Posts Tagged ‘Sustainability Summit’

Links to some other stuff…

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Got City Game wrapped up their first season this week.  Set in Cleveland, Got City Game is an online reality show that draws the viewer in by asking you to vote and by giving away great prizes!  The season my be over, but you can catch up on all the action on their site.  The Plain Dealer did a great piece on them as well.

The Cleveland Sustainability Summit Design Committee met last Thursday to start planning our our 2010 Summit.  It was a great day for me.  I am always left feeling enthusiastic about the possibilities that abound for Cleveland and NE Ohio when you get a bunch of  like minded individuals in one room to talk about what we can do.  The outcome groups all seem to be progressing well, and I can’t wait to see what comes from the summit this year… It is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, September 22nd and 23rd with a public day on Friday the 24th as we roll into Ingenuity Fest.  What a great week that is gonna be!

The Plain Dealer has finally gotten into the fray on the I-90 bridge.  Hopefully the video I posted last week that is making a splash on You Tube and around the net has gotten more citizens involved.  That video was made by local folks and some of the people involved are members of the transportation working group from last year’s summit.  They weren’t kidding when they called them “working groups” as since the summit many folks are putting their nose to the grindstone to promote sustainable ideas around town.

Did you know that we are getting our first “gasification” power plant?  You can read the basic story here and the longer story here.  But the gist is this:  Cleveland is going to build a power plant that turns organic waste into burnable fuel.  That fuel will then be used to create electricity.  It is considered a green technology and I can’t wait to see how this plays out.  We started a pilot program to collect compost able food waste at some areas of the city, so will we be using this?  Or could we be putting our other solid waste to work?  Bottom line we will be putting 100 PEOPLE to work and producing 6% of CPP’s peak power load.  If it turns out to be profitable, maybe we will be the first city to turn all our waste into electricity…

This is for the birds!  and the bats.  The Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force may be getting one step closer to our off shore wind farm.  They are studying bird migration patterns to make sure that we consider wildlife when we build our wind farm.  More at the Plain Dealer.  More than just a source of electricity, an off shore wind farm could be the source of a whole new future for Cleveland.  Sure we will get clean electrical power, sure jobs will be created to build and maintain turbines and their parts, but what may be more important than any of that would be the change in perception created by an off shore wind farm.  The city that does it first will be recognized across the country, and also get attention around the globe.  Becoming the City of the Wind could wipe away the stain of the burning river and attract business to the region.  We are a cool city, but if we so cool that we have a wind farm, them maybe we could have the new Apple Headquarters?  Imagine how much we could lease offices for (and what cool company would want them) if they overlooked a beautiful blue lake filled with spinning blades.

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So many events…so little time…. I love Cleveland!

Friday, February 5th, 2010

I am looking at my calendar and trying to get caught up on some things before it gets too hectic.

Monday ( Feb 8th) I am attending a meeting of the Lake Erie Moose Society.   The Lake Erie Moose Society fosters camaraderie and shares technical advice among NEO Bloggers of all experience levels.  The meeting is at least once a month.  Monday it is at the Barking Spider Tavern at CWRU.  If you are a blogger or thinking about starting one, this is a great group of folks.  I always learn something new, and I have new friends because of this group.

Tuesday night (Feb 9) is the wrap party for Got City Game.  If you don’t know what this is, then you are missing out.  The idea was to promote some of the truly cool things about Cleveland by creating a reality tv show.  We here in Cleveland don’t go for the mainstream, so why not put it out on the web, so everyone can see how cool the NE Ohio region is.  I am so proud of the producers and what they have done with this program.  Tuesday night we will find out who won the scholarship prizes and who won the grand prize-a year of rent free living in Tremont and gift certificates to all the major entertainment attractions around town…  Stop by the Barley  House and find out how you might be involved in the next season, and catch up on all the past episodes online atGot City Game.

Thursday (Feb 11) is a big day.  I will be spending the day at CWRU with the rest of the design committee to help plan out the next Sustainability Summit.  We will be mapping out next year’s summit, reporting on progress from last years summit, and planning the strategic communications for our groups.  Thursday evening is the launch party for Endure, an online exhibition for Red Dot Project.  I am proud to be a fetured artist in the exhibit and can’t wait to see some of the work by other artists.  The evening runs from 5-7pm at environments 4 business, at 515 euclid.  Stop by for a nibble and see some cool art.  My work is all photography on canvas, so I am eager to hear what people have to say about it.  The show will be online shopreddotproject.org through March.

Tuesday of the following week (Feb 16th) is the networking event at E4S, Entrepreneurs for Sustainability. This month’s topic is UNIVERSITIES PUTTING SUSTAINABILITY TO WORK:

Join the E4S Network in February to learn how Northeast Ohio universities are implementing sustainable business practices in their buildings, operations, research, and curriculum. From innovative energy efficiency projects, to green buildings, to cafeteria`s filled with local food, universities in the region are leading the way towards a sustainable economy.

But what else might be possible if all 27 NEO universities – with over 200,000 students and an annual budget of nearly $3 billion – worked together to have an even greater impact? Join the dialog with our panel of sustainability experts from local universities as we explore the present and future of sustainability in higher education.

It is a great group and I encourage you to come and check it out.

Then on Wednesday I am attending a meeting at the Cleveland Film Society.  I am very excited about participating in the Cleveland International Film Festival this year.  This is only my second year, but I had such a great time last year, that I can’t wait for this season to begin!  If you have some time on your hands, I encourage you to give them a call at 216.623.3456 or to sign up online.  When you volunteer you can help out a great cause and you just might get to see a movie that will change your life.  I saw a couple last year that really made me change the way i look at the world, and I hear that this year’s line up is shaping up to be even better!  If you just want to attend, then think about getting an all access pass.  You can see a ton of movie for a great price, and you get lots of perks when you go this route too!  See the trailer and other videos on You Tube.

On Thursday (Feb 18th) is the Social Media Club monthly meeting.  It is another great group and discusses all kinds of ways to use social media to enrich your life.  If you are interested in learning more about twitter, Facebook, or other social media try attending this event of folks who love this form of communication.

Then on Friday (Feb 19th) is the 78th Street Studios Third Friday event.  I always enjoy myself when I go here.   There are tons of great artists to see and so much in one location.  Perfect for those blustry winter evenings when walking the streets of Tremont is a cold proposition:

The hottest new arts center on the west side of Cleveland housed in the former American Greetings Creative Studios building between W 78th and W 80th Streets. Stop in to explore this eclectic mix of world class art galleries, studios, and creative businesses anchoring the west end of Gordon Square Arts District!

You can find them at 1300 W 78th St. or get the mat at their website.

What are YOU doing over the next couple of weeks?  If you have a great event to add, put it here in the comments section!!

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More from Andrew Watterson…

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

In case you do not know, Cleveland has a Chief of Sustainability. His name is Andrew Watterson and he reports directly to the Mayor. He was integral in putting together the Sustainability Summit last August and in developing next year’s summit. He sends out a newsletter to members of the summit, and keeps informed about goings on in Cleveland as it pertains to being a Green City on a Blue Lake. Here are some of the things that you should know from this week:

Cleveland is getting a lot of press for its endeveours to get energy from the wind. If you haven’t see these articles, check out
“Ohio awards $13 million for wind and solar projects”: by John Funk
“Lake Erie wind turbine project spreads beyond Cuyahoga County”: by John Funk and
“NorTech carves out role in promoting advanced energy projects”: by Tom Breckenridge

If you aren’t following the Green City Blue Lake blog, you are missing out! They maintain a calendar of events, and there is a great article on the proposed new I-90 bridge, and the efforts of some citizens to add bicycle and pedestrian access. some say it is a crazy idea, as it is a freeway bridge, but that is simply not true! There are nearly 30 other bridges doing the same thing around the country. There is a rally in Lincoln Park tomorrow (Dec 6) at 2pm, and I hope to see you there!

If you haven’t heard, President Obama is going to do what Bush didn’t do, and that is meet with leaders from around the globe to talk about climate change. The event will be held in Copenhagen, and Obama will be in good company. Also in attendance will be our very own Matt Zone, who will represent Cleveland in the National League of Cities. I hope Barak takes the time to learn how it is being done in Cleveland!

Ahead of the summit, a group SustainLane is getting people involved locally. Out of all the cities in the country, Cleveland beat out places like San Francisco and Atlanta to rate as number 2 in the nation. That is high praise indeed! From their newsletter;

Ever since we partnered with Hopenhagen to launch the SustainLane Local Action Challenge, we have been amazed at the outpouring of action from people in communities all over the country. So while we wait with our fingers crossed to see what happens in Copenhagen, let’s take a look at what people are doing on a local level to make their own communities a little greener.

They have a list of ideas for people to in= implement ot help reduce their carbon footprint. They are giving away prizes to those who upload a photo of themselves doing some of the things on the list for their city. Each city has a list that is tailored to their particular regional needs-something that is often forgotten in the discussion of actions that need to be taken. Check out Cleveland’s list and take part!

Lastly, but really firstly, Cleveland has released its report on the August summit. Check it out to find out all the cool stuff that we were involved in. There are some great pictures-my favorite is of Michele Kilroy of the local chapter of USGBC. Find out what you missed and get excited aobut next year!

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Building Sustainability in Cleveland

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

So, how I missed the video from the Sustainability Summit 2019, is beyond me. But apparently, it has been up on You Tube for months. Check it out here, and you will see why I am so jazzed about the possibilities that may come from this summit. Check out he people that they interviewed, and see the cool people that I got to hang with for 3 days. As we move forward and plan the next summit, is there something that you would like me to keep in mind? Do you have a suggestion as to what we need to do next, something we need to include in the summit, or something that is being left out of the discussion? I would love to hear your feedback. I believe Cleveland is a really cool town with a bright future, and this is just one way we are making it better.

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Can Cleveland sustain its sustainability momentum?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Since moving here in 2000, I have found that Cleveland has so many positive things going for it. While the economy and population shrinking is bad for morale, business and prosperity, it has also served as a wake up call for NE Ohio. Everyone is starting to realize that the steel mills are never going to come back in abundance, and that manufacturing jobs that are lost rarely return. Yet, with groups like E4S, Green City Blue Lake, Local Food Cleveland, and a host of other small groups we can see change coming. It starts with a few people. People like Holly Harlan who come together to form a little group to make a change. As we need to reinvent the regional and national economy, these small groups have begun to flourish. And all these groups got a big boost from the city of Cleveland with the introduction of the Sustainability Summit last August.

I have talked about the Summit several times, and it was great! Somewhere between 500 and 700 people attended the event where we strove to create new public policy and identify key areas where we can use sustainability to drive Cleveland’s economic engine. I am a member of the Waste to Profit group. I joined this group because of my passion for recycling and the need for educating Cleveland’s populace on this issue. Besides, I already work in the Green Building industry and wanted to work on something outside my norm. I was drawn to a sub group that was working to create a locale where building materials and other volume amounts of items could be redirected from landfill and turned into resources. Among the people seated at the table were Nicole McGee, a materials reuse artist (if you have ever been to an Aladdin’s restaurant, then you have seen here flowers on the tables), Mike Dungan, the driving force behind Zero Landfill, and Chris Kious-Cleveland’s king of building deconstruction. We built a prototype to present to the group, and then thought, “Why not make this happen?” We set a time and date for our first meeting before the conference day was done. Since that time, we have met on a regular basis. We are working on the final Executive Summary and Business Plan. We applied for some preliminary funding and are looking at the future to see what we can do next. While this is exciting for us, we are not alone….Other members of the Waste to Profit group were members of the Regional Zero Waste Collaborative. While the group was actually formed in 2008, the summit gave them some added members and galvanized some of their efforts. They are working on practical ways to get the city toward zero waste and trying to figure out how to form public policy on this issue.

There were 20 groups developed at the summit on a range of sustainability topics. But how do we keep up the good intentions of this occasion and drive movement forward. Cleveland has done its part. They are forming a sustainability committee and have promoted Andrew Watterson to Chief of Sustainability. They are committed to moving forward and are setting the date for another summit next year. Meanwhile, representatives from the various groups are meeting to set dates and plan the next summit. There are so many people engaged, and many things moving forward, so I can’t wait to see how some of these groups are progressing. We have a report out meeting coming up next Tuesday. If you were at the summit, and want to see how it is going, join us at Great Lakes Brewery Tasting room on Tuesday to hear some of the great news. Afterward is the E4S sustainability awards. This should be a great event as well! Stay and see what some of the leaders in the movement are doing in Cleveland. Go here to register for the E4S event!

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Building the Economic Engine

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

How do we move forward in creating a Green City on a Blue Lake? It is hard to believe that it has only been 76 days since the Sustainability Summit ended. Today we meet as a steering committee to decide on how to create the 2010 Summit. We have plenty of time, but when you look at getting 40+ people to coordinate their schedules, time runs out fast. I am excited about the energy and enthusiasm in this group. It is easy to get a large response to have people SAY they will make a commitment, but when you really get down to it, it is often harder to get the action to back up the words. As I look around this room, I see pwople who have busy lives and important jobs, but all are making the effort to make this idea produce results. There are no “Debbie Downers” in this room!

What is our first step in moving forward? The first thing we are going to do is to set the date for next year’s sustainability summit. It is key to those who are skeptical to realize that these summits are not just some cheer leading sessions, but really making this something that can change the city that we live in. One great thing about this whole process is that it is based on the Appreciative Inquiry methodology. This means that we are brainstorming and honing ideas together. This allows us to build on everyone’s strengths to create new things and build public policy. How often does one get the chance to actually work with the city government to create policy, rather than sit back and wait to see what the city is going to do.

The AI summit allows us to move forward in multiple ways. It allows us to use “Whole System” ideas. There were students, business leaders, teachers, non-profits, government representatives and ordinary citizens. It is very much a task driven process. It gets all the ideas from across the board and works to put the best ideas forward and how to make them happen. It is focused on the future and designed to build on continuity-in order for new things to happen, some things have to remain the same. This whole summit process is design driven, we want to move beyond the dialogue and into designing the future. The summit allows us to organize participants based on expertise and energy, allowing us to move into building real prototypes. Throw into this whole mix the fact that there will be between 500 and 1000 participants over 3 full days, and you are talking about getting the full voice of Clevelanders involved. All of this will lead us to uncommon action results. Who knows what can happen when we move from the inside out to the world, not regulated or driven by the government or other outside force.

Another thing on our agenda for this meeting is to identify who we would like to see as a keynote speaker at the next summit. Who would you like to see speak at our next summit? Of course, I think that Al Gore would be a prime choice. We were lucky enough to hear speakers from MIT, outside countries, even leaders in the sustainability movement who are business leaders like IBM. We have a lot of great ideas, who would you like to see?

The thing that inspires me most about being a part of this summit process is the ability for the public to shape the city’s plicy. Anyone can have ideas and opinions about a myriad of subjects. Unlike the rest of us, Mayor Jackson and his team have realized that to be successful and really create change and momentum, you have to engage everyone. As Cleveland moves forward, they are providing us with the framework to create change ourselves, rather than leaving it up to the government to do it. If we all get involved in our own little way, then we can have a huge impact on the sustainability and more importantly the economy of the NE Ohio region.

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As the leaves get more yellow, Cleveland gets more green!

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

This is turning into a busy season for the sustainability movement in Cleveland.
Last week I was invited to join a green business round-table at CSU. The place was packed. It could have been because of the free pizza, but I think it had more to do with students being interested in turning their education in science and engineering into a green career. I was very enthusiastic to see so many fresh faces and young minds who thought they could make a living while helping to save the planet. Organized by Philomena M. Johnson, the Careers Coordinator at CSU. It is great to see so much interest by students and staff at Cleveland State, but even more impressive was the response from the speakers. The panel was huge, and there was simply not enough time for everyone to speak. Philomena confided in me that she couldn’t turn anyone down after they gratefully accepted her invitation. As someone who has had to coordinate this type of an event, I know how hard it is to get commitments, and even harder to get everyone to show. In this case, nearly everyone committed and showed, which only reflects on the regions desire to move forward in the green economy. Among the speakers were scientists, faculty, business owners, and even one student who co-organized and helped to create the green roof on the new rec center building at CSU!

I also attended a NE Ohio USGBC Chapter social gathering. Held at Stone Mad, I was delighted to see people from all industries and walks of life. Michelle Kilroy has done an excellent job of making our local affiliate of the USGBC something to be proud of. When I joined, I really didn’t see the benefits, as they were going through a serious transition. Since Michelle has taken over, however, it has gone from an affiliate to full chapter status. Furthermore, she has organized committees, created programs for continuing education credits, and started social and general informational sessions. If you are interested in sustainability in NE Ohio, then you should definitely join. It is always good to connect socially with like minded individuals, and the event at Stone Mad was perfect. The weather was beautiful, and the place was full. I ran into many of my colleagues and cohorts, and was really pleased to touch base with Jennifer Eaton from Tri-C. Colleges and universities have been fairly slow in their acceptance of the green movement as an area that needs to be addressed in the curriculum. Not so for Tri-C! They have an entire Green Academy and Center for Sustainability. This goes beyond the simple make our campus buildings greener approach, they are training the leaders of the sustainability movement. With courses that help prepare the workforce in things like renewable energy, they are going to have programming that will be a leader in our education system. For those vendors, buyers, and developers who are interested in Greenbuild (the yearly trade show of the USGBC), but cannot attend in December, Tri-C is going to offer a special chance to attend without attending. On January 23, 2010 Tri-C will be hosting a Greenbuild Re-Cap. This will be an all day conference featuring Greenbuild highlights, including breakout sessions, speakers and exhibits. At only one day and $85, this will be a great way to see the best of the show without spending the huge lay out of cash. To register call 216-987-2800, and the course number is 16053. Want to exhibit? Call 216-987-2859. For more information, contact Jennifer Eaton, the Program Manager: jennifer.eaton@tri-c.edu

Then there is the Sustainability Summit. Moving forward, many groups have formed the necessary components for next steps. During the summit, 20 key areas were created which we could use to move the green economy of Cleveland forward. Many groups have been going gung-ho to organize and create momentum. The Waste to Profit group, for example, has been working hard. One sub group of this group is the Wastipedia Center group. This is the group that I have been involved with. We have been meeting regularly since the summit and have even put our first application in for a Civic Innovation Lab grant. We did not get chosen to move forward, yet, but we did get valuable insight into moving forward and honing our executive summary to a really sharp focus. We are currently working on the economics of our ideas. Another sub group, the Zero Waste Initiative has also been meeting regularly. This group is on fire! They have organized and started a zero waste pledge drive. They are striving to get 50 local business to sign the pledge and become zero waste businesses. They already have a good start, join us here! They are also working on drafting public policy for a zero waste initiative for Cleveland. This would put us in good company with the likes of Seattle, Boulder, Austin and Oakland. The Green City Blue Lake blog has a great post on what this group is doing. In addition, the steering committee has been formed for next years sustainability summit. I was glad to be included in this group who will help make next year’s event even more successful than this year. We meet next week to begin the process.

Last week also marked the grand opening of the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry. While this project is exciting for its green values alone (dry cleaners and laundries have HUGE environmental impact), it is also a cooperative. This means that the workers have a stake in the company and are going to work hard to make it a success. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the co-op movement in Cleveland, as this type of business model makes more sense that working just to make someone else rich. This could change the way Clevelanders look at work and make them proud to be employed, because they are employed by a business they partially own.

Yes, the leaves are getting colorful. While the trees are displaying a bright mixture of reds, golds and oranges, Cleveland is pulling out it the green.

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Wastipedia: Where you help us redefine waste.

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

So the Cleveland Sustainability Summit 2019 is over. The good feelings have all sunk in and we are all glad knowing we did our part. So what happens now? Do we sit back and relax, waiting for Cleveland to push ahead and do all the things that we told them to? Or do we move forward-staying connected to those we worked with at the summit to clarify our ideas and hone our prototype? If there is to be true change in Cleveland, we have to put forth the effort to really make this a Green City on a Blue Lake. Can we really afford to wait for government to do it all? The answer is no. We need to push forward and make our dreams a reality. But where to begin?

500px-recycling_symbolsvgOur group came together to work on turning waste into profit. There were lots of great ideas in our group. So many, in fact, that we had to split up into smaller factions. Our sub group came up with a great idea. We created a prototype. Unfortunately, by the time our group was able to speak, we could barely even share our idea. So here it is: Wastipedia. Wastipedia is a location. At this location, we take in materials and turn them into something else. Our main goal is to divert 2019 tons of resources from landfill annually. How will we do it? We intend to bring together partners into one main space. This space would allow us to turn organic material into compost. We would take building materials and resell them. We would take materials and reuse them to create art. We would re-distribute materials where they could be reused, rather than deposited in landfill.

We intend to redefine waste for the city of Cleveland. We won’t do it alone, we will use the community to help us redefine waste as something else. When we say waste, we mean many things. There is, of course, the traditional idea of usable trash that needn’t be put into landfill, and housing materials that are thrown away when they are perfectly usable. But in order to truly redefine waste, we need to look at more than this narrow definition. We plan to address some of the more grave aspects of waste in this region. Things like wasted opportunities, wasted energy and wasted human potential. Sounds like a grand idea. It is. One of the great things about the city of Cleveland is that it is a town where you can dream big, and with hard work you can make a dream come true.

What do you do when you have a crazy huge idea that can change the world? Well, the bunch of us that sat around that table at the summit looked at each other and said “lets do this.” Why? We all had our own reasons, but the one thing that we could all agree on was that we wanted to be a part of the solution. We want to make a difference in the world. We had our first meeting on Friday and have agreed that we will continue to meet every week and start to hammer out the plans. We started our plans, identifying our key first steps and starting our action plan.

What is Wastipedia anyhow? Image a reused industrial or educational space. Have a bunch of building materials, samples, fabrics, etc? Drop them off here. Then what happens? Members of our cooperative will separate and organize these resources. Members will have the chance to cull these materials for their own projects. Builders, designers, artists, all many of members can find materials that will suit their needs. What isn’t claimed will be sold at a huge discount, donated to charity, whatever it takes to keep it out of the region’s landfills. Members will help the community by teaching classes relevant to their specialties. Who knows how far this idea could potentially take us? Business incubation for green industries, educational partnerships with local schools, career retraining in resource management.

What are you doing? Where is the energy you felt from this summit going to take you? Tell us your story. Email me at: Robert@thegldc.com and let us help you get the word out about your project.

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Cleveland Sustainability Summit: Fueling the Economic Engine with Renewable Resorces

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

I wanted to start out with a few quotes of the people that I am connected to:

Carole over at Cleveland Real Estate News wrote this to me: Robert it was the most amazing conference/summit i have ever been to. Bar none! I made so many good connections and had so many wonderful conversations surrounding how to improve the neighborhoods for both business and residents. OMG it was fabulous!

Jonathan Sin-Jin Satayathum wrote on FB: The ‘Sustainable Cleveland 2019′ summit was incredibly meaningful and cathartic to me personally-but also for our beloved City.

Chris Gammell wrote on his blog: I must say, I’m impressed.

And Joe Koncelik at Ohio Environmental Law Blog wrote: The Sustainable Cleveland 2019 summit was unlike any other conference or summit I had attended. I have been to plenty where the goal was simply to raise awareness- Typically a parade of talking heads followed up by urgent pleas to do something in the future.

I enjoyed the whole experience. If you have been to an E4S meeting, then it was similar to some of those meetings. If you haven’t, then you need to go. Holly Harlan has done more to promote a sustainable economy in this city than anyone I know. I was glad that she was recognized at the summit and received a standing ovation. It is true leadership like this that makes a difference. Over the three days, we were kept on topic, told to stay positive, learned to interact and asked to dream big. And we did! Some visions of the year 2019 were Utopian. I believe in dreaming big, but hunger and poverty may not be possible to eradicate in a decade-by I am willing to help give it a try. Some things that people worked on, though, were completely attainable. We can get a larger portion of our food from the local economy, creating new jobs and promoting local businesses. We can put a windfarm on the lake, increase recycling regionally, turn garbage into energy, and weatherize every home in the city.

stage1The final day, we created prototypes for our ideas. Some were thought out, and ready to go. Our team developed a prototype for a year-round facility where materials could be diverted from landfill and turned into resources for the community. The plan includes job creation, promoting the arts and the local economy, and job and art training. When I sat down on day 3, we seemed to know what to do. We built a prototype. It came together. We thought, this is a great idea. It needs to be done. Let’s do it. I have heard of things like this happening. Great minds come together and a deal is struck, or an idea formulated, or a company formed…all over coffee or a lunch. stage2 The idea for this summit was to get the juices flowing, to help form public policy, to help figure out how to help fuel this economic engine with renewable resources. How can we get the advanced energy center going? How can we attract the people who assemble wind turbines into the city? Where can we find the capital to get these ideas rolling? Cheer leading and appreciation is not to be discounted, but words mean little without the action. I challenged everyone in the room to figure out how to continue this work, to take their ideas to the next step. Since moving here in 2000, there has always been a lot of talk, but a lot less action. If we want to make big changes, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We need to stop asking the government to bail us out and create our own future. This city is behind us, but the city can’t do it all. Without the true efforts of the business community, then how can we recreate a vibrant economy? It is business that creates jobs, careers, opportunities. This event was about Cleveland’s Green Economy. Don’t get me wrong, the environmental crisis is real. But this summit was not about the feel-good, save the planet. It was about rethinking Cleveland and making a change that can have economic impact as well as an environmental one.

I had one great conversation about casinos with a fellow participant. He was knowledgeable and intelligent. He supports casinos as the beginnings of economic growth and believes that it could be one factor in helping to jump start our economy. I disagree. Furthermore, I wonder why we are even considering it. We know we need to tap into new technologies, green collar industries and renewables. What if all the money spent on lobbying, on campaigning, on signature gathering was spent on advancing a sustainable city, then the work would be half over already. Those who want to form casinos are not really looking for a way to help the city, or they would be pushing for something that doesn’t exploit our situation, but uses it as an opportunity for real and lasting change. I would say, sure we can have a casino in the city-IF it is owned by majority stakeholders who live in the city limits, IF a minimum job creation target is achieved, IF it is designed and built using local talent and businesses, IF it is green and sustainable. Now that is something that I can get behind.

Now that the rant is over, let me tell you a few other things that impressed me about this event.
The commitment. This was 3 full days. People took time away from their jobs, their families, even their homes to be here. They wanted to be a part of the solution.
Dedication: An event of this size does not occur spontaneously. It take huge efforts by staff, and Andrew Watterson and his team pulled it off with flying colors!
Leadership: The mayor and his staff were here every day. City Council members Cummings, Zone, and Sweeney were there (and possibly more).
Interest: There is a way to touch on many aspects of this issue and make a difference. Whether you want to work on local food, advanced energy, or waste, there is a place for you to contribute. So I challenge you-what will you do to create a vibrant local green economy?

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Cleveland prepares for its Sustainability Summit, still time to win!

Saturday, August 8th, 2009

I spent some time talking with Andrew Watterson of the Department of Sustainability of the City of Cleveland.  We were at an event as a sort of “pre-summit happy hour” for those planning on attending.  The group was diverse.  We talked about the roll out of the recycle program and I expressed my opinion that we need to step it up.  I never miss an opportunity to tell someone employed by the city that we need to step up our recycling program.  More interesting was the expectations for the upcoming summit.  He let me know that there are a variety of demographics and sectors to be included in this process.  Some people are being turned down, despite their obvious ability to contribute valuable to the outcome.  Truth is, this is about including everyone.  Local business, as well as non-profit and government; young and old.  How I managed to wrangle an invitation, I will never know, but I am thrilled to be included.  What would you say, if you were to participate in this summit?  Of course, first and foremost in my mind is recycling. Other things that are on my mind include:  Stormwater Runoff, we need to fix our aging infrastructure and find a way to keep sewage out of Lake Erie;  Alternative Energy, can we get cheap clean energy from the sun and the lake; Public Transportation, finding a way to make it better and more inclusive-especially as we plan to renovate the I-90 bridge;  Incentives for New Business in the City, reusing existing buildings and infrastructure and luring green businesses to the region.  What else, should be included.  As I understand it, this summit will use the Appreciate Inquiry method to actually formulate public policy.  Let your voice be heard.  Comment here or drop me an email at:  robert@thegldc.com and I will try to get your opinion heard.

print1We are still waiting for more comments for the giveaway for a framed print.  Go here to read the post, but to encourage you, here is the print I am going to give away.  It is an 8×10 framed black and white print of Lincoln Park in Tremont. This contest end on Wednesday (Aug 12), as the summit starts that day!

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