Canada’s pre-eminent conference on sustainability, environmental monitoring and biosphere research. I'm going to this one, courtesy of the Burlington Sustainable Development Advisory Committee, of which I'm a citizen member. I'll have highlights posted here as it unfolds.

Wednesday Topics: Managing the collision between country and city (aka sprawl), concurrent sessions on Building Green, The Escarpment, Environmental Performance Measures, Citizen Involvement.

Thurs Topics: Rethinking Home and Community Design, Energy Supply/Demand Trends/forecast implications for a sustainable Future (This is the one I am eager to hear. The speaker is David Hughes, a geologist with more than 30 years experience studying Canada’s resources for the Geological Survey of Canada and the private sector.)

The blurb says "Energy issues regarding peak oil are rarely discussed by planners and politicians dealing with land use and transportation issues. Yet demand in the developing world is forecast to grow by 91% through 2025, when this region will account for nearly half of the world’s energy consumption – 85% from oil, gas and coal. Are these forecast growth rates sustainable given the magnitude and distribution of the world’s remaining energy reserves? What are some of the political and social ramifications of maintaining this rate of consumption? How does Ontario and Canada fit into this “Big Picture”? How do we assure a sustainable energy future?

Concurrent Sessions

Transportation Policy and Street Design:
Taking the Higher Road
For far too long, moving automobiles rather than people has been at the heart of transportation policy and road design in North America.

Municipal Finance & Genuine Wealth Assessment:
New Tools to Improve Land Use Decisions

The Ontario Greenway, envision a web of natural areas conserving biodiversity and creating connected recreational opportunities in Ontario south of the Canadian Shield, by Ontario Nature.

Planning and the Press:
Media Perspectives on Smart Growth. With the amount of spin coming from government, developers and other established powers at an all-time high, what is the media’s role in urban and rural planning beyond reporting the news? Does the media have a responsibility to be our social conscience? How can journalists mobilize the public to demand smart growth? We'll hear how the Conservative government used non-partisan politics was used for the first time ever at Queen's Park in order to develop a plan to protect the environment while developing Ontario's economy.

Friday Topics: Understanding The Workilng Countryside: Rural Vitality in an Urban Age. Four advocates for the agriculture sector speak up on the challenges faced by farmers, a shifting flux of policies (fiscal, planning and conservation), land speculation, the clash between urban and rural values, changes in rural demographics and generational attitudes towards farming as a lifestyle.