Green Screens Sustainability Film Festival: Beyond the Brink
2018-04-13 19:30 - 21:30 UTC | James Bridges Theater, 235 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

THEODORE PAYNE NATIVE PLANT GARDEN TOUR
2018-04-14 10:00 - 2018-04-15 17:00
The 2018 Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour
Welcome to the 15th Annual Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour:
A two-day self-guided journey through 45 of the region’s most beautiful and inspiring private and public landscapes.

About the Garden Tour
The gardens on this tour contain at least 50% native plants. Each garden is a labor of love, a place created in harmony with Southern California’s climate, soil, natural vegetation, and native wildlife. Explore this website for plant lists and photos of each garden, as well as more information about the Tour and its sponsors.
The gardens are divided into two groups: one open Saturday and the other open Sunday. At each location, the native plants are labelled, and you’ll meet garden owners, designers, and docents who can tell you about the site’s unique challenges and characteristics.
We are grateful for the community of people that make this event possible. A very special thank you to the garden hosts for opening their wonderful gardens to the public, and to our volunteer docents for sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with visitors. We are immensely grateful for the support of our here.
Gardens and more info at: http://www.nativeplantgardentour.org

UCLA Anderson Energy Innovation Conference
2018-04-16 09:00 - 17:30 | UCLA Anderson School of Management, 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, 90095, United States
The Largest Student Led Energy Conference in California
About the Event
The UCLA Anderson Energy Innovation Conference is an annual event that brings together professionals, students, and academics with a passion for energy and showcases innovative technologies with the potential to reinvent the energy industry.
Keynote speakers from Romeo Power, SCE, Sony, SoCalGas, and Qualcomm will start the conversation on the installation of local, cost-effective distributed energy resources and their potential effects on the grid of the future.
This year the conference will focus on companies paving the way to increase energy resiliency with new technologies, robust policy, and inventive business models.
Details, speakers, registration at: http://energyinnovationconference.com

Green Screens Sustainability Film Festival: Stink!
2018-04-16 19:30 - 21:30 | James Bridges Theater, 235 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Farmers Market at UCLA
2018-04-18 14:00 - 18:00, 2018-05-02 14:00 - 18:00, 2018-05-16 14:00 - 18:00 | Bruin Plaza

Municipal Green Building Conference & Expo
2018-04-19 08:00 - 16:30 | SoCal Gas Energy Resource Center, 9240 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA, United States
17th Annual Municipal Green Building Conference and Expo:
Innovative Cities Leading the Way to a Sustainable Future

April 19, 2018 from 8am-4:30pm
SoCalGas Energy Resource Center: 9240 Firestone Blvd. Downey, CA
Download the Schedule and the Program
#GoTeam #MGBCE2018

Watch highlights from last year’s MGBCE
Education and Networking
Since its inception in 2001, MGBCE has become the longest-running and largest gathering of leading sustainability and green building advocates within both the public and private sectors in Southern California. Attended by over 550 persons annually, this conference and trade show provides cutting-edge thought leadership, education, and networking opportunities to inform local government agencies, building industry professionals, and the general public about the principles, practices, and products associated with green building. Over twenty exhibitors will display their sustainability solutions, and this year will include cleantech start-up companies that are finalists of the Sustainable Cities Tech Challenge. Topics range from Agriculture to Zero Net Energy and support cities to lead the way to a sustainable future.
Morning Keynote Speaker
Seleta J. Reynolds
Keynote Title:
Drones, Loops, and Robotaxis: A Sustainable City Roadmap to Our Hyper-Uber Future

Seleta Reynolds is General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) appointed by the Administration of Mayor Eric Garcetti. Ms. Reynolds is responsible for implementing Great Streets for Los Angeles, a plan to reduce traffic fatalities, double the number of people riding bikes, and expand access to integrated transportation choices for Angelinos and the region.
Ms. Reynolds has over 18 years of transportation experience throughout the United States. She has advised transportation technology companies like WalkScore, contributed to the state-of-the-practice as an Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals Board Member, mentored young professionals through Women’s Transportation Seminar, and nurtured research on Transportation Research Board committees. Ms. Reynolds serves as the President of the National Association for City Transportation Officials.

Afternoon Keynote Speakers
Gary Gero

Gary Gero was recently appointed to be the first Chief Sustainability Officer for the County of Los Angeles where his duties include creating a countywide sustainability plan that addresses regional environmental, economic, and social justice issues. Gary previously served for the past 9 years as the President of the Climate Action Reserve, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Los Angeles and operating across North America. He now serves on its Board of Directors. Gary’s career includes nearly 20 years of work in local government, primarily in the City of Los Angeles where he served as Assistant General Manager for the Environmental Affairs Department and at LADWP where he oversaw energy efficiency, renewable energy, and distributed generation programs.
Scot Horst

Scot Horst serves as President and CEO of Arc Skoru, Inc., a technology company that connects actions that improve quality of life. The Arc digital platform allows any project – be it a space, a building, a community or a city – to measure its performance and improvement.
Previously, Horst was chief product officer for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) where he oversaw LEED or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, the world’s most widely used green building rating system.
Horst spearheaded the performance version of LEED, which uses building data to provide feedback on actual building performance. The system scores the built environment, from homes to neighborhoods to cities and is now an integral part of the Arc platform.
Horst holds dual bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and voice performance from Oberlin College and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
Get Involved

Submit an abstract to speak at the conference
Volunteer on the Abstract Review and Selection Committee
Volunteer on the Conference Planning Committee
Be a judge for the Smart Cities Tech Genius Challenge
Be a collaborating organization by sharing event info with your group
Sign up to be an exhibitor or sponsor
Attend and enjoy!
Share your experience on social media using the hashtags #GoTeam #MGBCE2018!

Sustainable Cities Tech Challenge
Connecting Cities to Tech Solutions

LACI and USGBC-LA have launched the Sustainable Cities Tech Challenge, a global startup competition in the green building industry in conjunction with the 17th annual Municipal Green Building Conference and Expo (MGBCE) on the future of building technology, smart cities infrastructure, and efficiency solutions.

The three focus areas of this year’s Challenge and sub-categories are:

Smart Infrastructure – Connecting Buildings, IoT Devices, Demand Response, Energy Storage
Energy & Water Efficiency – Lighting, HVAC, Building Control Systems, Smart Irrigation, Plug Load Monitoring, Building Envelope
Waste – Textile Recycling, Food Waste, Waste to Energy, Waste Water Recycling

All finalists will receive exhibit space and inclusion in the conference at no cost, as well as the chance to win $15,000 as the overall Challenge winner, $3,000 per category winner, in-kind support from sponsors and partners, as well as the opportunity for membership to LACI’s business incubation program, access to the La Kretz Innovation Campus, and Advanced Prototyping Center.
Deadline for the application has been extended to March 26, 2018.
If you are a start-up in this space, APPLY HERE

Abstract Review Committee

Jim Brain, Webcor Builders

Rodney Davis, SoCalGas

Jed Donaldson, Johnson Fain

Veronica Flores, RBB Architects

Kanika Sharma, Verdical Group

Glen Folland, VCA Green

Danny Gleiberman, SLOAN

Cris Liban, Metro LA

Amber Richane, City of Santa Monica

Teresa Fait, Abbott Construction

John Onderdonk, Caltech

Earth Day Fair at UCLA
2018-04-19 10:00 - 14:00 | Dickson Court North
Come and check out various tabling organizations and participate in their fun activities! Free food, fair trade coffee, cool prizes!
Proudly sponsored by: The Green Initiative Fund and UCLA Undergraduate Students Association

Luskin Center for Innovation: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future
2018-04-19 17:00 - 19:00 | Luskin School of Public Affairs, room 2355, UCLA
Add to iCal:

REGISTER HERE
Join the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation in welcoming Edward Struzik to discuss his book Firestorm.
The evening event will include a reception, presentation, panel discussion, author Q&A, and book signing.
Featured speaker: Edward Struzik
Panelists: Douglas Bevington, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (moderator); Beth Burnham, North Topanga Canyon Fire Safe Council; Chad Hanson, The John Muir Project ; Alex Hall, UCLA; Chief Ralph Terrazas, City of Los Angeles
ABOUT THE BOOK
2017 was marked as the deadliest and most destructive year of wildfires ever in California. Over 9,000 fires burned throughout the state, including 950 wildfires in Northern California in October alone. With higher temperatures, stronger winds, and drier lands across the globe it shouldn’t be a surprise that Governor Jerry Brown commented on the six wildfires that ravaged Southern California as the “new normal.”
In Firestorm, journalist Edward Struzik visits scorched earth from Alaska to Maine, and introduces the scientists, firefighters, and resource managers making the case for a radically different approach to managing wildfire in the 21st century. Wildfires can no longer be treated as avoidable events because the risk and dangers are becoming too great and costly. Struzik weaves a heart-pumping narrative of science, economics, politics, and human determination and points to the ways that we, and the wilder inhabitants of the forests around our cities and towns, might yet flourish in an age of growing megafires.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edward Struzik has been writing about scientific and environmental issues for more than 30 years. A fellow at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, his numerous accolades include the prestigious Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and the Sir Sandford Fleming Medal, awarded for outstanding contributions to the understanding of science. In 1996 he was awarded the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and spent a year at Harvard and MIT researching environment, evolutionary biology, and politics with E.O. Wilson, Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin. His 2015 book, Future Arctic, focuses on the effects of climate change in the Canadian Arctic and the impacts they will have on the rest of the world. His other books include Arctic Icons, The Big Thaw, and Northwest Passage. He is an active speaker and lecturer, and his work as a regular contributor to Yale Environment 360 covers topics such as the effects of climate change and fossil fuel extraction on northern ecosystems and their inhabitants. He is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, a citizens’ organization dedicated to the long-term environmental and social well-being of northern Canada and its peoples. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Young Professionals in Energy: Renewables Go Virtual: Virtual Power Purchase Agreements & Virtual Power Plants
2018-04-19 17:30 - 20:00
Renewables Go Virtual:
Virtual Power Purchase Agreements & Virtual Power Plants
Hosted by
Earlier this month, Fifth Third Bancorp announced that it has become the first Fortune 500 company and first bank to sign a power purchase agreement to achieve 100% renewable power through a single project. Furthermore, Fifth Third becomes the first publicly-traded company to commit to purchase 100% renewable energy through solar power alone. Advanced energy storage companies around the world are also deploying distributed, dispatchable battery assets across regions, including Tesla’s most recent residential deployment of Powerwalls in Australia.
The event will showcase Virtual (or off-site) Power purchase agreements (PPAs), which the industrial, commercial, and public sectors are taking advantage of to support development of new clean energy while meeting sustainability goals – such as carbon neutrality or obtaining 100% of their energy from renewable sources, and reaping financial benefits at the same time. We will also be discussing Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). Most lithium-ion battery deployments today come in the form of giant, centralized battery plants. A virtual power plant is comprised of multiple (hundreds or even thousands) of batteries distributed within a grid (at businesses, schools, or even homes), but operate just like a one big system — charging up when demand and electricity rates are low and discharging when demand and prices are high.
Panelists:

Garrett Sprague, Business Development Associate, Customer First Renewables (CFR)
Nurit Katz, Chief Sustainability Officer and Executive Officer of Facilities Management, UCLA
Mark Tucker, Business Development Director, Public Sector, Stem Inc

Agenda:
5:30pm – Check-in and networking with appetizers and beer/wine
6:30pm – Welcome Remarks
Introduction by GLUMAC
Panel discussion moderated by Yair Crane, Co-Chair YPE LA
7:45pm – Q&A
8:00pm – Networking
8:30pm – Adjourn

Location:
GLUMAC Los Angeles
AON Tower
707 Wilshire Blvd. 23 rd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
RSVP is required, no walk-ins, due to building security requirements
Young Professionals in Energy (“YPE”) is a non-profit energy industry networking organization with over 15,000 members worldwide (Tax ID 37-1540101). YPE LA events typically have 75-100 members that include a broader audience of LA professionals in the energy, policy, sustainability, and clean technology fields, including professionals from utilities, professional engineers, energy communications and policy experts, project developers, investors, lawyers in the energy field, venture capitalists, solar companies, as well as local and county officials.

LA Business Council Sustainability Summit
2018-04-20 07:30 - 14:30 | Getty Center
12th Annual Sustainability Summit

This annual summit at the Getty Center is a momentous event in our city, annually drawing more than 1,500 industry, corporate and civic leaders in attendance and via livestream. This exceptional forum advocates for business-driven solutions and effective public policy to help Los Angeles realize a more sustainable future.
Join us to hear from top leaders, including:
The Honorable Kevin de Leon Senate President pro Tem, State of California
The Honorable Laura Friedman Assembly Assistant Speaker pro Tem
Jason Barrett Vice President, Structured Finance & Investments, GAF
Myeisha Gamino Director, Corporate Affairs & Government Relations,
The Kroger Company – Ralphs Division
Deepak Garg Founder & Chairman, Smart Energy Water
Mark Gold Associate Vice Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability, UCLA
Virginia Grebbien Executive Vice President & Chief of Staff, Parsons
Emile Haddad Chairman & CEO, FivePoint
Jeffrey Kightlinger General Manager, Metropolitan Water District
Deborah Marrow Director, Getty Foundation
Richard Maullin Chair, California Independent System Operator Board of Governors
David Nahai Partner, Lewis Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith
Karla Nemeth Director, California Department of Water Resources
Michael Northrop Program Director, Sustainable Development,
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Ron Nichols President, Southern California Edison
Matt Petersen President & CEO, LA Cleantech Incubator
Dennis Rodriguez Chief City Executive, Siemens
Dr. Zafer Sahinoglu Senior Director, Business Innovations Division, Mitsubishi Electric
Polly Shaw Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Communications, Stem
Nadine Watt President, Watt Companies, Chair, Los Angeles Business Council
Mike Webster Executive Director, SCPPA
David Wright General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power
Derrick Xiong Co-Founder & CMO, EHang, Inc.
Enrique Zaldivar Director, City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation

The Clean Bin Project Documentary Screening
2018-04-20 18:00 - 20:00
*FREE FOOD, GLASS STRAWS, AND BAMBOO UTENSILS*
Come out to a screening of The Clean Bin Project. It is a documentary about two people who challenge each other to become zero waste for one year. They face the challenges of limiting their waste in a consumer driven society. See how they take on the challenge, and maybe even pick up some practices to implement in your own life. We will follow up the documentary showing with a short discussion on ways to be more sustainable.
This is a zero-waste event so please bring your own bowls/plates for popcorn and snacks. If you would like to sit on the grass, we encourage you to bring a blanket to sit on.
We will be launching the SAXON FREE SPACE! Please BRING YOUR UNWANTED ITEMS and swap them. Your “trash” can be used by someone else and saved from the landfill.
Special thanks to the Healthy Campus Initiative for supporting our efforts!

KCET Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival (co-sponsored by IOES LENS)
2018-04-21 09:30 - 18:30
The second annual Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival will take place Sat., April 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center in Santa Monica (1332 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA. 90401) in partnership with Laemmle’s Theatres. Open to the public, the event kicks off with a screening of environmental shorts from UCLA’s Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) along with winning entries in the IoES 2016 Green Shorts competition, followed by four acclaimed films, and closing with a screening of two back-to-back episodes of KCET and Link TV’s “Earth Focus,” the longest running environmental news magazine on U.S. television. The screening will premiere two episodes from the new season, exploring how environmental changes are forcing all living creatures to adapt in order to survive. The series premieres later this month, created in partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The complete schedule can be found on this KCET website.

EARTH DAY: Volunteering at Sage Hill
2018-04-22 12:00 - 14:00
Celebrate Earth Day 2018 by volunteering at Sage Hill, the UCLA campus’s only nature reserve! Help plant California native plants, take part in ongoing restoration efforts, and enjoy spending Earth Day outside. Each volunteer will get a chance to plant their very own California Poppy (our state flower!).
Explore the natural beauty of Sage Hill, check out the blooming wildflowers, and search for the elusive woodrat. Professor Gillespie will be leading native plant tours, don’t miss out!
Wear clothes you aren’t afraid to get dirty, and closed-toe shoes. Bring water! Snacks will be provided.

Open Silo Happy Hour with UCLA Food Studies
2018-04-25 18:00 - 22:00
This month Open Silo is hosting our Urban Agriculture Happy Hour at Rocco’s Westwood near UCLA on Wednesday, April 25th at 6 pm!
No matter what your field of work, study, or interest, we want to meet you! All who are passionate about urban agriculture or food issues are welcome. Bring a friend or colleague along. Dress is casual.
The co-host for this happy hour is the UCLA Food Studies Certificate program. This new program is open to current UCLA students as well as to the general public through UCLA Extension. Alexis Oberlander, Graduate Advisor and Program Manager of the Food Studies program, will be with us to answer questions about the this exciting new opportunity. This is a perfect chance to network with local students who are passionate about food topics and may be looking for internships or research work!
For more info on the UCLA Food Studies Certificate program, download the brochure here: https://tinyurl.com/y9sf5xtd or visit https://luskin.ucla.edu/food-studies-certificate-program/ to learn more about the Graduate program.

pin

Rocco’s Westwood
1000 Gayley Ave., Los Angeles, California 90024

UCLA Luskin: BLACK, BROWN, AND POWERFUL: FREEDOM DREAMS IN UNEQUAL CITIES
2018-04-26 - 2018-04-27
About

In Los Angeles and elsewhere, black and brown communities face multiple forms of banishment and exploitation. At this event, convened by the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin, we share and discuss research and activism to analyze structures of urban displacement, racialized policing, criminal justice debt, forced labor, and the mass supervision and control of youth. But unequal cities are also where freedom dreams are created and enacted. Located in, and thinking from South Los Angeles, we shine a light on organizing frameworks and resistance strategies that challenge exclusion and refuse subordination.

Program

Thursday, April 26–Friday, April 27, 2018
Los Angeles Trade-Technical College (LATTC), South Tent

For a printable .pdf flyer, please click here.
The online registration & .pdf version of the program will be available in April.

Thursday, 4/26 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
LATTC, South Tent
Welcome Reception and Opening Remarks
Laurence B. Frank, President, LA Trade-Tech College

Thursday, 4/26 | 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LATTC, South Tent
From Banishment to Freedom
Ananya Roy, UCLASouth LA 50 Years after the Kerner Commission
Paul Ong, UCLA
Black Workers Rising, Los Angeles Rising
Lola Smallwood Cuevas, Los Angeles Black Worker Center
Tenant Power: Victories for Housing Justice
Tony Roshan Samara, Urban Habitat & Right to the City Alliance
Resisting Police in Schools & Organizing for Educational Reparations Now
Manuel Criollo, Activist-in-Residence at UCLA
Building Power in Watts: Community Leaders & Systems Change
Jorja Leap, Watts Leadership Institute
Kathy Wooten, Loving Hands Community Care
Special Performance: Lockdown Unplugged
Bryonn Bain & the Lyrics Crew, UCLA

Friday, 4/27 | 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
LATTC, South Tent
Workshop Registration and Breakfast
Friday attendees are requested to participate for the entire day in one of the three workshops.

Friday, 4/27 | 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Workshop A. LATTC, Apen Hall, Room 101
Workshop B. LATTC, Apen Hall, Room 107
Workshop C. LATTC, Apen Hall, Room 120
Workshop A.
Freedom is a Place: Land, Rent, and HousingModerators: Terra Graziani, Hilary Malson, & Ananya Roy, UCLA
In Los Angeles and elsewhere, working class communities of color are being pushed out of their homes and neighborhoods and face re-segregation at the margins of cities. In this workshop, we examine the housing crisis in Los Angeles County, from the criminalization of the houseless to widespread evictions. We also link this crisis to other sites of struggle, from Santa Ana to the Antelope Valley, and to other urban regions such as the Bay Area. In doing so, we discuss key efforts to address the housing crisis, including community land trusts, rent control, and the campaigns for just cause evictions. Our goal is to share organizing frameworks and strategies and to consider regional alliances for housing justice.
Lead participants include: Josefina Aguilar, T.R.U.S.T. South LA; Elizabeth Blaney, Union de Vecinos; Kim Carter, Time for Change; Terra Graziani, Anti-Eviction Mapping Project; Noah Grynberg, Los Angeles Center for Community Law and Action; Gilda Haas, L.A. Coop Lab; Rahim Kurwa, UCLA; Jorge Rivera, Long Beach Residents Empowered; Michael Lens, UCLA; Luis Sarmiento, THRIVE Santa Ana; Tony Roshan Samara, Urban Habitat & Right to the City Alliance; Benny Torres, CD Tech; Pete White, LA Community Action Network.
All organizations and movements involved in housing justice are welcome to attend and participate.
Workshop B.
Pay for Freedom, Work for Free: Economic Extraction in Criminal Justice
Moderator: Noah Zatz, UCLA
Bail, court fines and fees, driver’s license suspensions, racially profiled traffic stops, court-ordered community service. As millions are spent on policing, arresting, and incarcerating people in working class communities of color, these same systems are also extracting resources from the same communities, in the form of both cash and labor. And the failure to pay these debts often means further criminalization. Mass incarceration is thus also mass economic extraction, draining families of the resources needed to live and thrive, substituting policing for investment and forced labor for good jobs. This workshop examines these links among racialized policing, debt, and labor as forms of institutionalized theft. Our goal is to share research, organizing frameworks and resistance strategies, and to lift up the work of organizations working hard to break the cycle of mass joblessness, mass incarceration, and mass extraction.
All organizations and movements connecting work against mass incarceration and for economic justice are welcome to attend and participate.
Lead participants include: CT Turney-Lewis, A New Way of Life Reentry Project; Theresa Zhen, Back on the Road Coalition, East Bay Community Law Center; Laura Hanna, Debt Collective, Alvin Teng, Million Dollar Hoods; Tia Koonse, UCLA Labor Center; Jeylee Quiroz, UCLA Labor Center.
Workshop C.
Disentangling the Web of the Juvenile Justice System
Moderators: Laura Abrams, UCLA, Manuel Criollo, Activist-in-Residence, UCLA, and Matthew Mizel, UCLA & InsideOut Writers
Youth of color in the United States are disproportionately supervised and incarcerated in the justice system. A number of structures feed and maintain this process, including the education, social welfare, policing, and probation systems. In this workshop, we will explore the way these social structures function and produce the mass supervision and control of youth. The narratives of those with lived experiences as both youth and adult advocates will center our discussion. We will collaboratively seek strategies to move the treatment and care of our youth to be more life sustaining. Towards that end, we invite all whose work touches and is touched by juvenile justice and the systems that entangle with it.
Lead participants include: Jesse Aguiar, Journey House; Yahniie Bridges, Social Justice Advocate; Michael Mendoza, #cut50; Javier Rodriguez, Underground Scholars Initiative, UCLA; Jimmy Wu, InsideOut Writers.

Friday, 4/27 | 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
LATTC, South Tent
Lunch

Friday, 4/27 | 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
LATTC, South Tent
Special Performance: Woke Black Folk
Funmilola Fagbamila, Black Lives Matter LA

Friday, 4/27 | 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
LATTC, South Tent
Freedom Dreams in Unequal Cities
Moderators: Ananya Roy, UCLA, and Pete White, LA Community Action NetworkA joint convening of the three workshops to share research and analysis, frameworks and strategies for organizing, and possibilities for shared visions and proposals.

Reclaiming our Healthy Spaces at Court of Sciences
2018-05-01 11:30 - 13:00
Join us on May 1st for our Court of Sciences Activation Launch and event kickoff!
As a part of the Reclaiming Our Healthy Spaces at CoS initiative, we’re launching a Mindful Music event on the first Tuesday of every month, as well as a Thurs-YAY series with UCLA Recreation every Thursday at noon.
Stop by our May 1st launch event for puppies, free food, and lots of activities! Everyone is welcome– we’ll see you there!

IOES Corporate Partners Program: Built Environment Sustainability Roundtables
2018-05-01 16:30 - 19:30 | La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
The Corporate Partners Program is convening sustainability leaders from the business and academic worlds to discuss sustainability in the built environment.
Industry leaders will make brief presentations on their contributions to sustainability in the built environment. Participants will explore these topics further in small roundtable discussions with the presenters and UCLA faculty. Students will share their green paper research with attendees before and after.

Featured speakers include:

Program
4:30-5:00 Registration & student posters
5:00-6:30 Speakers & roundtable discussions
6:30-7:30 Student posters & reception with light refreshments

Parking provided in Structure 2 for registered attendees. Detailed campus map will be included in confirmation email.

Movie + Dinner: Screening of "Designing Healthy Communities"
2018-05-02 18:00 - 20:00
DESCRIPTION

We will be screening Episode 3: Social Policy in Concrete of the “Designing Healthy Communities” PBS series, narrated by our very own, Richard Jackson, MD, MPH.
Episode 3: Social Policy in Concrete Summary
Dr. Jackson believes it is every citizen’s right to live in a clean, healthy environment. This isn’t the case for many low-income neighborhoods, built near big transportation hubs and struggling industrial cities like Oakland, CA and Detroit, MI. We meet a morbidly obese grandmother struggling to raise seven grandchildren, all of whom have asthma as a result of living near the Port of Oakland. The city of Detroit resembles an abandoned war zone. Yet, hope blossoms in both. Health officials, community activists and a new breed of young Urban Pioneers are working to fix their cities by transforming urban wilderness and food deserts into inspirational new models for other troubled communities.
Watch the trailer for this episode and the rest of the series here: http://www.assistedlivingonline.com/designinghealthycommunities/
CATERED BY FLAME BROILER.
LOCATION

UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
650 Charles E. Young Dr
Room CHS 43-105
Los Angeles, CA 90095
View Map

Coastalong Bicycle Powered Music Festival
2018-05-04 15:00 - 22:00 | Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, 111 Easton Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1370, United States
We are Coastalong, a bike-powered, student-run music festival and sustainability fair. Our goal is to spread awareness about alternative energy sources in a funky, cool, and creative space, so we host a variety of activities, booths, and installations each year in addition to all our stellar performers and DJs.
We look forward to seeing you on May 4th, 2018!
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/146808566008818/

Water in the Middle East & Africa: A Nexus of Cooperation & Conflict
2018-05-07 09:00 - 15:30
The severe water crises facing areas of the Middle East and Africa have significant implications for the health, welfare and security of the regions’ people. Today, issues related to water availability and quality – including food security, sanitation and health, and economic development – have become both more complex and critical to address in these parts of the world. In this context, the resource can be both a source of cooperation and conflict among and within communities and nations.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The international conference Water in the Middle East & Africa: A Nexus of Cooperation and Conflict will provide a forum for scholars and experts to discuss the challenges linked to water resources facing these areas. The speakers will share innovative technology and policy solutions being developed and implemented in the regions that tackle problems at the local, national, and trans-national levels.
The UCLA conference is also a unique opportunity to compare water issues facing these regions and other parts of the world, including California, which confront similar challenges – from drought, water contamination, inadequate or outdated infrastructure, and competing claims of agriculture and rural and urban areas – in order to ensure adequate and safe water supplies for their populations.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Scholars and students
Professionals from industry and non-profit organizations
Government officials
Members of the general public who wish to learn about the challenges facing the regions and the innovative solutions to overcome them

For information about conference schedule, speakers, and more, visit: http://mideastafrica-water.org/mideastafricawater

Climate Justice Forum hosted by CNI and the Environmentalists of Color Collective at UCLA
2018-05-08 17:00 - 20:00 | UCLA – Carnesale Commons – Palisades Room
Join us for the Environmentalists of Color Collective at UCLA’s kick-off event: an evening of critical dialogue about environmental racism and justice issues at UCLA and beyond.
The event will feature a speaking panel, keynote address, and workshop activities. Our panelists, representing various organizations across L.A., will talk about their work and life paths, which we will connect to the larger movement for environmental justice.
***DINNER IS PROVIDED*** All-vegetarian meal, vegan options available. Please contact the organizer about dietary preferences/restrictions.
This event is free and open to the UCLA community and general public. Please RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climate-justice-forum-tickets-45083334467 to secure your spot. Parking is available at the Sunset Village Parking Lot.
Keynote Speaker:
Felicia Montes, Xicana Indigenous artist, activist, educator, Femcee, designer, organizer, poet, performer, speaker and practitioner of the healing arts from East L.A. Felicia creates with In Lak Ech, Urban Xic, and La Botanica del Barrio and is the founding director of Mujeres de Maiz. Check her out at feliciamontes.com.
Moderator:
Yolanda Gorman, Senior Advisor to the Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives
Panelists:

Jan Victor Andasan, Community Organizer at East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Nalleli Cobo, Student Activist, Founding member of the South Los Angeles Youth Leadership Coalition and member of STAND LA (Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling Los Angeles)
Aradhna Tripati, Director of the Center for Diverse Leadership and Science and Professor at UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability; Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences; and Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Healthy Campus Initiative 2018 Celebration: Together We Thrive
2018-05-09 16:30 - 19:30 | Pauley Pavilion, UCLA

Sustainable Speaker Series Hosted by Renewable Energy Association at UCLA
2018-05-10 18:30 - 20:30 | Ackerman Union Viewpoint Conference (A201B)
The Renewable Energy Association invites you to our first annual Speaker Series! We’re proud to welcome a lineup of influential and inspiration leaders in sustainability. Following the talks, we will have time for networking with faculty, students, and industry! During the duration of the event, refreshments and food will be provided.
This year, we’re inviting three leaders in sustainability efforts in Los Angeles.
– Jon Christensen is the Founder of the Laboratory of Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS), journalist-in-residence, and adjunct assistant professor in the IoES. He’ll be discussing media portrayals of sustainability and his collaboration with Vox Media.
– Steve Baule is the Director of Special Projects in the Sustainability Office of LADWP, and will to discuss his current project, the La Kretz Innovation Campus, aimed at developing clean technologies in Los Angeles.
– Bonny Bentzin serves UCLA as the Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer and has decades of experience planning and executing large-scale sustainability projects for campuses across the country.
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustainable-speaker-series-at-ucla-tickets-45463009084

Botanical Birding for Citizen Science and Academic Research
2018-05-12 08:00 - 10:00 | Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden (North Entrance)
Join graduate students Andy Kleinhesselink, Samuel Bressler, and the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden staff for a morning of birding in our 7.5 acre urban oasis in Westwood! We’ll start off at the Nest Outdoor Classroom with coffee and snacks, followed by some demonstrations about how the garden is used for ornithological scientific research and how citizen scientists like you can contribute birding observations with phone-based apps. See you there!

Parrots of Pasadena: Walk, Talk and Cocktail Reception
2018-05-12 18:30 - 20:00
EVENT DETAILS
WHEN
5.12.2018
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
WHERE
La Pintoresca Park
45 E Washington Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91103
Parrots of Pasadena walk, talk & cocktail reception with Professor Ursula K. Heise. A Bird LA Day event sponsored by UCLA’s Lab for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS) of the Institute of the Environment & Sustainability. Meet at the corner of Fair Oaks and Washington Blvds.

Oppenheim Lecture: Animation and Environment: A Conversation with the Creator of Wall-E, Finding Nemo, and A Bug’s Life
2018-05-14 18:30 - 20:00 | UCLA CNSI Auditorium, 570 Westwood Plaza, , Los Angeles, CA 90095
What narratives can animation share about our environment?

Andrew Stanton of Pixar Studios, creator and director of Academy Award-winning animated films, joins Ursula K. Heise, Professor of English and co-founder of UCLA’s Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS), for a conversation about animated film as a vibrant and popular medium of environmental communication.

Andrew Stanton
Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton joined Pixar Animation Studios in 1990 and helped to establish Pixar as one of the world’s leading animation studios. He wrote and directed the worldwide hit films A Bug’s Life (1998), Finding Nemo (2003) and Wall-E (2008). Finding Nemo and Wall-E won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. He directed Disney’s John Carter (2012), a science fiction film, and co-wrote the three Toy Story animated films. Stanton also dabbles in voice work, perhaps most memorably as Crush, the laid-back turtle, in both Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016).

Ursula K. Heise
Ursula K. Heise is Marcia H. Howard Chair in Literary Studies at the Department of English and the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA. She researches, teaches, and publishes on environmental literature and film. Her publications include Sense of Place and Sense of Planet: The Environmental Imagination of the Global (2008), “Plasmatic Nature: Environmentalism and Animated Film” (2014), and Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species (2016). She is also a co-founder of UCLA’s Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS).

Bike Week: The Future of Cycling in LA
2018-05-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Luskin School of Public Affairs, room 2355, UCLA

Hammer Future LA Series: Decarbonizing Transportation: Mobility in Los Angeles
2018-05-16 19:30 - 21:30
L.A. County’s plan to shift its entire bus fleet to electric by 2030 is leading the way for a decarbonized transportation future. Río-Jill Contreras of Multicultural Communities for Mobility, John Jones III of East Side Riders bike club, Seleta Reynolds of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and urban planning professor Brian Taylor of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Institute of Transportation Studies at UCLA discuss how to create decarbonized urban pathways and infrastructure that enhance access for pedestrians, drivers, bicyclists, and mass transit riders alike. Moderated by Mark Gold, UCLA associate vice chancellor of environment and sustainability.
