UBC Launches World Urban Forum Program With Living the Global City Series
October 11, 2005
UBC is launching the Living the Global City - an eight-month series combining lectures, panel discussions and community events that will explore the rapid urbanization of our globe in preparation for the coming United Nations' World Urban Forum in June 2006.
"The 2006 World Urban Forum represents an exciting and important opportunity for the region and the world to make substantial gains in sustainability and urban settlement," said Dennis Pavlich, UBC Vice-President of External and Legal Affairs.
"UBC is aware of the important role it and other academic institutions can play in finding sustainable solutions," said Pavlich. As a university community we will engage in a range of activities leading up to and during the forum that result in tangible, and positive outcomes both for the people of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and those living in cities around the world."
In addition to Living the Global City, UBC will showcase its sustainability achievements with a rich program including planning forums, sustainability tours, design workshops, and communications initiatives that will unfold through June 2006.
The Living the Global City series kicks off at UBC Robson Square on October 21 and will demonstrate how ideas, critical thinking, and creativity can directly improve policy and strengthen community, locally and globally.
Leading figures in the series include:
- William McDonough, World-renowned architect, winner of three U.S. presidential awards co-author of Cradle to Cradle.
- Richard Cavell, Professor of English and Director of the International Canadian Studies Centre at UBC.
- William Gibson, Novelist and author of Necromancer, the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. Dick Award.
- Mike Davis, Professor, History, University of California, Irvine; author of City of Quartz and Ecology of Fear
- David Theo Goldberg, Director, University of California Humanities Research Institute; Professor, African-American Studies and Criminology, Law, and Society, University of California.
- Josef Konvitz, Head, Regulatory Management and Reform Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Most events will take place in venues in downtown Vancouver. For information visit www.wuf3.ubc.ca.
About the World Urban Forum
On the historic 30th anniversary of the first-ever UN-HABITAT conference on human settlements - held in Vancouver in 1976 - Canada will welcome the international community back to Vancouver for the World Urban Forum from June 19-23, 2006.
Created by UN-HABITAT and held once every two years, the World Urban Forum brings together opinion leaders and experts from around the world for an exchange of information and best practices that will lead to meaningful progress on one of the main challenges of the new Millennium: the transition of our planet to an urban - and sustainable - world.
