The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Network on Smart and Sustainable Cities (ANSSC) will hold its next web meeting on Thursday, September 18 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Eastern. The featured speaker will be Adam Beck, vice president of programs, EcoDistricts. Mr. Beck will discuss the EcoDistricts Protocol. EcoDistricts is a Portland, Oregon, based nonprofit organization dedicated to just, sustainable, and resilient cities and neighborhoods for all. EcoDistricts provides support and leadership for urban change makers and innovators to accelerate sustainable district and neighborhood scale regeneration.
The EcoDistricts Protocol is envisioned to become a recognized global standard for district and neighborhood-scale sustainable development. Focusing on process management and performance goals, it is a framework for addressing many of the challenges that communities face, one that promotes effective governance, leadership, and innovation. At the heart of the EcoDistricts approach is a set of environmental, economic, and social performance areas: equitable development, health and wellbeing, energy, water, community identity, access and mobility, habitat and ecosystem function, and materials management.
Mr. Beck has nearly 20 years of experience in environmental and social planning, with a passion for developing and implementing sustainability tools for projects in the built environment. Prior to joining EcoDistricts, he was with the Green Building Council of Australia and involved in developing the Green Star - Communities rating tool that covers the full spectrum of sustainability issues across the built environment. A former university lecturer who has also held senior roles with global consulting firms, he is active in the World Green Building Council and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
On September 24-26, in Washington, DC, EcoDistricts will host its annual Summit dedicated to sustainable development at the district scale. The Friday program will include a global symposium on urban sustainability rating tools organized by Mr. Beck. Jim McCabe, ANSI senior director, standards facilitation, will be part of a panel discussing global standards.
Participation in the September 18 ANSI web meeting is open to individuals who have joined the ANSSC, a forum for information sharing among members of the standardization community, representatives of local governments, and experts in sustainable urban infrastructure planning and development [see related news item], and to invited guests. For additional information, please visit www.ansi.org/cities or email ANSI staff at [email protected].