Dates: July 12-14, 2017 | Register here
Prices: starting from AUD 360,-
Location: Melbourne, Australia
ECOCITY 2017: Changing Cities
Humanity has entered its urban age, with a rapidly growing majority of the population now living in cities. The ‘urban globe’ faces unprecedented social and environmental challenges. The chief danger is climate change, which threatens epic disruption and hardship. But there are related challenges to human health, biodiversity and the bedrocks of life – food, water, and energy. At the same time, new ‘smart’ technologies are proposing solutions to planetary problems.
One principal solution is apparent: our cities must become ecological cities if we want a sustainable world. Creating ecocities must now be a human priority. Australia, a nation of cities, is well-placed to contribute to this urgent global project.
In July 2017 Melbourne will host the ECOCITY World Summit. The focus will be Changing Cities: Resilience and Transformations, highlighting the need to deploy expert knowledge – academic, professional, civic – to make cities resilient in the face of rapid change.
Melbourne has been lauded as the world’s most liveable city, but is not immune to the challenges facing all cities. The ECOCITY World Summit 2017 will harness the expertise and develop the networks needed to create a world of ecocities.
The ECOCITY Summit series, held every two years since 1990, has developed into one of the most globally significant forums for addressing the complex challenges facing humanity in a rapidly urbanising world.
The 2017 Summit will bring together a diverse mix of researchers, policy makers and citizens with a common focus on identifying and creating pathways to more sustainable, resilient and equitable cities.
Themes
ECOCITY 2017 will address the unprecedented ecological, economic, political and cultural challenges – and opportunities – facing the world’s cities through a focus on six major themes:
- Climate and energy transformations
- Food and water security
- Smart cities for people
- Healthy and caring cities
- Culturally vibrant cities
- Governance, infrastructure and finance
The Summit program will address three core questions in relation to each of these themes:
- Understanding: What are the key sustainability and resilience risks and opportunities facing cities? What are the key sources and drivers of these risks and opportunities?
- Imagining: How can we imagine and communicate sustainable and resilient city futures and pathways?
- Creating: What actions are required to drive the rapid and just transitions required to create resilient and sustainable cities?
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