About the Conference
This year, we are back at Laney College with the theme of Ideas for Action. We’re sharing everything we’re doing as a community to inspire our students, our neighbors and our peers onto concrete actions to live and work more sustainably.
We’re excited this year to host Kari Fulton, a young environmental action activist who is one of the key organizers for PowerShift. We’re also excited to host André Angelantoni, a San Francisco-based educator who conducts workshops and lectures on adapting to a world without cheap, abundant oil.
We will also showcase Laney’s amazing Green Trades programs, which have been at the forefront of the Green Jobs movement before it was even named:
- Our Environmental Controls Technologies (ECT) program trains future workers in on commercial HVACR (Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration) systems
- Our Building Performance and Energy Efficiency Program (BPEEP) trains future building and home weatherization and maintenance workers.
- Our Electricians and Carpentry programs train students in modern efficiency and sustainability techniques, including solar panel installation
We’re also inviting all of our nearby sustainability-minded organizations to show us the opportunities and challenges right here in the East Bay at the intersection of climate change, environmental equity, youth empowerment and community engagement. Some of these organizations include
- Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
- Communities for a Better Environment
- Rising Sun Energy Center
- Movement Generations
- Women’s Environmental Artists Directory
- City Slicker Farms
- People’s Grocery.
There are always a number of events during Earth Day weekend. We hope that you will recognize the distinct vision we have for our conference – to motivate students towards environmental action with specific community-based actions – and join us this year.
Conference History
For the past four years, the Peralta Community Colleges has gathered 300 people from its own family of faculty, staff and students with our greater community – local non-profits, corporate partners, and our activist neighbors – for a day-long conference that engages our urban community on local sustainability challenges and solutions.
We have had numerous luminaries and elected officials anchor our event as keynote speakers and VIP panelists. Most recently in April 2009, Phil Angelides shared his vision of a green economy at our hilltop Merritt College campus. In 2007, our 2nd annual conference featured local governmental leaders at our new LEED-Silver Berkeley City College campus. In 2008, we hosted environmental-equity activist Carl Anthony and his associate Paloma Pavel.
