The Sustainability Society takes great pleasure in announcing our new name and new logo in readiness for our 2012 conference – Sustainability By Design: breaking the silos. We are very proud that our series of biennial conferences has led us from discussing the philosophy of sustainability at our inaugural conference, through the early activity (Talking and Walking Sustainability) and modelling processes (Blueprints for Sustainable Infrastructure) to changing mindsets and transitioning processes (Transitions to Sustainability) and onto the design stage.  Our 5th International Conference on Sustainability Engineering is now looking towards design concepts for sustainability and focussing on breaking the silo thinking that has dogged practitioners and researchers alike.

This Design conference will be targeted towards engineers, urban planners, and architects looking at immediate short term plans, medium term (ten to fifty years) and long term (fifty year plus) key policy strategies to meet our future demands through forecasting and foresighting processes.

The conference will investigate the implications of changes in resource availability, population and climate as well as new technologies and new directions. How can decentralisation of infrastructure services help or hinder sustainability outcomes? What do we need to do to feed, house and clothe an additional two billion or more people?  How can we change our cities to better manage changing climates and reduce GHG emissions?  How will locally integrated distributed systems change the systems households currently use?  What impact will e-readers, 3-D printing, cloud computing and other such technologies have? How do we make new technologies that are not only sustainable but also help heal the environment?

Join us to envisage where we need to be in the future and develop the strategies, the plans, the research and the new ideas, which will move us to a sustainable future. Where can you and your ideas, innovations, research and company fit within these visions and how can you make them happen?

We would like to invite you to join us and be a partner to our 2012 Conference. By being a part of this Conference, not only do you identify your commitment to sustainability but you also have the chance to show how you and your company are at the forefront of this exciting and important field for the future.

Regards,

Carol Boyle, Chair

The Sustainability Society

Download: Official Conference Announcement (90KB PDF)