Oct 6: Pittsburgh Solar Tour

Interested in going solar, meeting some fellow Pittsburghers who have, or just learning more about the possibilities?  Register for the annual Pittsburgh Solar Tour on Saturday, October 6th to meet some Pittsburgh residents who have gone solar -- see their installations, and ask all your questions! Register at pghsolartour.org for guided bus or electric bike tours starting at Millvale or the Frick Environmental Center. Promo code: PGHSOLARTOUR2018 gets you on the bus (or bike) for free! Or just use the map for a self-guided tour of homes you choose.

Oct 5: Women farmers potluck

Women farmers, gardeners, food activists -- Pennsylvania Women's Agricultural Network (PA-WAgN) and Maren are hosting a Walk a Mile potluck!

This is your chance to meet, learn, share, and build your real, person-to-person network!  Whether you're an urban grower, rural farmer, suburban food activist - come and share your stories, your ideas, your passion for our food system.  

5-7 p.m. at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill.  More information and registration here.   Address will be provided after registration;  please register even if you know the way!  You can always send an email if you need to cancel, but if you don't register then we don't know how many people to expect or who to inform if there are any last minute changes!

This is a kid-friendly, friend-friendly potluck, so please bring a dish to share, and also please feel free to bring others.  Your children, your friends or family, your neighbor...all are welcome.

Oct 4-5: Urban Soils Symposium

Soils are an essential component of urban systems: they hold, filter and allow infiltration of stormwater, support plant growth for habitat and agriculture, accumulate contaminants such as lead, sequester carbon, and are a point of contact for numerous citizens on a daily basis.  Understanding how they function and how they can be improved to better suit the needs of communities is an important activity.

To further discussion in this area, several partners from the Working Group have joined to establish the inaugural Three Rivers Urban Soil Symposium, October 4-5^th at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA.  The symposium (Oct. 4) will feature a full day of talks and panels from national and local experts on mapping, remediation, green infrastructure, and climate. There will be a keynote address from Dr. Murray McBride of Cornell University.  Thursday will conclude with a reception and poster session for graduate and professional researchers to share their work.  

Day two of the event (Oct. 5) will be a full-day workshop on urban soil health, aimed at educating engaged community members, professionals, non-profit employees, and municipal officials on the principles of urban soil health, testing processes, understanding results, and remediation strategies.  This day will also feature a roundtable discussion on composting with representatives from Pittsburgh City Planning, Ag Recycle, and Steel City Soils, as well as a talk on regenerative urban habitats with Nance Klehm of Social Ecologies (Chicago, IL).  Additionally, Dr. Karen Hacker of the Allegheny Health Department will also discuss soils and contamination from a public health perspective.

Registration is $25 for a single-day, or $45 for both days (includes light breakfast, lunch, and Thursday hors d'oeuvres).  Some scholarships are available for community members who wish to attend but find the cost burdensome. Please feel free to reach out tojburgess@accdpa.org or gtilove@phipps.conservatory.org with any questions or if your organization is interested in being a sponsor for the event.  Check the event page for updates and a full agenda.

Sep 26: Mustafa Santiago Ali

The Pitt Honors College presents a talk by Mustafa Santiago Ali, the Senior VP of Climate, Environmental Justice & Community Revitalization for the Hip Hop Caucus.

Mustafa is a renowned activist for social justice for our most vulnerable communities. He has worked with more than 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health and economic justice. Mustafa Ali joined the Hip Hop Caucus after working 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

4 p.m. at the Twentieth Century Club (4201 Bigelow Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA  15213). This lecture is free and open to the public but space is limited; please register here.

Sep 24: Empowering Communities through Energy Efficiency

Ecologic Institute and the Center for Energy and the Energy Grid Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, within the framework of the Energy Future Exchange project, host a workshop about the future of sustainable energy, highlighting local and regional economic, social and environmental benefits of energy efficiency products and services and emerging innovative business models, strengthening communities for a resilient future. Speakers from Pittsburgh join experts from Germany and Croatia to start a vibrant conversation. 

9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the University Club in Oakland (123 University Place, 15260).  For more information and online registration, please go here.  

Ecologic Institute Washington, DC, along with consortium partners Ecologic Institute Berlin and ACEEE, initiated the Energy Future Exchange (EFEX) project, a two-year transatlantic conversation on the future of energy, financed in large part through the European Union Delegation to the United States Transatlantic Civil Society Dialogue program. EFEX comprises conferences, study tours, workshops, webinars, pop-up actions and online forums in the US and Europe. More information can be found at http://energyfuturex.org/