Sustainable Pittsburgh

WEBINAR Urban Farming - Creating Food Security, Safe Outdoor Space, and Meaningful Work in Baltimore
2018-12-07 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Live Webinar, Select a Country:
What’s a city farm for? (an invitation!)
Showing what food security can look like. Providing a safe outdoor space for children to learn about food. Offering meaningful work for neighbors. Building healthy soils. Giving cooking and nutrition demonstrations. Growing a local business, often woman-owned or African American-owned (or both!). Demonstrating the power of growing vegetables and fruits without the use of harmful chemical sprays or fertilizers. Trapping carbon. Saving the Bay. These are just some of the social, environmental, and community benefits of Baltimore’s urban farms. Now we’ve compiled our data into a report, along with a beautiful and informative story map that shows how four of our Farm Alliance member farms are working to end food apartheid in Baltimore.
You’re invited to join the Farm Alliance Community for a webinar for a peek at our report and story map, to share in the most up-to-date research on what our farms and programs are doing in Baltimore. The webinar will take place Friday, December 7th, at 3pm EST. The webinar is free, but you can sign up for it here.

Race for Breakfast: Leah Jacobs
2018-12-11 08:00 - 09:00 | University of Pittsburgh, Room 2017, Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
University of Pittsburgh Center on Race and Social Problems presents:
Race for Breakfast – Fall 2018 Lecture and Discussion
Featuring Assistant Professor Leah Jacobs
Dr. Jacobs will discuss her research in a talk titled: “What Shapes Criminal Recidivism? An examination of race, space and place.”
Race for Breakfast is a forum primarily intended for students to learn about race-related research projects current in the School of Social Work. The event is held from 8 am to 9 am in 2017 Cathedral of Learning, and breakfast is provided. However, please RSVP for breakfast.

"Paris to Pittsburgh" Airing on National Geographic Channel
2018-12-12 21:00 - 22:30
“Pittsburgh has a star turn in the new documentary film, “Paris to Pittsburgh,” about how communities and individuals are taking the lead in initiating action to combat climate change.”
Via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: ‘Paris to Pittsburgh’ documentary puts Steel City in leading role in climate change efforts
Paristopittsburgh.com

PublicSource LIVE w/ Sustainable Pittsburgh's Joylette Portlock
2019-01-09 12:00 - 12:45
Dr. Joylette Portlock is the first new executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh in two decades. With this change, PublicSource sought to learn how she will steer the organization.
Mark your calendars for 12 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9, and use your lunch to learn about Pittsburgh’s most pressing sustainability issues. Meet the leader of the organization raising the bar for sustainable business practices through the Sustainable Pittsburgh Challenge, Restaurants, Sustainable Communities and more!
Portlock has science degrees from MIT and Stanford and has led a nonprofit that created educational videos about climate change. She serves on the board of the Allegheny County Health Department and worked as the associate director of science and research at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Sustainable Pittsburgh’s mission statement focuses on three pillars of economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality.

Planning for Multimodal Transportation Corridors
2019-01-11 12:00 - 13:15 | University of Pittsburgh Posvar Hall, 3911 Posvar Hall, 230 S. Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
University of Pittsburgh Center for Social & Urban Research presents its Brown Bag Lecture Series.
Featuring:
David Totten, AICP, Transportation Planner, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
Dominic D’Andrea, P.E., PTOE, Manager, Operations & Safety Programs, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
RSVP: 412-624-1019 or SWPA@pitt.edu

Sustainable Business 101
2019-01-17 12:30 - 13:30 | Carnegie Library Of Pittsburgh - Downtown & Business, 612 Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, PA, United States
What is business sustainability? More importantly, what does it mean to your business? Autumn Secrest, Sustainable Business Program Manager of Sustainable Pittsburgh, will share with business owners and decision-makers a broad overview of business sustainability, as well as what it entails for various business types. Participants will also be provided with ready-made resources to help get started on the path to sustainable business practices.

Racial Justice Summit
2019-01-25 18:30 - 2019-01-26 18:30
The Racial Justice Summit, formerly known as the Summit Against Racism, is a flagship event for Pittsburgh organizers. The Summit creates opportunities for attendees to learn, connect, and act on behalf of racial justice.
21st Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit
A Multicultural Initiative of the Black & White Reunion
“Moving Forward Together – an honest confrontation and resource for an anti-racist community”
January 25 | 6.30 pm – Opening Ceremony | Union Project, 801 N. Negley
January 26 | 9:00 am – Full Day Summit | Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 N. Highland
7:30 pm – Organizing Dance Party | Union Project

The future of energy: Can we get to zero carbon?
2019-01-29 18:15 - 20:30 | Energy Innovation Center, 1435 Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219, United States
FREE
Register here
Several recent reports, including from the United Nations and the U.S. government, stress the urgency of reducing carbon emissions to check the worst effects of climate change.
StateImpact Pennsylvania is bringing together a distinguished panel to discuss this huge challenge and potential solutions.
Join us for “The future of energy: Can we get to zero carbon?” on Jan. 29 at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh. Panelists are:

Paulina Jaramillo, associate professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University and co-director of the Green Design Institute
Ivonne Peña, an energy analyst who has worked for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the U.S. and the Colombia’s Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission
Greg Reed, a professor of electric power engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, and director of Pitt’s Center for Energy and the Energy GRID Institute

Agenda:
6:15-7:15: Tours & EIC presentation
7:15-8: Panel discussion
8-8:30: Audience questions
The event features a tour of the Energy Innovation Center before the panel begins. In addition, Bill Miller, vice president and chief operating officer of Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, will talk about the nonprofit EIC’s role in workforce development, technology and incubating businesses “to support emerging clean and sustainable energy markets.”
Reservation not required, but requested.

Inspire Speakers Series Presents: Inspirational Stories about a Vibrant and Just Region
2019-01-31 17:30 - 20:30 | Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium at the Kaufmann Center, 1825 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Storytelling is our way of expressing the soul of our community to one another. Stories expose our beliefs, emotions, and vulnerabilities that can resonate with people in ways that facts and statistics can’t. Stories foster empathy, remind us of what it means to be human, and challenge us to be the change we seek.
Join Green Building Alliance for the fourth annual Storytelling Inspire Speakers Series event to hear stories from citizens who are working to create a vibrant and just region.
Agenda:
4:30-5:30 – Food, Drinks, and Networking
5:30-7:00 – Presentations by our Storytellers
7:00 – Q&A Session, Networking with Storytellers
Submit Your Story:
Do you know someone with an inspiring story to share? Tell us about it in the form below and you could be a speaker at our upcoming storytelling event on January 31st 2019! Think about coworkers, neighbors, family members, and your favorite local artists and writers. Submissions due by December 14th. Click here to submit your story. We’ll see you there!

Cafe Sci: Straw Forward
2019-02-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Carnegie Science Center, 1 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Doors 6 pm; Event 7-9 pm
FREE
Register here

Please join us for an insightful panel discussion at Carnegie Science Center’s Café Sci! Learn more about the larger issue of plastic pollution and go behind the scenes with the team that created the art installation, Straw Forward.
Straw Forward is a collaborative effort of restaurants, businesses, and nonprofits to collect used and littered plastic-based items and turn them into a work of art in order to raise awareness and foster meaningful dialogue around the global-scale issues of single-use plastic waste and plastic pollution.

The Straw Forward art installation is made from yarn made from saved plastic bottles, plastic barrels, a pool solar cover, pool noodles, Styrofoam, over 25,000 plastic straws, plastic bags, crates, and other discarded plastic items. All items used were donated, gathered from participating collection locations, or picked up as litter.
The Straw Forward art installation will be visible for public viewing at the Carnegie Science Center through February 15, 2019.

PaMAGIC’s Fifth Annual Water Data Workshop
2019-02-05 10:00 - 15:00 | Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Conference Facility, 112 Washington Pl, Two Chatham Center, Suite 500, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
PaMAGIC’s Fifth Annual Water Data Workshop is entitled, “Accelerating Hydrography Modernization for PA.” Building on previous workshops, participants will see key components of the plan for modernization in the morning sessions to set the stage for afternoon breakouts in which they adjust and enhance the plans. This year’s success in getting state investments and USGS 3DEP support for new lidar acquisition makes our task more urgent.
Drivers

Our current surface water mapping is over 20 years old and spatially inadequate for modern applications and analysis, and state, local, and federal partners need a single base map.
A standard process for deriving hydrography from lidar is in beta testing now.
We have about 15000 sq. mi. of QL2 lidar now, and 15000 sq. mi. in preparation for acquisition.
DCNR Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey will curate hydro and topo together.

Preliminary Agenda
Morning Sessions

Water Data Initiative to Date
Technical Developments
Hydro Extraction Standard and Quality Control
Streamlined Data Model
Future Functionality
Lidar data update/3DEP
Political/Promotional Considerations
PA Hydro Steering Team
Initial Plan

Afternoon Sessions

Critique the Plan
Enhance the Plan

There is no charge for the workshop. PaMAGIC will provide a working lunch. Technical briefings will start promptly at 10 AM, so plan to arrive by 9:30 and meet your fellow participants. Hosted by PaMAGIC and the SPC Water Resource Center.
RSVP to Eric Jespersen at ecj@epix.net.

Final days to see Straw Forward Exhibit at Science Center
2019-02-14 10:00 - 2019-02-15 17:00 | Carnegie Science Center, 1 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
WHAT: The Sustainable Pittsburgh Restaurant program will unveil its much anticipated Straw Forward™ Art Installation at Carnegie Science Center.
Straw Forward demonstrates a community-wide collaborative effort to accelerate an important message about the global issue of plastic pollution–from a local perspective. The installation comprises more than 25,000 plastic straws collected from 37 Pittsburgh-based restaurants, nonprofits, and businesses between June and October of this year. It also includes discarded plastic-based items pulled from the banks of the Allegheny River with Allegheny CleanWays, yarn from Thread International that was upcycled from plastic bottles saved by citizens in developing countries, and other repurposed materials from Construction Junction and the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.
The concept, design, and construction of the installation was developed through a partnership with the creative team from Pittsburgh-based Shift Collaborative.
WHEN: Tues., Jan. 15, 2019 – Fri., Feb. 15, 2019
WHERE: Carnegie Science Center, One Allegheny Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15212
WHO: Carnegie Science Center and Sustainable Pittsburgh leaders, local elected officials, and numerous project partners will give remarks and unveil the sculpture.
WHY: Single-use plastic straws represent one small component of the negative ecological impact of plastic pollution, ranging from disposable items like take-out containers and water bottles, to beach toys and commercial plastic waste (e.g. barrels, fishing line/nets). Straws also represent a challenge in the waste stream as they cannot be recycled by traditional means. For plastics that aren’t responsibly disposed of or can’t be recycled, they continually break up over time, turning into tiny bits of microplastics, clogging the bellies of marine life and possibly ending up in the food humans eat.
Sustainable Pittsburgh and Carnegie Science Center recognize the importance of keeping the needs of the disability rights community in conversations about the movement to decrease plastic waste, as plastic straws and other single-use plastics improve the livability and access for people living with certain disabilities and medical conditions. Best Buddies Pennsylvania is a partner of the Straw Forward project.

Practical Lessons in Winning Public Support for Infrastructure Project
2019-02-20 09:00 - 12:00 | Fisher Hall at Burrell Lake Park, 209 Delberta Rd, Lower Burrell, PA|PA
Let’s face it – winning public support for unfunded infrastructure mandates is difficult to do. Public officials (both elected and unelected) constantly struggle to communicate the value of infrastructure investments in a way that builds broad-based support from constituents. This session covers the best strategies for planning and successfully engaging the public on difficult-to-win topics like infrastructure investments, tax increases, and municipal compliance activities.
Speaker: Mark Heckmann, Castle Shannon Council President

TRUE Zero Waste Symposium
2019-02-21 08:00 - 15:00 | Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, One Schenley Park, PA, United States
Join the Pennsylvania Resources Council and its Zero Waste Pennsylvania team to learn how your business or institution can advance its solid waste and recycling goals with fiscally responsible strategies. This workshop will present TRUE, a rigorous new standard which moves beyond others by focusing on how we operate our businesses, factories and institutions.
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Practical Lessons in Winning Public Support for Infrastructure Project
2019-02-21 09:00 - 12:00 | Findlay Township Activity Center, 310 Main St, Imperial, PA|PA
