Event: Social Sustainability Panel: "Making Social Sustainability Real"

Social Sustainability Panel, May 6 at PSU

Please join us for a panel discussion, “Making Social Sustainability Real,” on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Portland State University's Native American Student and Community Center (710 S.W. Jackson St., Portland, Ore.).

The event celebrates publication of Understanding the Social Dimension of Sustainability (Routledge, 2009), an anthology edited by PSU faculty members Jesse Dillard (Accounting), Veronica Dujon (Sociology) and Mary King (Economics), with 13 other contributors, including several PSU faculty members.

In this volume, the editors suggest that the social aspect of sustainability should be understood as both:
* The processes that generate social health and well-being now and in the future; and,
* Those social institutions that facilitate environmental and economic sustainability now and for the future.

Panelists will offer insights into how they've worked to integrate this oft-overlooked dimension of sustainability into their organizations. The panelists include:
* Michael Armstrong, Deputy Director, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland
* Eileen Brady, Co-founder, New Seasons Market; Co-owner and Chair, Celilo Group Media
* Wade Fickler, Policy and Communications Director, Children's Institute of Oregon
* Regina Hauser, Executive Director, The Natural Step
* Mary King, Professor, Economics, Portland State University

Portland State University President Wim Wiewel will introduce and moderate the panel.

Admission is free and open to the public. A reception with refreshments and light snacks will follow.

The event is sponsored by PSU's Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices, by the Center for Professional Integrity and Accountability in PSU's School of Business Administration, and by PSU's Social Sustainability Colloquium.    

For more information, visit www.pdx.edu/events/social-sustainability-panel.

About the panelists:

* Michael Armstrong, Deputy Director, Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland
Michael Armstrong is the senior sustainability manager for the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. His responsibilities include programs addressing climate change, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green building, sustainable practices in city government operations, and sustainable food systems. Michael coordinated the public process that led to Portland and Multnomah Countys Local Action Plan on Global Warming and tracks the implementation of local carbon-reduction efforts. He has staffed Portlands involvement in Oregon Public Utility Commission proceedings, the citizen Peak Oil Task Force, and the citys sale of carbon offsets to private purchasers. Prior to joining the City of Portland, Michael spent five years in Namibia and South Africa working on education and sports-development projects. Michael received an MPA from Indiana Universitys School of Public and Environmental Affairs and attended Cornell University and Deep Springs College.

* Eileen Brady, Co-founder, New Seasons Market; Co-owner and Chair, Celilo Group Media
Eileen is co-founder of New Seasons Market, a landmark neighborhood grocery chain in Portland, Oregon. She is co-owner and chair for Celilo Group Media, publisher of Chinook Book and the Eco-Metro guide. Eileen serves as the chair of Zenger Farm, an urban agriculture park for school children. She is a member of the Metro Blue Ribbon Bike Trails Commission and serves on the Oregon Business Association (OBA) Board. In addition she is the vice chair of the Oregon Health Fund Board. Eileen speaks regularly on "Sustainability and Building Regional Food Economies." She helped launch Oregon Solutions, Governor Kitzhaber's state-wide effort at building citizen based solutions and served as vice president of the Food and Farm program at Ecotrust. She has over 20 years operational, marketing and human resource experience in the high-tech and natural foods industries.

* Wade Fickler, Policy and Communications Director, Children's Institute of Oregon
Wade joined the Childrens Institute in 2008. He plays a leading role in developing and advancing the organizations programmatic, policy and advocacy agenda and managing the Institutes external communications. Wade was the policy director for City Club of Portland from 2002-2008, where he was first exposed to the science behind early care and education through the clubs multi-year study titled "The Early Years." Wades professional experience also includes many years executing consumer and business-to-business marketing and market research projects and a 27-month term of service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.

* Regina Hauser, Executive Director, The Natural Step
Regina believes that life is an adventure that shouldn't be missed, which goes a long way to explain her decision to leave the comfortable life of a lawyer at Schwabe Williamson and Wyatt to take the helm of The Natural Step Network. Because she enjoys blazing a trail, it makes sense that she has led the Network from a local organization to a growing national network in just seven years. Perhaps it was the patent litigation in her background that attracted her to the science of the Natural Step. Regina's exuberance for life, her sense of humor, and her passion for sustainability can be seen both in her many presentations about The Natural Step, and slide shows from trekking adventures in places like Bhutan, Tibet and Peru. Her husband Chris will attest that she's not afraid to take a spill, whether in water, mud or life. Regina sees the challenge of sustainability as a defining opportunity for individuals and organizations alike, and believes our response to that challenge will define our character for generations to come.

* Mary King, Professor, Economics, Portland State University:
Mary C. King is a labor economist, a professor in the Economics department at Portland State University, as well as affiliated faculty in PSU's Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. Dr. King's current research projects focus on (1) Mexican migration to the U.S. and (2) the social aspect of sustainability. She co-teaches the graduate course on Social Sustainability in PSU's Graduate Certificate on Sustainability. King received her undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford University in 1979, was elected a Rhodes Scholar in 1980 and earned her PhD in economics from UC Berkeley in 1991. She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.