More than 30 of the nation's leading thinkers and practitioners in real estate, law, business and public policy will gather in Denver and Boulder Feb. 26-27 for a new University of Colorado at Boulder symposium about sustainable land use and real estate development.
The ELEVATE 2009: Climate Change and the New Frontiers of Urban Development symposium will be held in conjunction with the CU Leeds School of Business' Real Estate Council Annual Conference on Feb. 26 at the Westin Tabor Center in Denver. The symposium will begin at 3 p.m. during the conference's last panel discussion.
The symposium will continue on Feb. 27 from 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Wolf Law Building on the CU-Boulder campus. Speakers, panelists and attendees will explore sustainable economic, social and environmental solutions to pressing issues in the areas of housing, transportation, energy and economic development. The program also includes numerous opportunities for networking and exchanging ideas, including evening receptions and a dinner on Feb. 26.
"With the looming crisis of climate change and other threats, we are being forced to reconsider basic assumptions about growth, energy, land use, transportation and housing," said ISD Director William Shutkin of the Leeds School. "There's a lot of money to be made in the transition to a sustainable society."
Featured speakers include writer and social critic James Howard Kunstler; noted University of Pennsylvania Professor Witold Rybczynski; and architect, design entrepreneur and American urban innovator Teddy Cruz.
ELEVATE 2009 marks the launch of CU-Boulder's new Initiative for Sustainable Development, or ISD, an interdisciplinary program housed in the Leeds School of Business working closely with the CU School of Law. ISD will pursue the best ideas, practices and policies in the growing field of sustainable land use and real estate development. The initiative's goal is to build and train the next generation of development professionals -- developers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, engineers, planners, designers and policymakers -- who are committed to sustainable, triple-bottom-line approaches to real estate and economic development and who have the mind-set and skill set to balance commerce and the common good.
"Few sectors of our economy -- or of the global economy -- are more vital to the transformation climate change requires of us," said CU law Professor Nestor Davidson. "This symposium could not be a more timely opportunity to refocus the industry toward the right alignment of policy and development strategy."
The symposium is sponsored by the Boulder Green Building Guild; Business Catapult; Chelsea Green Publishing; Climate Smart; Connected Organizations for a Responsible Economy; Enterprise Community Partners Green Communities; Housing Colorado; INC-Innovation Network for Communities; Island Press; Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Main Street Resources; MIT Press; Namaste Solar; New Belgium Brewery; Rockefeller Foundation; Rocky Mountain Institute; Sonoran Institute; CU-Boulder Center of the American West; CU-Boulder Center for Energy and Environmental Security; CU-Boulder College of Architecture and Planning; CU School of Law; Leeds School of Business; Leeds School of Business' Deming Center for Entrepreneurship; Urban Land Institute; Urban Ventures; and the U.S. Green Building Council.
For more information on ELEVATE 2009, including registration fees or to register, visit .