Registration Now Open for May 22 Sustainability Summit

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/08/2012) —Environmentalist, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken will present the keynote speech May 22 for Solutions Summit 2012, a first-ever gathering of corporate, nonprofit, government and academic sustainability leaders at the University of Minnesota to showcase and develop strategies for collaboratively solving key sustainability challenges.

Hawken, author of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Blessed Unrest, and five other books, is founder of the Natural Capital Institute, a California-based research organization. He will talk about how he sees the economic and ecologic landscape in which innovation will be fostered in the coming years, with focus on climate, minerals and oceans. Other featured presenters include sustainability leaders from 3M, Environmental Defense Fund, Caldrea, The Nature Conservancy, General Mills, eBay and Truth Studio, and Nestle Waters North America.

Hosted by the NorthStar Initiative for Sustainable Enterprise (NiSE), the daylong summit will bring sustainability leaders from around the world together to share sustainability success stories, identify the biggest sustainability challenges and home in on best strategies for solving them. In addition to Hawken’s address, presentations include panel discussions on sustainability trends related to food, water and energy; sustainable consumption of other goods; and “sustainability beyond sustainability” – strategies businesses, NGOs, academia and government entities can use to collaboratively create solutions to sustainability challenges. The day concludes with a CEO panel discussion featuring Nestle Waters, Caldrea and Tunheim Partners.

“The summit will provide valuable insights into strategic choice, areas of conflict and opportunities for collaboration where whole-system supply chains intersect,” said NiSE executive director Michelle Linhoff. “It’s structured so each panel’s content will flow into the next, and the knowledge shared will be applicable. It also will offer a valuable chance to interact with the expert speakers and attendees.”

Solutions Summit 2012 will run from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm at the McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, with a reception following from 4:30 to 6:30. or to register, please see z.umn.edu/ss12 or nise [a] umn (p) edu.

The NiSE is a program of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, which seeks lasting solutions to Earth’s biggest challenges through research, partnerships and leadership development. , visit http://environment.umn.edu.

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• Last modified on May 8, 2012