SHIFT Summit to Showcase Sustainability Initiatives from Around North America
Forum on best practices Oct. 8-10 in Jackson Hole, WY, to foster sustainability in communities around North America
Jackson Hole, WY (September 25, 2014) - SHIFT Festival organizers have announced the full schedule for the 2014 SHIFT Summit. The Summit, which will run from Oct. 8-10, at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, will convene representatives from some of the continent’s most effective and innovative conservation and sustainability initiatives for a forum on best practices.
Participants include more than 50 representatives from North American communities such as La Paz, Mexico, Martha’s Vineyard, Moab and Nantucket. The mayors of Aspen and Canmore, the CEO of Black Diamond Equipment, and representatives from Aspen Ski Company, Vail Resorts, Powdr Corp and Whistler-Blackcomb are among the long list of sustainability advocates attending.
Christian Beckwith, SHIFT’s director, calls the Summit “a hub of best practices, a network accelerator and a gathering of the tribe” for communities like Jackson Hole. The Summit’s goal is to identify and promote proven best practices that foster sustainability among communities that depend on the quality of their environments for economic and cultural success.
The Summit is the result of nearly a year of research and planning. Last autumn, SHIFT’s team of researchers identified 70 communities like Jackson Hole around North America. Within those communities they researched nearly 700 sustainability and conservation initiatives. These were filtered to 140 of the most important efforts, which were then voted on by 40 partner organizations in Jackson Hole.
The partners evaluated initiatives pertinent to their fields of expertise on the basis of significance, innovation and replicability. The resulting 50 finalists were awarded the 2014 SHIFT Sustainability Award and were invited to the Summit.
The Summit is organized around three themes: Nature (the natural environment), Culture (the built environment) and Adventure (outdoor recreation).
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, The SHIFT Summit will begin with a focus on Culture: the built environment. Elements of the built environment include food, shelter, energy, transportation, and municipal systems, and represent some of the most important energy and resource sinks within reach of local action.
On Thursday, Oct. 9, The SHIFT Summit focuses on Nature: the natural environment. This track explores the natural environment from three perspectives: how to balance economic, community and environmental priorities; how to engage the next generation of stewards in modern conservation; and how to fund conservation initiatives.
On Friday, Oct. 10, the Summit’s final day will focus on Adventure: outdoor recreation. The adventure track will look at ski area sustainability, as well the intersection of land management and outdoor recreation, and how today’s outdoor enthusiasts can become tomorrow’s stewards.
“The Summit’s objective is to develop a concrete list of proven best practices that communities can use to foster a balanced relationship between the built environment and adjacent natural environment,” says Beckwith.
The Summit is part of the SHIFT Festival, which runs from October 8-12 in Jackson Hole. For more information and the Festival’s full schedule, visit www.shiftjh.org.
