Social sustainability event focuses on communities and connections

A network of people from varied walks of life will gather in Charlotte and other U.S. and U.K. cities Wednesday, June 8, through Friday, June 10, to delve into transportation, connections with the natural world, the value of human well-being and security and social and physical mobility.

These topics and more comprise the fourth annual conference of the Integrated Network for Social Sustainability (INSS). With a theme of “Communities and Connections,” the conference is open to the public at no charge, but registrations are requested.

In Charlotte, attendees will gather at UNC Charlotte Center City. This site will connect with other participating locations via simulcast, allowing interaction. Other participating cities are Atlanta; Bend, Ore.; Chicago; Fort Worth, Texas; London; Oxford, Miss.; and Washington, D.C.

The INSS encourages a greater appreciation for social aspects of sustainability with a particular focus on engineering and its allied professions. The network views sustainability as an integrated concept, rather than as separate environmental, economic and social sustainabilities, in that each of these elements is inseparable from the others. Since social elements remain underappreciated, the network works for greater inclusion of these in planning and practice.

The network does this by developing resources and tools and bringing together people who are concerned about the topics and who could become collaborators. The work is supported by the National Science Foundation under a grant obtained by researchers at UNC Charlotte. Many at the University are involved with the initiative, including faculty from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Arts + Architecture and the Lee College of Engineering, along with the University’s Sustainability Office and the IDEAS Center.

In Charlotte, the conference begins at 6 p.m., June 8, with a reception and conversation with local community organizers focused on social justice, including representatives from EveryoneOn, Levine Museum of the New South and its ¡NUEVOlution! Latinos and the New South initiative, One Charlotte, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, MAPPR (Mecklenburg Partnership for Primary Care Research) and Carolinas HealthCare System.

Attendees at the Wednesday event can view a screening of the documentary “Groundwork: Justice in the Birthplace of America,” with Bryan Mercer and Melissa Skolnick of Media Mobilizing Project. The film highlights how people change when they are building a movement and evolving as leaders.

On Thursday, June 9, keynote speaker Timothy Beatley will address “The Promise and Potential of the Global Biophilic Cities.”

Nature provides emotional, spiritual and health benefits to residents of cities, said Beatley, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.

He argues that people have co-evolved with nature and hold a deep need to affiliate with the natural world. Beatley will challenge participants to consider how that connection to nature can occur in an increasingly urbanized world, both locally and globally. He contends that society needs to shift toward a vision of biophilic cities – ones that are concerned about and find ways to protect and restore nature.

Throughout the remainder of the conference, attendees can choose workshop topics. Several of these will include presenters from UNC Charlotte. The topics are:

• Transportation and the Future of Communities
• The Value and Ethics of Assessing Human Well-Being and Security, A Conversation with Des Gasper
• Food-Energy-Water Nexus and Social Sustainability
• Social and Physical Mobility in Charlotte
• Bicycling Charlotte
• Citizen Science and Making Air Visible (Keeping Watch on Air)
• Invisible Disasters Panel

The full conference agenda is available online.