Volunteer Opportunity at New Belgium Tour de Fat! (It's so cool - check it out! http://www.tour-de-fat.com/) We need volunteers to help inform patrons where they can recycle while they enjoy refreshments at the New Belgium Tour de Fat event at Gas Works Park on Saturday, August 2nd from 11:00 pm-7:00 pm. Come out and volunteer for this fun event! Give Sustainable Seattle a call to volunteer!

More walkable neighborhoods. Better Bus Service. Dedicated Bike Lanes. Regional Rapid Transit. Wish we could fix our transportation system? We can! Come to this hands-on event where you and your neighbors work with transportation experts for a climate-friendly future. Build support for transportation improvements underway in your neighborhood. Imagine and plan for an economical and environmentally-friendly transportation future. Learn about key climate actions regionally and nationally. Learn how to make your voice heard by elected officials and policy makers. "This is a great opportunity for Southeast Seattle to take a leadership role." -- Senator Adam Kline When: July 12, 2008 10:00am - 2:00pm (doors open 9:30am) Where: New Freeway Hall 5018 Rainier Ave S. (4 blocks south of S. Alaska) Food and drink provided (bring your own mug!) Free admission – Donations accepted. Space is limited. Please RSVP on-line to reserve your spot. Hosted by Sustainable South Seattle Climate Action Labs are a project of the Seattle Climate Dialogues and Northwest Environmental Education Council, with help from WSU King County Extension and TGreen Consulting.

Learn about the emerging discipline of biomimicry and the viable sustainable solutions that arise when inquisitive humans ask nature for solutions to our design challenges. This evening lecture by Rose Tocke and the Biomimicry Guild includes unique images of nature coupled with the technologies inspired by them to tell the story of a world in which humans fit in with the environment, meeting our needs while simultaneously creating conditions conducive for all life. Building on case studies relevant to architectural interests, the Guild’s biologists will introduce the time-tested adaptations of the genius around us. Through the conscious emulation of Nature's Genius, designers of our systems can imagine innovative sustainable solutions that will transform our world by mimicking nature's forms, processes and ecosystems. AIA Members $5, Non-Members $15

For the past ten years, the Center for Ethical Leadership, a leadership development non-profit organization in Seattle, has taught and used Gracious Space to promote the common good in diverse organizations and communities across the country. In that time, the Center has learned much about how Gracious Space helps leaders work with difficult issues, cross boundaries and transform the way people work together. Now it's your turn! From May 29-May 31, you can experience an in-depth training retreat, “Creating Gracious Space.” This is a residential course, beginning the morning of Thursday, May 29 and ending with dinner on Saturday, May 31. The facilitation will be led by Dr. Dale Nienow, Executive Director of the Center, and Pat Hughes, primary author of Gracious Space: A Practical Guide for Working Better Together, now in its second edition. Dale and Pat will share what the Center has learned about deepening the key elements of Gracious Space. Participants will come away able to design and lead processes to create and hold Gracious Space in their own communities and organizations. The retreat will be held at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island, one of the nation’s most innovative educational facilities. IslandWood is an outdoor learning center, set in 225 beautiful acres, and just a 35-minute ferry ride from the downtown Seattle ferry dock. Fees include the cost of tuition, materials, two nights of double-occupancy lodging, and all meals and snacks. A limited number of single rooms are available. Space is limited.

The School of Visual Concepts in Seattle is bringing back last year's successful and inspiring workshop on how designers can stop making such a global mess of things. You'll learn practical tips you can take back to the studio and put to work the very next day, and you'll see examples from top designers on how they took a more sustainable approach to their assignments. We'll have speakers from Starbucks, Hornall Anderson, Getty Images, DOE (the design firm), Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Olympus Press, and Eric Karjaluoto from designcanchange.org. For more information on the workshop, as well as to view a 101+ ideas on sustainable graphic design, visit the workshop's website, onehundredthings.wordpress.com. A free event, but online pre-registration at www.svcseattle.com is required. Presented by AIGA Seattle and the School of Visual Concepts Sponsored by Aquent and Olympus Press

What explains the simultaneous existence in today’s world of nearly 1 billion people who are malnourished and nearly 1 billion who are overweight? In "Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System," Raj Patel provides an overview of the inequalities and imbalances perpetuated by the corporate global food system. His work addresses topics such as: *the causes of food price increases *international power structures *food politics *race and social justice *the impacts of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a joint project of the Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation In his Seattle talk, Patel will discuss AGRA, which Community Alliance for Global Justice (CAGJ) is opposing with the newly formed Seattle group, AGRA Watch. CAGJ will also give an overview of our organizing to Strengthen Local Economies, Everywhere. After his talk, Raj Patel will be signing copies of "Stuffed and Starved”, which will be available for sale. Patel is a visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, a Fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First, and a Research Associate at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A commentator on land reform politics and an advocate of fairer food systems, Patel has been involved in several grassroots organizations working for justice, including The Land Research Action Network, the Durban Shackdweller Movement, and the Ota Benga Alliance. Co-sponsored by American Friends Service Committee and UW Department of Geography

Sustainable West Seattle will be holding its 1st Annual Festival across the street from the Sunday Farmers Market (in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot) 1 block West of the Alaska Junction this May 4th from 10am to 3pm. The Festival will feature a wide range of sustainability speakers, workshops & exhibitors around the theme of “Building Community, Making Connections”. Special activities will include: a Food Drive for the West Seattle Food Bank, Neighborhood House Green Building bus tours of the new High Point Project, a bicycle maintenance area, and a special “Undriving License” booth where festival-goers can get a free Undriving license along with ten free Metro bus tickets! A Transit Forum addressing issues affecting West Seattle will simultaneously be held one block South of the main Festival site, at Arts West, 4711 California Ave SW. The Transit Forum will feature discussions with Richard Conlin, Dow Constantine, and others. There will also be a presentation and discussion about the Viaduct by the People’s Waterfront Coalition. Sustainable West Seattle is a non-profit organization that educates and advocates for urban sustainability in our local community. The group envisions a West Seattle community of empowered citizens who actively lead one another toward greater self- reliance, local democracy, social justice, and existence in harmony with life on earth.

Join Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation and the Institute for Children’s Environmental Health for the conclusion of the 5th annual environmental health lecture series. This year's series examines the relationship between the natural world, human society, and our economic system, focusing on ecological economics, a growing transdisciplinary field which expands economic theory to integrate the earth’s natural systems, human values and health. The series concludes with “Economics for the 21st Century: Creating a Collective Vision for a Sustainable Future” with Dr. Joshua Farley, professor of Community Development and Applied Economics at the Gund Institute at the University of Vermont and Dr. David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World and The Great Turning and cofounder of the Positive Futures Network. The economic crisis that has been receiving so much attention by the media and our government is only the first wave of challenges we will face on a global scale, according to Josh Farley, PhD and David Korten, PhD. It is also probably the easiest to repair relative to climate change and other health and environmental concerns—and this is only if we use this crisis as an opportunity to apply new economic models that take into account our natural and human capital. Dr. Farley, the main speaker, and Dr. Korten, the responder, will discuss the current major financial struggles and help us envision concrete steps we can take to create a desirable, sustainable future. Advance tickets are $10 or $15 at the door (includes reception at 5:30). The lecture will also be held downstairs from 6:30-8:00 p.m., preceded by a reception from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Come celebrate what’s working in our communities — for people, for business and for the environment. You’ll enjoy more than 150 visionary speakers, great how-to workshops, interactive kids’ activities, delicious organic cuisine and diverse live music. Shop in our extensive green marketplace of more than 300 exhibits — everything from all-natural cleaning products and Fair Trade gifts to solar panels, eco-cars and socially-responsible investing. You’ll find inspirational and practical ideas for healthy, earth-friendly living at Green Festival.

Please join us at this great session! This workshop is a great way to bring love, joy and healing to your life: the 2-day Basic Intensive in Compassionate Listening is highly experiential, giving you ways to integrate this deep practice into your life. Compassionate Listening helps improve relationships with family, friends and co-workers, brings peace and healing to the world – and, perhaps most important of all, nurtures compassionate support for yourself.

The Future of Energy - an Ecological Economics Perspective: Cutler Cleveland, PhD, editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Energy, the journal Ecological Economics, and the online resource, Encyclopedia of Earth, and director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and professor at the Department of Geography and Environment at Boston University, will speak on March 12, 2008 This lecture is also part of the Institute for Children's Environmental Health lecture series: "Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link.", sponsored by the Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation, and co-sponsored by Antioch University Seattle and The Russell Family Foundation. TIME AND PLACE TO BE CONFIRMED LATER.

CityClub will be hosting a panel discussion on development in Seattle. Unprecedented development is reshaping Seattle's neighborhoods unlike any other time in the city's recent history. From Ballard to Capitol Hill and South Lake Union, neighborhoods are adapting to a new, denser urban reality. What do these developments say about the future of Seattle and how we define vibrant, livable urban neighborhoods? How do we preserve a neighborhood's character and charm while making room for new buildings that help accommodate undeniable growth? How can the public and private sectors work together to shape growth in a way that supports a diversity of housing, complements the existing community and respects the environment? Registration: 11:30 a.m. v Luncheon: 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. $35/CityClub Members, $40 Guests and members of co-presenting organizations and $45/General public

The Puget Sound region is at a crossroads for new ways of thinking about and addressing the interactions between our ecology and our economy and the implications of both for our health. How will our region be able to support the new ecological and economic challenges ahead, such as the cleanup of Puget Sound and climate change? Dave Batker of Earth Economics and Dr. Katherine Davies of Antioch University Seattle will expand our understanding of ‘ecological economics’ and how this systems approach can protect the vitality and future of the Puget Sound region. $15 at the door, $10 for advance tickets. Discount available for students and limited income.

A free Showing of the film “Affluenza”, produced by John de Graaf and Vivia Boe. Post-movie discussion with filmmaker and director, John de Graaf. From the award winning Seattle documentary filmmaker, John de Graaf, comes a humorous critique of American consumerism. Free refreshments and discussion follow the film. Additional information about the movie, the Queen Anne Movie Guild, and the sponsors who are helping make this free community service possible can be found at: www.queenannemovieguild.org.

World-renowned economist Robert Costanza will speak on ecological economics, an emerging framework that quantifies the value of natural ecosystems in order to better protect and sustain human welfare and the biosphere. Though Costanza acknowledges that our health and natural resources are in fact “priceless,” he persuasively argues that by applying the principles of ecological economics globally, we can promote a healthier environment, human well-being and a robust economy all at once. Suggested donation for admission is $5.