Keep Knoxville Beautiful annually hosts a Sustainability Summit, often centered around topics central to this website. This year’s conference, the fifth annual scheduled for November 3, is no exception. “Reimagining the Asphalt Jungle” tackles all that asphalt that surrounds our daily lives and explores the implications of such an environment.
Promising to answer questions such as “Why do we have all this asphalt? How is it keeping us apart? What is it doing to the fabric of our city? and What can we do about it?,” the conference enlists help of expert speakers from cities around the region including Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, and Chattanooga. While registration is required (click here to register), the event is free and Tomato Head is donating lunch for attendees.
I’ve attended the forums before (and written about them here) and I’m always able to take something away that makes me think more deeply about the issues confronting our city and others. Often I see an issue more clearly or completely and that’s what I’ve come to expect. Organizers aim to introduce us to people “who are reshaping their urban environments to create more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful places, and get inspired about what we can do in our own city.”
I know a number of readers of this website are keenly interested in sustainable and best practices for cities. Here’s a chance to hear directly from people who are doing the work.
This year’s speakers include:
- Jack Cebe, Development Manager for The Stitch in Atlanta (a 14-acre platform of park space over the Downtown Connector interstate section)
- Kate Cavazza, Urban Designer and Planner with the City of Charlotte Urban Design Center
- Eric Hoke, Design Director of the Civic Design Center in Nashville
- Caleb Racicot, AICP, Principal Planner for TSW Design in Atlanta
- Beverly Bell, Planner for TSW Design in Chattanooga
Mayor Kincannon will offer opening remarks. Sponsors for the event include Earthadelic, TVA, US Bank, Cover Pro Roofing, Help You Dwell, WorkSpace Interiors, SESCO
Lighting, UT Geography & Sustainability, Carex Design Group, and Jennifer Torgeson with Mortgage Investors Group.
The event takes place Friday, November 3, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the East Tennessee History Center (601 S. Gay Street).