UnitedGREEN, a movement that engages communities “… in a shared fight for a truly sustainable future,” will hold its second Forging a Sustainable Future (FSF) symposium March 3 and 4 at San Diego State University. This year’s event features several prominent members of the LGBT community among the presenters and organizers.
The two-day event will be emceed by local LGBT activist Stephen Whitburn. Whitburn has been a competitive candidate for San Diego City Council and the County Board of Supervisors. He serves on the boards of the ACLU and San Diego Pride.
Kevin Beiser, an openly gay member of the San Diego School Board is scheduled to appear on the symposium’s energy panel March 3. Beiser may be best known for helping lead the push for progressive anti-bullying policies in schools, but is also active in persuading schools to go green through the installation of solar panels, recycling and other projects.
Sunday morning, sustainability consultant Morgan Pitts will present a “30,000-foot view,” in which he’ll stress the importance of regional cooperation in implementing sustainability policies and programs. According to Pitts, a region must work together, culturally, economically and environmentally to achieve truly sustainable communities.
Pitts has presented to the European Parliament in Brussels, has provided support for the NRDC’s green building team in Beijing and is conducting research for the United Nations University for Peace. Pitts will ask the question, “How do we remake the human presence in the world in a way that is sustainable, fair and just, and which creates no ugliness now or for future generations?” He will talk about how the city of Oberlin, Ohio is working toward that goal and how those same ideas can be applied to the San Diego/Tijuana/ Imperial Counties region. Pitts is also openly gay.
Robert F Kennedy Jr., will give the keynote address; Congresswoman Susan Davis will give the opening remarks and Congressmen Bob Filner will appear on the food panel.
One of the co-chairs of the event, Walter Meyer, is also active in the gay community, having volunteered for AIDS Walk, Pride and The Center. His novel, Rounding Third, has been getting a great deal of attention because it deals with gay teens being bullied. He organized an anti-bullying event in November with Beiser as his guest.
FSF co-chair, Patrick Hurley said, “Walt had written numerous grants for the Heartland Coalition (of which UnitedGREEN is a division), and we knew he has co-chaired Gam3rCon in San Diego the past few years so we asked him if he would use his experience planning large events to help us put this together.”
Meyer said, “I was an ‘environmental’ writer before I became a ‘gay’ writer, so I was only too happy to help do whatever I can to help the larger community. I have participated in beach clean-ups with Gay For Good as well as groups like Coastkeeper and Heal the Bay, so it is a cause that is important to me.”
