The editors from Blogged.com recently sent me this email below. This is fantastic news as there are BILLIONS of blogs and its great to hear that sustainability news from our local site is reaching such a wide audience! Please be sure to post your local urban, sustainability events, initiatives & ideas to enjoy this service. And please read on!

“Our editors have recently reviewed your blog and have given it an 8.3 score out of (10) in the Society category of Blogged.com. This is quite an achievement!

http://www.blogged.com/directory/society

We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style. After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 8.3 score.”

The World Sustainable Building (SB) Conference series, which has been held every three years, is the peak gathering of the world’s leading technical experts and researchers on sustainable built environments. SB08 will continue a traditional focus on technical developments and case studies.

Download the SB08 Program[pdf]

By registering for SB08, taking place in Melbourne from 21-25 September 2008, you can hear from some of the world’s leading keynote speakers, including:

Professor Bill Rees
Best known as the originator of the ‘ecological footprint analysis’ concept, Prof Rees is a professor at the University of British Columbia. A popular and dynamic speaker and widely published author and scholar, UBC awarded him a Senior Killam Research Prize in acknowledgment of his research achievements. More

Rosario Marin
A Cabinet member of the State Government of California - and formerly the 41st Treasurer of the United States from 2001 to 2003 under President G.W. Bush - Ms Marin now chairs Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Green Action Team which is implementing a policy and action agenda aimed at ‘greening’ the State. More

Douglas Durst
Mr Durst is head of The Durst Organization, which is building the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park - the most environmentally advanced office tower in the world. Mr Durst is one of New York City’s most respected real estate owners and developers, and one of the pioneers of the Green Building Movement. More

Nils Larsson
Nils Larsson is synonymous with the SB conference series and is again playing a leading role in SB08. Nils is Executive Director of the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment. He is the main developer of the SBTool assessment method and is also the main organiser of the Green Building Challenge. More

Professor Thomas Luetzkendorf
Thomas is Professorial Chair in Sustainable Management of Housing and Real Estate at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. With backgrounds in civil engineering, business engineering, energy and building ecology, he deals with principles and implementation of sustainable development in the construction, housing and real estate sector. More

4 day course Hepburn Springs

A four day course Advanced Permaculture Principles and Planning Tools targeted at PDC holders looking to deepen their understanding of permaculture and improve their conceptual skills and tool kit for design and action. To be run in a rural venue, within a small village or town where permaculture and associated activism already has a strong presence, (in this case Hepburn Springs).

Cost
Includes meals but not accommodation
Accommodation options include basic home accommodation, youth hostel or local guest houses.

Venue
TBC but in heart of Hepburn Springs village within walking distance of Mineral Springs Reserve, Melliodora permaculture demonstration site, and accommodation options.

Background information and guidelines
The four day course has a long lineage based on material David has been teaching on PDC’s for many years and more recently in Advanced 2, 3 and 4 day courses run in Europe and North America (2005) and NZ and Latin America (2007). After nearly 20 of these courses overseas, the first Australian one was at Apollo Bay in October 2007 organised by Fern Rainbow. The course is designed to deepen understanding of permaculture practitioners, designers, activists and teachers.

Some of the leading permaculture teachers and activists overseas have been organisers and participants in these courses leading to a revitalisation and deepening of existing permaculture activism. Rob Hopkins, the activist behind the Transition Towns process in the UK is a prominent example. Several experienced permaculture teachers who have been personally inspired by the book, Permaculture:Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, have found this course gives them the confidence to integrate the material into their own teaching of permaculture. While a PDC and prior reading of Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability are highly desirable for participants to successfully gain from and contribute to the course, in individual cases exceptions could be made where either the participant has
1. a PDC and has read the essence of permaculture (downloadable from www.holmgren.com.au Writings page) or
2. a solid professional and personal background in sustainability and has attended the Future Scenarios workshop or
3. a solid professional and personal background in sustainability and has read Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability.

The core of these courses is the presentation and workshopping in groups of the format of design principles from Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Additional presentations and group work focus on Reading Landscape, Landscape Mapping, Energy Descent Scenarios and Community Mapping.

For more information visit http://www.holmgren.com.au/.

Thanks again to all the marvelous people who attended and participated in the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on the topic of “sustainable food systems” held on the 28 May! It was a jam-packed, interesting and very enjoyable evening with a variety of fascinating speakers with the additional features of musician Dave Newington and the students’ exhibition from the “Meals in Metropolis” class at RMIT University. Thanks also to our filmmaker Ryan Spanger from Dream Engine Digital Film Production for his brilliant capturing of the events AND to the sustainable wine provided by Elgo Estate. And of course, a very big thank you to our sponsors, VicUrban, who also presented at the event. All the video clips of the presentations can now be viewed for FREE online at http://www.sustainablemelbourne.com/category/sustainable-cities-round-table/. Find below the introduction to the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table by Prof Chris Ryan and myself, Ferne Edwards.

“SUSTAINABILITY - Transitioning Melbourne” by Peter Newton at the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology was posted on Australian Policy Online , 14-05-2008. Please find a brief abstract of the article below.