MINNEAPOLIS (March 10, 2009) - Mayor Ken Melamed of Whistler, BC, North America's first Eco-Municipality and host of the green 2010 Winter Olympics, will address 1,000 community leaders, elected officials and city staff at the Alliance for Sustainability's fourth Sustainable Community Conference from noon to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19 at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center, 179 Robie Street East, St. Paul. The event will also celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Alliance with a free organic dinner reception.

"Although we face severe economic and environmental challenges, Mayor Melamed and other presenters will show the possibilities for innovative partnerships that save money and energy, generate great green jobs, address climate change and create healthy, vibrant communities," said Terry Gips, Alliance for Sustainability Co-Founder and President. "We are excited to have the active participation of so many elected officials, city staff, businesses, schools, congregations, service organizations and community leaders that are creating sustainable solutions to our most pressing challenges," Gips added.

"Under Melamed's leadership, Whistler has become the leading sustainability community in North America," said Conference organizer and Alliance for Sustainability Program Director Sean Gosiewski. "In 2005 it became the first city in North America to become an Eco-Municipality by adopting the Natural Step Framework (NSF) as its guide to becoming a more sustainable community. At an international competition Whistler received a Livable Communities Award for its community-wide planning process that used the NSF to develop the Whistler 2020 Vision and Action Plan," added Gosiewski.

"Our comprehensive sustainability plan moves beyond traditional piece-meal planning to broadly address social, economic and environmental issues in an integrated and upstream manner," noted Melamed, a successful small business person and environmental leader. "Whistler's experience with the Natural Step has been a success. It's fantastic and we are growing with it but it requires leadership and collaboration with everyone, cross-sectoral," he emphasized.

The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games have been dubbed "The Sustainability Games" because of Whistler's practices, which include sustainable planning and purchasing, green public transit, zero waste, carbon neutrality, social inclusivity, First Nations hosting, LEED buildings, eco-forestry, pesticide restrictions, brownfield remediation and the capturing of methane from landfill. Although it has only 9,500 permanent residents, Whistler has more than 60,000 beds and hosts 2.2 million visitors a year as part of its $1 billion economy.

Event Details: The full conference program is available at www.afors.org.

noon to 1 p.m. Sustainability Expo with educational booths.
1 - 2:00 p.m. Mayor Melamed keynote on public-private sustainability partnerships for the Local Government Sustainability Workshop.
2 - 4:45 p.m. Educational workshops
4:45 "“ 6:00 p.m. 25th Anniversary Dinner Reception and Expo with music by Larry Long
6 -7:00 p.m. Mayor Melamed keynote focusing on citizen engagement in sustainability initiatives
7 - 9:00 p.m. Neighborhood Sustainability Conference Educational workshops on topics such as Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, Rain Gardens, Transit, Green Careers and Community Wide Sustainability Initiatives

The conference and Metro workshops are sponsored by the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Hennepin and Ramsey Counties, League of Minnesota Cities, Association of Minnesota Counties, Met Council, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and other agencies, nonprofits and businesses, including 3M, Barr Engineering and Patagonia.

About the Alliance for Sustainability:
For the past 25 years the Alliance for Sustainability has led efforts to educate Minnesota and America about sustainability and partnered with business, government and community groups to bring about personal and organizational change and key legislation. The Alliance has developed cutting edge materials and programs focused on sustainable communities, congregations and conscious citizens and consumers that have been successfully used around the country. The Alliance has a free membership (www.afors.org) and is based in the Hillel Center at the University of Minnesota, 1521 University Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414.

Alliance for Sustainability

Alliance for Sustainability

The mission of the Alliance is to bring about personal, organizational & planetary sustainability through support of projects that are ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just and humane. We support communities, congregations, schools, businesses and conscious consumers to save money, build community and create healthy ecosystems using the Natural Step Framework.

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