Sustainability Solutions Festival aims to reimagine our world
Following the success of the inaugural festival last February, three leading sustainability organizations are bringing their events back together for the 2015 Sustainability Solutions Festival in Phoenix.
The three organizations – GreenBiz Group, The Sustainability Consortium and The Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, a unit of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University – are pooling their networks, expertise and audiences at the festival, a weeklong series of events held at various locations throughout Phoenix, Feb. 16-22. The festival is anchored by the annual GreenBiz Forum, Feb. 17-19, with more than 600 sustainable business executives attending from around the world.
The Sustainability Solutions Festival, produced by the Walton Initiatives, features a variety of activities and events for audiences of all ages, including a film festival and meetings of The Sustainability Consortium, whose members include businesses, NGOs, academic and civil society organizations working collaboratively to drive sustainable consumer products. The consortium is jointly administered by ASU and the University of Arkansas.
“The Sustainability Solutions Festival provides an opportunity for students, professionals and community members to participate in innovative and inspiring programs that show how to align the interests of business, society and the environment,” said Joel Makower, chairman and executive editor of GreenBiz Group, and host of the GreenBiz Forum. “It is rapidly becoming one of nation’s most important gathering of ideas and talent showing the way to a prosperous, secure and sustainable world.”
“The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is based upon collaboration and an understanding that it takes everyone working together to drive change – the business community, NGOs, academic and civic organizations, and individuals,” said Sheila Bonini, chief executive officer of TSC. “In the same way, The Sustainability Solutions Festival brings together many audiences with a shared commitment to the environment, offering programs that are both inspiring and pragmatic.”
The 2014 festival engaged more than 8,400 people across 11 events, all focused on the theme, "It's time to find a better way." This year’s theme, “(re)imagine,” challenges attendees to envision a better future through a deeper understanding of how each person, community and organization can drive change at a global scale.
“As an institution that holds sustainability as a core value, Arizona State University is pleased to welcome esteemed business leaders who are focused on finding solutions that benefit their organizations, their communities and our planet,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “In only its second year, the Sustainability Solutions Festival has distinguished itself as a vital convening that explores transformative social, environmental and economic collaborations, and celebrates their impact on our world.”
The seventh annual GreenBiz Forum, the leading gathering of corporate sustainability executives, will take place at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn. The event is framed by GreenBiz Group's “State of Green Business” report, an annual accounting on how, and how well, companies are addressing the world’s biggest environmental challenges.