“TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and Open TV Project, the inspiring TEDx program and the annual TED Prize.”

If it’s idea’s you need- TED has them; if it’s inspiration you seek- TED can provide it; if you need a pick-me-up in the middle of a long day- TED has that too. Initially, TED began rather slowly- but now TED is becoming an invaluable resource to professionals and designers of all disciplines. When in doubt….. TED!

http://www.ted.com/

By all reports the conference was a success with more than 500 attendees and some great panel discussions and a plan for moving forward through “listening sessions” in various locations around the country; these sessions will be led by the agencies that are leading the America’s Great Outdoors initiative.  You can find even more information about the AGO initiative here.

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2010/03/08/daily51.html

The General Assembly overwhelmingly passed comprehensive water conservation legislation Wednesday, handing Gov. Sonny Perdue a major victory.

Identical versions of the bill cleared the Senate unanimously and won approval in the House 166-5.

The legislation requires all newly constructed buildings to include “high-efficiency” plumbing fixtures by the middle of 2012. Also, all multi-tenant buildings will have to feature “submetering” to allow each tenant’s water use to be measured.

The original version of the bill was amended in the House to prohibit outdoor watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., the hours when most water-wasting evaporation occurs. The ban will not apply to farmers, homeowners who water personal food gardens or water-dependent industries including nurseries and golf courses.

Environmental advocates and their legislative allies have pushed for such conservation measures for years. But lawmakers were given additional incentive to act this year after a federal judge declared Lake Lanier, the drinking water source for 3 million metro Atlantans, off limits to all-but-minimal withdrawals.

Ruling last summer in a long-running dispute over water between Georgia, Alabama and Florida, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson gave the three states until July 2012 to work out an agreement. Otherwise, under Magnuson’s order, withdrawals from the federally managed reservoir will be rolled back to levels not seen since the mid-1970s.

The water bill also enjoyed Perdue’s stamp of approval. Many of its provisions came from recommendations of a task force of business leaders, elected officials and environmentalists formed by the governor last fall.

The water bill was a major priority for the 2010 legislative session for both the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

“There are few things more important to the economy of our state than the availability of clean adequate water supply,” Georgia Chamber President

George Israel said in a prepared statement following Wednesday’s votes.

“We applaud … the swift action of the General Assembly to ensure the passage of this important legislation.”

Perdue also thanked lawmakers for passing one of his top legislative priorities, hinting in a statement that passage of the bill should help Georgia in the ongoing tri-state water negotiations.

“This legislation … shows our neighbors that we are serious about being good stewards of our natural resources,” Perdue said.

Besides the mandates, the bill also instructs all state agencies with jurisdiction over water policy to look for ways to encourage water conservation and make recommendations by Aug. 1.

Finally, it creates a Joint Committee on Water Supply appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker. The 12-member panel will examine the state’s current reservoir system and issue a report by the end of the year on building and financing additional water supplies.

Read more: Georgia lawmakers approve water bill – Atlanta Business Chronicle:

The Citizen Architect Film website provides in depth background on Sambo Mockbee and the Rural Studio Program:

Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee

DEC. 23, 1944 – DEC. 30, 2001

Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee dedicated his life, as a teacher and as an architect, to creating architecture that not only elevated the living standards of the rural poor but also provided “shelter for the soul.” Mockbee was so committed to this pure act of service that, in 1991, he abandoned a full-time architectural practice with Coleman Coker and the firm Mockbee Coker Architects to accept a position at the Auburn University School of Architecture. It was there that he and long time friend and Auburn professor D.K. Ruth conceived of and founded the Rural Studio.

The Rural Studio

AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY

The Rural Studio is a design-build architecture program run by Auburn University which aims to teach students about the social responsibilities of the profession of architecture while also providing safe, well-constructed and inspirational homes and buildings for poor communities in rural west Alabama, part of the so-called “Black Belt,” named for its dark, fertile soil.

For more information, please visit www.citizenarchitectfilm.com

Plaza Theatre Showtimes: www.plazaatlanta.com

Obama Administration Officials Announce White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors

WASHINGTON –– Obama Administration Officials announced today that they will host a White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors on Friday, April 16, 2010.  Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, and Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture are leading the conference, which will address the challenges, opportunities and innovations surrounding modern-day land conservation and the importance of reconnecting Americans and American families to the outdoors.

“America’s outdoors are part of our national identity.  They are the farms, ranches and forests that we take great pride in, and the neighborhood parks, trails and fields where we spend memorable time with our families and friends,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  “Too many of these places are disappearing. In launching this conversation, we strive to learn about the smart, creative community efforts underway throughout the country to conserve our outdoor spaces, and hear how we can support these efforts.”

“Across the country, Americans are working to protect the places they know and love, from the streams they fished as children and the parks where families gather together to the battlefields and buildings that tell America’s story,” said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior.  “The Conference is a great chance to learn about these efforts, start a new dialogue about conservation in America, and find ways to further the work that is already going on in cities and towns, counties and states throughout the country.”

“There is no doubt that we face serious challenges to our natural resources: climate change, air and water pollution, a lost connection between some Americans and the outdoors, and a fragmentation and loss of open space,” said Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. “We believe that the best way to answer these challenges is to work with landowners, conservation groups, sportsmen and women, local communities, and state and local governments to conserve America’s great outdoors, and in doing so, reconnect Americans to our forests, working lands and public lands.”

This conference will bring together leaders from communities across the country that are working to protect their outdoor spaces.  Participants will include working ranchers and farmers, sportsmen and women, State and local government leaders, Tribal leaders, public lands experts, conservationists, youth leaders, business representatives and others who view the outdoors as integral to their communities.  The discussion will center on the conservation opportunities in communities, the challenges facing them, and the innovative solutions they are crafting from the bottom up.

The conference will offer an opportunity for participants to engage with each other, learn from past and ongoing efforts, communicate how the Federal Government can support these efforts, and identify new opportunities to work together to modernize our approach to conservation, and reinvigorate the national conversation about our outdoors.

Media credentialing information will be released when it becomes available.

Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.

We are integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects. We are discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians. And we are encouraging investments that go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.

To set this approach in motion, we have formulated key recommendations for state DOTs and communities:

• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve nonmotorized facilities during maintenance projects.

Detroit, the very symbol of American industrial might for most of the 20th century, is drawing up a radical renewal plan that calls for turning large swaths of this now-blighted, rusted-out city back into the fields and farmland that existed before the automobile. The current plan would demolish about 10,000 houses and empty buildings within three years and pump new investment into stronger neighborhoods. In the neighborhoods that would be cleared, the city would offer to relocate residents or buy them out.

This is quite the radical concept that Detroit is about to implement. Detroit covers 139 square miles and this plan would raze nearly 25% of the city thereby turning roughly 35 square miles of blighted neighborhoods and abandoned industrial lands into open fields and potentially new farmland.

This is a very interesting concept to say the least; rather than leaving decaying structures to become liabilities as they crumble or hot spots for crime, the city can theoretically make it all go away and turn the land at minimum to fallow fields prime for future redevelopment, bring agriculture back closer to the city, or add a tremendous about of land to the city parks inventory.

The plan does not come without cost – all of the properties will need to be purchased, structures demolished and recycled or disposed of, industrial properties could certainly present brownfield issues, and some residents, may not want to go, no matter how bad it may appear to outsiders. Ultimately the city would find some return on the investment with the reduction in services such as fire, police, and utilities to underpopulated areas. The city has already been awarded more than $40 million in Federal funding for urban renewal, some of which may very well kick-off this radical plan. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

see the full AP article here

The conference will be held at the brand new Macon Marriott City Center – walking distance from many wonderful downtown attractions, including the recent expansion of the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.  GPA’s Spring Conference will feature an exciting schedule of presentations – including Ecos’ Sarah Linden speaking about ArcHydro and its planning implications – as well as some great special events, such as our opening reception at the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame with catering by Satterfields, some of Macon’s best local barbeque!  It’s a natural destination for Georgia Planners this year.  Look forward to seeing everyone there!

Hey Atlantans (and visiting greenies) be on the lookout for this traveling sustainability exhibit <– is that an oxymoron? No matter it should be an interesting exhibit.  See the exhibit description below and links to more info. on the MODA web site and others:

“In celebration of Atlanta’s diverse mix of certified green building projects, Museum of Design Atlanta  presents ATLANTA: Beyond Bricks & Sticks, an exhibition that will travel to some of the city’s high-profile venues during February and March. Spotlighting many of the metro area’s outstanding design examples, MODA’s Atlanta: Beyond Bricks & Sticks tells the stories of the people who live, work, learn and play in the city’s sustainable structures. Exhibit components include an interactive Atlanta Green Map, a “What is Your Carbon Footprint?” quiz, video interviews, an intimate look at student life at Dekalb County’s LEED Silver Certified Arabia Mountain High School and many other features that explain and celebrate green living.

Curation of the exhibition includes a broad spectrum of buildings reflective of the metro area’s commercial and residential projects along with large-scale developments that incorporate environmental features. All of the exhibit’s projects either meet the US Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system or the Southeast’s EarthCraft House certification program. The exhibit has been thoughtfully designed with sustainable materials to fit the theme while allowing for the challenges of traveling to the various settings.”

Catch the exhibit now through July, and look for future dates through the end of 2010.

ECOS was recently selected to present at the Georgia Planning Spring Conference March 25 & 26 to be held in Macon, Georgia. Sarah Linden (a recent addition to Team Ecos) will present the ease and benefits of the use of ArcHydro in combination with LIDAR data on any planning project. ArcHydro (and other tools like TAUDEM) allow planners and designers to investigate subsurface and stream conditions in order to advance and influence sustainable design initiatives from the “Ground Up”! Ms. Linden with Dr. Tom Colson , a Wetland Scientist, Certified Flood Manager and GIS Professional working in Raleigh, NC, will walk attendees through a brownfield project in Raleigh, NC where ArcHydro and LIDAR data were utilized in order to present possible phasing options for redevelopment. The presentation will also show how the proper combination and balance of soil remediation and development around urban stream channels (not visible to the naked eyes) can allow communities to build densely without sacrificing the environmental condition. Hope to see you there!