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For more information contact mark.a.kinders@uwrf.edu or brenda.k.bredahl@uwrf.edu.

Eco-Municipalities Discussion Set for April 19

APRIL 13, 2007--A free discussion on the concept of eco-municipalities is set for April 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Kinnickinnic River Theater of the University Center at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.  

The program titled, "In Pursuit of Eco-Municipalities" will feature a four-speaker panel who have been instrumental in implementing the sustainable community resolution movement in northwestern Wisconsin by using a model based on the Natural Step Model. The Natural Step Model originated in Sweden, and its four fundamental principles are applicable for communities around the globe.

The panel includes Irene Blakely, mayor of Washburn; Greg David, Jefferson County board supervisor; Paul Moderacki, administrator of the village of Johnson Creek; and Mary Rehwald, Ashland City Council member and Northland College professor.

The panel will share their stories of getting resolutions passed in their own communities, provide an overview of the model, and discuss how it can be used in other communities considering a sustainable community agenda.

The discussion is targeted for a wide variety of community members and leaders but especially those interested in how sustainability issues such as climate change, peak energy, water, and biodiversity are all actually opportunities for addressing social equity and inclusiveness, economic vitality, and quality of life from a community development perspective. This event will provide much information on one model for how these things can begin to be collectively addressed.

The event is geared toward elected officials at all levels of government, professional planning staff, municipal administrators, municipal operations workers, UWRF students, faculty, staff and administrators, public school faculty, staff, and administrators, civic leaders, church ministers and staff, and the general public.   A questions and answer session is set to follow the discussion.

For more information on the panel, contact Kelly Cain, director of the UWRF's new Sustainability Institute, 715-425-3729 or kelly.d.cain@uwrf.edu.

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