The OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría, the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, the Mayor of New York and the Chairman of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Michael Bloomberg, and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, will jointly preside over the meeting.

Securing a sustainable future is at the forefront of global agendas. Cities are both part of the problem and the solution to present urban sustainability and resiliency challenges, and are therefore essential actors to securing a more equitable and sustainable development path.

By transforming urban policies and catalysing innovative urban investment, cities can be leaders in global action on climate change as well as pioneers of greener and more resilient growth. They can help define and implement a way forward that delivers economic, environmental and social gains. Innovative urban investments, including national, local, and private investment funds (insurance companies, pension funds, etc.) and public-public and public-private partnerships are critical to meeting these objectives.

The 2012 Roundtable will focus on financing and investing in urban sustainability, job creation, and resilient growth as a catalyst for economic recovery.

Participants will examine innovative investment options and finance models to meet these objectives as well as look at the role of key sectors and partnerships that drive change.

For more information, see the roundtable’s website.

Maris Cooke will once again offer an online version of SUST 230 Food. Demand for this course is usually very strong, so it is best to register early to ensure space in the course. She will also offer a version of SUST 330 Biodiversity Saturdays at Roosevelt’s Schaumburg campus.

Once again, Dr. Carla Jones will offer an online section of SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change, and the program is excited to welcome David Morley of the American Planning Association, who will teach an online version of SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning.

Finally, we are pleased to debut SUST 350 Service and Sustainability this semester. Professor Bryson is organizing this course as a Wednesday afternoon offering. The initial meeting will take place in Roosevelt University’s Gage Building; thereafter, however, students will meet Wednesdays at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm. If you are interested in transformational service learning that encourages organic local food production in the middle of the city, this course promises to be a splendid experience.

Visit our faculty page to learn more about these teachers. If you are a currently-enrolled Roosevelt University student interested in taking one or more Sustainability Studies courses, please get in touch with your academic advisor. (As this autumn’s courses filled up quickly, we encourage you to register sooner rather than later.) If you are not currently a Roosevelt University student, we encourage you to investigate our degree options, and our course listings. For more information, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

EPA develops the national greenhouse gas inventory each year to track the national trend in emissions and removals since 1990. The national greenhouse gas inventory is submitted to the United Nations in accordance with the Framework Convention on Climate Change. The national greenhouse gas inventory is a comprehensive, sectoral level accounting of all human-related sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The emissions presented in the U.S. greenhouse gas inventory are generally based on national-level statistics.

Through EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more per year of GHGs are required to annually report their GHG emissions to EPA. This facility-level data provides a “bottom-up” accounting of the major sources of GHG emissions associated with stationary fuel combustion and industrial processes. Well over half of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are accounted for in this facility level data set, including nearly complete coverage of major emitting sectors such as power plants and refineries.

The EPA also has a mappable database of GHG emissions for certain suppliers of natural gas, petroleum products and industrial gases. You may access both databases from here.

The consequences of our energy production and consumption are examined in several Roosevelt courses, including SUST 210 The Sustainable Future (offered at Roosevelt’s downtown campus and online in Spring 2012), SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change (offered online this semester), and SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning (offered online this semester). For more information on these or any other of our courses, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Fed by a steady stream of coal barges, the aging power plants that loom over Chicago’s Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods are by far the city’s largest industrial sources of climate change pollution.

No other polluter comes close to the 4.2 million metric tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide churned into the atmosphere by the two coal plants in 2010, according to a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency database that for the first time allows people to compare major industrial sources of greenhouse gases.

The city’s next biggest source, a heating plant at the University of Illinois at Chicago, trailed far behind. It emitted 132,000 metric tons.

About 6,700 power plants, refineries, steel mills and other major polluters are required under a 2008 federal law to provide detailed annual reports on their emissions of carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping gases that contribute to climate change. The first results highlight the nation’s reliance on coal as an energy source and show why fossil fuel interests are lobbying fiercely to block federal and state efforts to limit the pollution.

Though burning oil and natural gas also releases greenhouse gases, coal plants account for all but four of the top 100 emitters nationwide and more than 70 percent of emissions from big industrial sources, according to a Tribune analysis of the EPA data.

The consequences of our energy production and consumption are examined in several Roosevelt courses, including SUST 210 The Sustainable Future (offered at Roosevelt’s downtown campus and online in Spring 2012), SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change (offered online this semester), and SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning (offered online this semester). For more information on these or any other of our courses, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Maris Cooke will once again offer an online version of SUST 230 Food. Demand for this course is usually very strong, so it is best to register early to ensure space in the course. She will also offer a version of SUST 330 Biodiversity Saturdays at Roosevelt’s Schaumburg campus.

Once again, Dr. Carla Jones will offer an online section of SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change, and the program is excited to welcome David Morley of the American Planning Association, who will teach an online version of SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning.

Finally, we are pleased to debut SUST 350 Service and Sustainability this semester. Professor Bryson is organizing this course as a Wednesday afternoon offering. The initial meeting will take place in Roosevelt University’s Gage Building; thereafter, however, students will meet Wednesdays at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm. If you are interested in transformational service learning that encourages organic local food production in the middle of the city, this course promises to be a splendid experience.

Visit our faculty page to learn more about these teachers. If you are a currently-enrolled Roosevelt University student interested in taking one or more Sustainability Studies courses, please get in touch with your academic advisor. (As this autumn’s courses filled up quickly, we encourage you to register sooner rather than later.) If you are not currently a Roosevelt University student, we encourage you to investigate our degree options, and our course listings. For more information, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

This seminar will tell the story of the planning, design, funding and construction, between 2005 and 2011, of an environmental addition to an historic Chicago Public School building. From the first grant application to the planting of a green roof by the school children, we will describe the process through which the academic curriculum and the building construction were conducted in parallel, involving the participation of the community, teachers, staff, school children and the collaboration of several organizations. The presentation will include a detailed discussion of the architectural features that turned this addition into a learning lab.

To register, click here.

Geothermal heating and cooling is a well established technology which, although not widely used, can cut energy costs by 50% or more. There are additional capital costs, they can be recovered in as little as 5-6 years, while the expected life of these systems is at least 35 years. Efficiency, and payback, can be increased even further using waster and phase change materials. This seminar will discuss the application of this technology to both existing and retrofitted buildings.

To register, click here.

Green roofing is an excellent way to bring nature into our urban environment. We’ll discuss the step-by-step considerations for projects, including structural analysis, leak detection and plant selection. You can also bring your own project ideas for the coming spring, and you will have the opportunity during Q&A to get expert advice on planning, carrying out and maintaining your own projects. Led by Molly Meyer, M.Sc., Green Roof Professional, LEED Green Associate, and owner of Rooftop Green Works.

To register e-mail adultprograms@naturemuseum.org or call 773-755-5100, Ext. 5028.

Maris Cooke will once again offer an online version of SUST 230 Food. Demand for this course is usually very strong, so it is best to register early to ensure space in the course. She will also offer a version of SUST 330 Biodiversity Saturdays at Roosevelt’s Schaumburg campus.

Once again, Dr. Carla Jones will offer an online section of SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change, and the program is excited to welcome David Morley of the American Planning Association, who will teach an online version of SUST 320 Sprawl, Transportation, and Planning.

Finally, we are pleased to debut SUST 350 Service and Sustainability this semester. Professor Bryson is organizing this course as a Wednesday afternoon offering. The initial meeting will take place in Roosevelt University’s Gage Building; thereafter, however, students will meet Wednesdays at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm. If you are interested in transformational service learning that encourages organic local food production in the middle of the city, this course promises to be a splendid experience.

Visit our faculty page to learn more about these teachers. If you are a currently-enrolled Roosevelt University student interested in taking one or more Sustainability Studies courses, please get in touch with your academic advisor. (As this autumn’s courses filled up quickly, we encourage you to register sooner rather than later.) If you are not currently a Roosevelt University student, we encourage you to investigate our degree options, and our course listings. For more information, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.

Join experts from the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), the country’s premiere utility watchdog group, for a discussion of everything consumers should know about their energy bills. You will find out about the latest energy programs and incentives in Illinois, hear about rebates and loans that can make you become more energy-efficient, learn how to calculate your own home’s carbon footprint and ways to reduce your energy bills costs.

To register, click here.