New Speakers and Sponsors Announced for Forging a Sustainable Future

Online, February 11, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Congresswoman Susan Davis and Navy Captain Marko Medved will join a long list of distinguished speakers and panelists at UnitedGREEN's Forging a Sustainable Future Symposium including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who will give the keynote address; Congressmen Bob Filner and John Garamendi; University of Florida Professor Joseli Macedo from Curitiba, Brazil; San Diego City Councilmember Marti Emerald; San Diego School Board member Kevin Beiser; local environmental consultant Jim Bell; Professor Heather Honea of SDSU; and international sustainability consultant Morgan Pitts, currently of American University.

Congresswoman Davis will give the opening remarks at 9 Saturday morning March 3 to kick off the event, welcoming the attendees who will include students, industry leaders, and members of the community at large. Kennedy will be speaking later Saturday afternoon.

Captain Medved is Operations Officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest. He possesses a Bachelor's degree in Ocean Engineering from the US Naval Academy and a Master's in Construction Engineering and Management from MIT.

FSF co-chair, Patrick Hurley said, "We are especially pleased that Captain Medved has agreed to be on a panel. At a presentation he recently did on the USS Midway he outlined the dramatic changes the Navy and its allied services are making to go green. He understands, as we do, that the military is such a large part of our community that any efforts to be sustainable have to include them."

The two-day symposium will include panels on food, energy, and water. Event co-chair, Walter Meyer added, "We are honored to have three members of Congress as well as local political leaders join us in planning to change the way the region does things. We are using the city of Curitiba as our model and looking at Jim Bell and Professor Honea's plan as to how a large city can reduce its dependence on resources from beyond the region."

Professor Macedo is familiar with the changes that have been made in her hometown of Curitiba, and although she is on the faculty of the University of Florida, she is currently working under a Fulbright-Nehru Award doing research in India and will be video conferencing into the SDSU event. She will be presenting on Sunday, the second day of the event.

Among the features of the event will be three $1000 prizes given to college students for proposals to help the San Diego/Tijuana/Imperial County region self-sustaining in food, energy, and water. Sponsors for the event include UPS, which will be calling attention to their efforts to go green, and Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company, which wants to serve as an example of how any business, even a theater, can reduce, reuse, and recycle; and Heartland Sustainable Housing. The head of HSH, Alan Cassell said he is happy to be able to help sponsor the conference. "We try to provide affordable housing for communities and if those properties can use less energy and water, it's a win for everyone."

Tickets to the two-day event are $95 for the general public and $35 for students and partners. More information and tickets are available at UnitedGREEN.org.