics in their respective fields of expertise. Subject categories will include:
Built Environment
Carbon Trading
Climate Change Science
Clean and/or Renewable Energy
Ecological Sustainable Development
Energy and/or Water Security
Energy Efficient Building Design
Water & Energy Conservation
Environmental Engineering
Exhibitor Product Launch
Government Policy
Low Emission Technology
New Inventions
Permaculture Design
Sustainable Cities
Sustainable Product Design

Steps to apply to present a seminar at Green TECH 08:
Email your seminar title, a brief overview and biodata to: info @greentechshow.com.au (include any website details)
On our review and acceptance you will be required to fill in a Confirmation Form.
Submission deadline: September 30, 2008

Review GREX 07 speakers here: http://www.grex.com.au/conferenceinfo.shtml