GreenTown: The Future of Community is a one day conference that aims to help small, medium or large communities become more sustainable.

Featuring speakers like Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and hosted by Columbia College Chicago and sponsored by the City of Chicago, GreenTown will take place this Thursday in downtown Chicago at the Film Row Cinema. The conference, which is put on by a5 inc. and Seven Generations Ahead, is in its second year and is a carbon neutral event.

The purpose of GreenTown is “to bring together the public and private sector to discuss and determine ways to create sustainable communities. We have mayors and city managers, city council members and public works directors mingling with planners, architects, landscape architects and providers of product and services that can make healthier communities,” said John Harris with a5 inc.

The conference will feature five key environmental aspects, largely based on the climate action plan, including:

• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Transportation
• Adaptation to Climate Change
• Design and Building
• Waste Reduction

This event showcases national and local leaders who are at the forefront in sustainable urbanism, transit-oriented development, brownfield and riverfront re-development, green building, renewable energy, municipal food scrap recycling, zero waste schools, local food systems and more.

The event’s key speakers include:

• Richard M. Daley – mayor of Chicago, Illinois, that began Chicago’s environmental movement in 2006 with increased rooftop gardens, park space, and renewable energy use.
• Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – named one of TIME magazine’s “Hero’s for the Planet”, currently serves as the Vice Chair and Chief Prosecuting Attorney for Riverkeeper and Chairman of Waterkeeper Alliance
• Bob Dixson – mayor of Greensburg, Kansas, the town that was wiped out by an f5 tornado two years ago that is aiming to be the model green community by sustainably rebuilding.

It is not too late to register. GreenTown Chicago is open to anyone. There are discounts given to companies that have more than one person attending, as well as non-profit organizations, and students.

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