Campus news

Media Advisory: Green economy conference examines trends, research

By Kathleen Maclay

ATTENTION: Environment, economics, labor, business and finance, government and higher education writers and editors

WHAT

“Innovating the Green Economy,” a one-day conference sponsored by the Center for Community Innovation (CCI) at University of California, Berkeley’s Institute for Urban and Regional Development and by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Academic and private industry researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors will discuss the latest green economy news in terms of business trends, the role of universities, venture capital, and local and state policies.

A conference highlight will be a look at the green economy evolving in California’s Silicon Valley, the San Joaquin Valley and the East Bay Green Corridor Partnership between UC Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond and Emeryville.

WHEN

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 21

WHERE

David Brower Conference Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley. The center is on the west side of Oxford Street, on the west side of campus. Directions are online at the Brower Center Web site .

WHO

Karen Chapple, a UC Berkeley professor of city and regional planning who specializes in community and economic development, will present “Green, Local and Growing,” a CCI survey of what makes green enterprises different from others, their growth and innovation patterns, and how their attitudes toward regulation and public policy contrast with those of traditional businesses. The report is part of a more extensive, statewide study, “Innovating the Green Economy in California Regions,” for the U.S. Economic Development Administration that will be posted online at the UC Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional Development Web site.

The keynote address is by Brian McGowan, the U.S. Department of Commerce deputy assistant secretary for economic development and formerly California’s deputy secretary for economic development and commerce. He will focus on what the future holds for green economy policy and research.

DETAILS

For more information about this division of IURD, visit the Center for Community Innovation home page.

Media R.S.V.P.: To reserve a seat or to request an advance copy of the reports mentioned above, contact Kathleen Maclay in UC Berkeley Media Relations at (510) 643-5651 or kmaclay@berkeley.edu .