Climate change mitigation is the No. 1 priority named in the sustainability program approved unanimously by Fulton County’s Board of Commissioners. The measure is strongly endorsed by environmentalists and members of a citizen panel that contributed to the document.
By Guest Columnist NICOLE KENNARD, a Georgia Tech graduate and doctoral researcher at Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, University of Sheffield
“I got out!” An overwhelming feeling of relief and achievement washed over me as I went up to the stage to receive the piece of paper I’d paid for in my own sweat and sanity over the previous four years….
Although I had a few job offers in engineering before graduation – from companies including Michelin and Boeing – I turned them down in the hopes of pursuing a career in sustainable community development.
A 7.1-acre food forest is slated to open shortly in Atlanta as a place where the public is welcome to come and pick to eat whatever catches their eye. The idea already has spread around the world– a town in England even offers communal food grown in a cemetery.
From helping cocaine farmers in Columbia shift to other products, to providing efforts to aid and repatriate migrants at the U.S. southern border, college students from metro Atlanta and across the Americas met Wednesday via Skype to discuss shared efforts to improve the world’s sustainability.
The growing demand for leaders in the realm of sustainability is the subject of a new master’s degree program Georgia Tech intends to launch this autumn.
A series of talks on redesigning cities, their systems and policies, to meet the needs of the 21st century promises to explore topics that are on the table today in metro Atlanta. The series of six talks begin Dec. 4 and continues through April at Georgia Tech.
By Guest Columnist KAREN GRAINEY, assistant director of Center for a Sustainable Coast
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a monumental report on Oct. 8, warning that humanity has only 12 years to make the “rapid and far-reaching” reforms needed to prevent the worst effects of climate change. These reforms entail drastic reductions in the primary cause of global warming – greenhouse gas emissions.
By Guest Columnist JENNIFER HIRSCH, co-founder of RCE Greater Atlanta, with GARRY HARRIS and SERENA NEWHALL, steering committee members of RCE Greater Atlanta.
Atlanta’s regional sustainability network, RCE Greater Atlanta, will celebrate its recognition by the United Nations University at an event hosted Wednesday by the Center for Civil and Human Rights, an RCE member organization. A program for youth leadership in sustainability is among those to be celebrated.
By Guest Columnist STEPHANIE STUCKEY, a sustainability expert
In May 2016, Atlanta became the final city to be part of 100 Resilient Cities (“100 RC”), a program pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation to help cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st Century.
The Rockefeller network enables cities to increase the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems to survive, adapt, and thrive no matter what chronic stresses or acute shocks they face.
Georgia Tech’s planned police headquarters is designed to comply with a fairly new set of standards that aim to improve the health and wellness of those who spend time inside the building. In at least one instance, the standard is tighter than LEED standards.
Southface is preparing to recognize four projects that embody the philosophy of sustainability that forms the foundation of the Fulcrum Awards, which are a highlight next week at Southface’s Greenprints program.
An affiliate of the United Nations has recognized a new Regional Center of Expertise in metro Atlanta as just the sixth such regional sustainability network in the United States. The RCE Greater Atlanta aims to advance education for sustainable development related to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, through smart sharing of information and collaborative programming among universities, governments, communities and the private sector.
Metro Atlanta has climbed to third place on the fourth annual Green Building Adoption Index, an index led by CBRE, a real estate firm. But the big news appears in at the start of the executive summary – regarding the potential demise of the green building movement.
Atlanta is entering the final stage of its role in helping Georgia Tech build what Tech bills as, “the most environmentally advanced education and research building ever constructed in the Southeast.” The city intends to sell an acre of land for the site of Tech’s planned Living Building.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect new language about Georgia Power’s posture on renewable energy. // The Atlanta City Council has resolved that all the electricity used in the city shall be generated through renewable resources by 2035. Advocates said the victory sets the stage for a push to bring the issue of clean energy for transportation into this year’s city elections.
By Guest Columnist SUSAN VARLAMOFF, the former director of the University of Georgia’s Office of Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and lifetime Master Gardener
Landscapes occupy vast swaths of land across urban and suburban areas in the U.S. and how we cultivate our gardens directly affects the surrounding environment. Since Atlanta is bisected by the Chattahoochee River, which serves as a drinking water source, runoff from the land directly impacts the river’s water quality. Misuse or overuse of fertilizers and pesticides can result in water contamination as these chemicals run off the land during rain events.
Solar panels that can withstand the weight of vehicles were installed last week on the surface of the roadway at the Georgia Visitor Information Center in West Point. The energy will help power the information center.
Westside Atlanta represents the rise and fall and the impending revival of a community.
The historic core of the community is the Atlanta University Center, a consortium of historically-black colleges and universities. The consortium of the black colleges began in 1929.
“We were in the business of aspirations and dreams,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College.
By Guest Columnist KATHERINE MOORE, senior director of The Georgia Conservancy’s statewide Sustainable Growth program
This holiday season, I’m thankful for … an easier-than-normal commute.
School is out this week for Thanksgiving break, but if you’re like me, you may find yourself heading into the office at some point to escape from the excess of family time and turkey leftovers. With most metro-area schools deserted this week, you will no doubt enjoy a noticeably smoother and shorter commute.
As lawyers argue in a Washington courtroom over the distribution of water between Florida and Georgia, Fulton County is preparing to nearly triple the amount of treated sewage it dumps into a river that flows into Alabama and the Gulf of Mexico.
Georgia's threat of hurricanes this season eased by distant weather, UGA reportsJune 16, 2019 - 8:59 pm
Planned charging stations for e-scooters, e-bikes could ease tension over their useJune 14, 2019 - 9:03 pm
Gwinnett County firm stiffs workers OT pay in case resolved by federal Labor Dept.June 12, 2019 - 11:50 pm
