Smart & Sustainable Cities Conference

The future of cities, from renewable energy and the sharing economy to changes to the built environment, will be the subject of an international gathering of experts at UCLA on May 19. The Smart & Sustainable Cities Conference includes more than 20 researchers from Israel and the United States. Conference attendees will learn about:

• Breakthrough technologies
• Innovative architecture and urban planning ideas
• Challenges caused by climate change, urban growth and compromised resources
• Opportunities presented by disruptions in society and the economy

Featured lecturers from UCLA include Yoram Cohen, an innovator in desalination and clean water technologies who is affiliated with the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability; Dana Cuff, a professor of architecture and urban planning; J.R. DeShazo, Director of the Luskin Center for Innovation and an expert in alternative and renewable energy; Rajit Gadh, director of the Smart Grid Energy Research Center; and Stephanie Pincetl, director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities.

Featured participants from Israel include Valerie Brachya, a lead researcher in urban sustainability at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies and a former official in the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection; Evyatar Erell, a professor at the Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research at Ben Gurion University; and water expert Uri Shamir, a civil engineering professor emeritus at the Technion in Haifa.

Other participants include Nancy Sutley, the chief sustainability officer for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power; and Walker Wells, director of the Green Urbanism Program at Global Green USA.

A full roster of panelists is available here.

The event takes place Thursday, May 19 from 8:30 to 6 p.m. at De Neve Commons on the UCLA campus.
Tickets are $5 for students, $25 for UCLA faculty and staff, and $35 general admission. Pre-registration is required. For more information, visit smartcities.ucla.org or call 310.825.9646.
The event is organized by the Y & S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at UCLA in partnership with the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies, the Institute of Environment and Sustainability, the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLA, the UCLA Water Technology Research Center, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Luskin School of Public Affairs, the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge and the Ziman Center for Real Estate.

Date/Time:
Date(s) - May 19, 2016
8:30 am PDT - 6:00 pm PDT

Location: