The American Public Works Association (APWA) has spent the last few years with hands firmly on the reins of sustainability issues in the public works profession. Two key outreach efforts have come about as of this work between APWA’s membership and leadership committees: the launch of the APWA Center for Sustainability and the APWA Sustainability in Public Works conference series.
For information on the APWA Center for Sustainability, see Geosynthetica’s interview with Julia Anastasio, Director of the Center from early April 2010.
The conference, which was first held a few years ago, is taking place this week in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve had the opportunity to visit the conference as a media guest and would like to begin by thanking APWA for their hospitality and granting me space at this sold-out event.
DAY ONE
The opening eve of the conference, which is being held at the Hilton Minneapolis, gave us an excellent opportunity to say hello to one another. A registration and welcome reception was held in the exhibit hall.
I had a number of interesting talks with exhibitors about subjects such as brownfields development and how LEED principles, so often promoted in articles, are a key part of many more projects than credit is applied for. In public works facility design, for example, architecture firms and contractors may work with cities and counties to develop economically sensible, environmentally responsible buildings—but the process of submitting those designs and construction practices for credit and promotion can add cost to a project; and many communities would rather keep costs down and quietly reap the benefits.
It’s just one of the many balancing acts public works professionals must perform in their work.
I learned a great deal about APWA’s professional development opportunities, such as live webinar events, from the association Director of Professional Development, Mabel Tinjaca. I anticipate that readers of Geosynthetica will be interested in a number of these events and will announce them on the website and publish them in our database.
For me, it’s particularly interesting to meet face-to-face some of the association’s committee leaders. APWA is closely tied to and driven by its membership through core sector leadership committees, such as those focusing on transportation and water. The Center for Sustainability’s leadership is, as you might expect, well-represented at this specialty conference.
APWA holds a larger, general conference every year. The next “Best Show in Public Works” will be held in Boston, Massachusetts 15-18 August 2010. It’s also co-located with the Solid Waste Association of North America’s (SWANA) WasteCon 2010. More information on that event can be found on the conference website:
http://sites.apwa.net/congress/2010/home.aspx
DAY TWO SCHEDULE
As I write this on Monday night, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s sessions on:
- Climate Change Adaptation Strategies & Public Works
- How to Turn Obstacles, Barriers and Challenges into Opportunities for Sustainability
- Using Low Impact Development to Combat Impacts of Urbanization
Learn more about APWA at its association website:
http://www.apwa.net
Christopher Kelsey is the editorial director for Geosynthetica. He can be reached at chris@geosynthetica.net.
