The 2015 landmark agreement in Paris taught us that the fight against climate change can be won when the world community commits to supporting local efforts. At the same time as national climate ambition in the US is faltering, cities and States are gearing up efforts and ambitions to mitigate climate change and decarbonize the economy.
As many cities show a growing interest in deep decarbonization approaches, learning from and exchanging with leading German practitioners will provide soft support which will enable cities to adopt even more ambitious strategies and goals and take the next steps towards becoming Post-Carbon Cities of Tomorrow.
In 2016, POCACITO included a tour through Houston, Denver, and Las Vegas, with three European experts. This year, we bring three German urban practitioners to three US cities in the time from September 9 to 15, 2017.
Our speakers:
Ursel Luensmann-Pielke is a senior consultant in the Coordination Centre for Climate Issues in the Hamburg Ministry of Environment and Energy where she coordinates the sectors buildings, mobility and urban planning, and is responsible for the CO2-reductions of the Hamburg Climate Plan.
Klaus Hoppe now works as consultant for municipalities, city networks and state organizations, nationally and internationally after having worked for the city of Freiburg for 20 years from 1994 to 2014 and having led the city’s energy department from 2001 to 2014.
Two of these cities, Hamburg and Bottrop, were part of our POCACITO in Germany program. You can now experience their sustainability leadership without the transatlantic flight:
In Las Vegas from Saturday, September 9, to Monday, September 11.
- Sunday, September 10, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
POCACITO Town Hall – experiences from Germany
This Town Hall at UNLV is held together with Citizens’ Climate Lobby Las Vegas Chapter and the UNLV Student Sustainability Council.
The chair of CCL’s Las Vegas chapter, Joanne Leovy, a family practice doctor in Las Vegas, will co-host the discussion.
In Denver from Monday, September 11, to Thursday, September 14:
- Monday, September 11, 5:30 to 7:30 pm
Sustainability Series (S2): What Colorado Can Learn from The EU, Local Action on Energy and Climate
Benefitting the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado
Together with the Wirth Chair in Sustainable Development at the University of Colorado Denver and
the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver - Tuesday, September 12, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
Local Governments for Sustainability
at the Student Commons Building of the University of Colorado Denver
followed by a visit to the Rocky Mountain Institute in Boulder and a joint dinner with Amory Lovins, the inventor of the energy transition - Wednesday, September 13, 12:30 to 5:30 pm
Advanced Energy Symposium at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado
Together with the German American Chambers of Commerce Colorado, the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence and the International Business Circle - Thursday, September 14, 9 am to 12:15 pm
Special Sustainability Session during the German language conference at Schulhaus Denver (in German)
In Phoenix from Thursday, September 14, to Friday, September 15:
- Thursday, September 14, 6 to 9 pm
Phoenix: Global and Local Energy Transitions: Lessons from Germany and Beyond
Dinner discussion on Urban Sustainability in Germany
Together with the American Council on Germany’s Phoenix Warburg Chapter - Friday, September 15, 8:30 to 10:30 am
POCACITO: Post-carbon Cities of Tomorrow – German experiences in urban sustainability
Together with the Sustainable Cities Network at Arizona State University
followed by a site visit of PowerParasol solar shading design on the ASU campus in Tempe
The entire program has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Climate Fund of the Federal Republic of Germany.