2021 Annual International Symposium- Towards Urban Sustainability

The symposium aims to strengthen academic business government partnerships for developing sustainable urban systems that have robust resilience in the context of global environmental; change. Specific objectives are to:

1. Identify challenges and opportunities for achieving urban system sustainability regionally and globally
2. Develop international academic-business networks to promote collaborative actions for decarbonization and sustainability
3. Stimulate transdisciplinary ideas for decarbonization and sustainability projects encompassing research, education, outreach, and policy development

Registration is required and is free. The symposium is happening online from Knoxville, TN | United States of America.

Program agenda:

Monday, Nov. 15: Opening ceremony, Keynote Sessions & Panel Discussion
Tuesday, Nov. 16: Concurrent Workshop and Breakout Panel Discussion
Wednesday, Nov. 17: Concurrent Workshop, Breakout Panel & Closing Ceremony

Detail symposium information is available here.

In addition to this, the University of Tennessee, Institute of Agriculture is inviting university students across the globe from all academic disciplines to participate in our annual video competition. The competition aims to showcase students’ scientific journalistic skills while highlighting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, 7, 11, and 12 and its relationship to food-energy-water (FEW) nexus.

Students are asked to create videos that highlight initiatives within their campuses, cities, municipalities and/or communities to address urban sustainability. They may also explore challenges and/or opportunities in relation to urban sustainability.   This can be done individually or in groups of no more than three. Participants are asked to create a 60 –180 second video responding to this challenge. Entries must have a designated team faculty leader (from students’ institution) for communications about technical and administrative issues and, where applicable, for finalist and winner notification. There are no restrictions about how you make your video – you can talk to the camera, use props, incorporate animations, etc. The goal is to demonstrate scientific journalistic skills and creativity. Participants will be evaluated based on the relevance to SDGs and FEW nexus, messaging and communication, creativity, and video and editing quality.

All video submissions must be received by 5:00pm EST on Monday, November 8, 2021. They must be submitted through the link below. If you have any questions regarding your submission please contact Sara Mulville smulvill@utk.edu.