Events

Under the leadership of Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, a coalition of Cortland and Tompkins County nonprofits, colleges, businesses, youth groups, and local governments formed in the fall of 2012 to support ongoing local planning and action on climate mitigation and adaptation. Their first project together was to produce and host a major regional conference on making our communities more climate friendly and climate resilient from April 18-21 in Ithaca and Cortland. Sustainable Tompkins served as the coordinator for the project.

Approximately a thousand people attended the events over the four days of the conference, and judging from the very positive written evaluations and verbal feedback, people were grateful, inspired, impressed, and energized by what they learned and how they experienced the community created by the conference. We hope that we have strengthened their resolve and attuned their focus to address the urgency of climate disruption.

We know our impact goes beyond those attending the conference. A broad and diverse outreach and marketing effort meant that thousands of people in our region were introduced to the reality of climate impacts in our communities. This is a critical step toward creating new expectations and new response plans.

Our coalition is exploring what various members will do next to deepen engagement on climate change in our region. We share a sense of urgency and concern about the unnecessary harm that fossil fuel dependency is causing the web of life on our planet, and we hope that many others will join us in concerted action. For now, we wish to thank once again our generous sponsors and supporting partners, our knowledgeable speakers and moderators, and our team of volunteers that made our events a smooth success.

You can watch videos of the keynote talk by Mark Hertsgaard, the opening plenary with four Cornell scientists, and an important session on insurable risks in a changing climate. In addition, most of the slide presentations and written documents from the conference are available at Sustainable Tompkins Slideshare.

Thanks to all of you who made a gift to Sustainable Tompkins in 2012. Your gifts and membership donations not only support the work we do to convene and catalyze people in our area working toward a more sustainable future, but they also go a long way in demonstrating community support for our work to foundations and others who help us make a difference. If you aren’t already a member, or forgot to make your year end gift please click on our donate link and make a gift today!

Since 2006, staff and board members at Sustainable Tompkins have identified and honored individuals and organizations emerging on the local scene, all doing their part to advance community sustainability.  With a record number of such “signs” this year, there’s a lot to celebrate!

Please join us in honor of hundreds of your friends and neighbors and celebrate their contributions in co-creating a more sustainable community.

Everyone is invited to the “Signs of Sustainability” reception on Sunday, December 2nd from 4:30-6:30pm at the Wine Center in downtown Ithaca. This will be our biggest Signs of Sustainability celebration yet – don’t miss it! Our celebration will include brief remarks around 5:00 pm, leaving ample time for enjoying one another’s company with free food and beverages, including local wines courtesy of King Ferry Winery. You are welcome to come for all or part of the event. We’ll post all the “signs” we saw this year – including yours! – on the walls at the Wine Center, so you can browse them at your leisure. Please RSVP through our Facebook page. We hope to see you there!

For more information, email info@sustainabletompkins.org, visit our Signs of Sustainability web page, or call 607-216-1552.

Special thanks to the Park Foundation, Sustainable Tompkins donors, members and volunteers who make it possible for us to continue our work.

Join us at the Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair (IAGF) on December 1, 2012 from 11am-6pm. We’ll be at table 10 in the First Presbyterian Church in DeWitt Park.  Since 2004, the IAGF has hosted an annual fair featuring dozens of hard-working local community groups working to make a better future for all of us.  Show your love for what really matters this holiday season by supporting Sustainable Tompkins in our work to craft a more equitable and sustainable community.