2008 National Conference on Urban Ecosystems May28th Florida

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2008 National Conference on Urban Ecosystems

May 28 – 30, 2008 | Orlando, Florida

 

 

 

Featured Topic:

Reconciling Natural Systems and Human Networks

 

The growth of the Human Network is rapidly overwhelming the Natural System on which it depends. Reconciling these two systems so that their interactions minimize conflict and maximize efficiency is the focus of the 2008 National Conference on Urban Ecosystems. This session will lay the foundation of the Natural System and the Human Network.

 

Nature has been evolving for 4.5 billion years. Its tens of millions of species, processes and interactions have evolved into a highly efficient system that uses the sun’s energy to produce food, water, climate, flora and fauna. The human network is much younger and much less refined. It has been developing for only 2,200 years - the first global trade began with the Silk Road from Asia to the West. While it does not have the efficiency of the natural system, it is the focus of almost all of the human activity and is the delivery system for our goods and services that make up our economy.

 

The conference opening session will demonstrate how the Natural System and the Human Network can be understood and analyzed so that these two systems can be reconciled. The Piedmont Crescent in the Southeastern United States will be used as an example.

 

 

 

Featured Speakers

 

* Michael Gallis, Principal, MGA, Charlotte, North Carolina

* Michael Flaxman, Assistant Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts

* Gary Moll, Senior Vice President, American Forests, Washington DC

 

http://www.americanforests.org/conference/conf_08.php