I'm at the American Association of Geographers Annual meeting February 24-28, so this is an abbreviated newsletter.
I became a member of AAG three years ago, having been an ASPO/then APA/AICP member for my career. I have to thank Sally Hardy, Regional Studies Association, for recommending AAG. This New York City conference had 8,700 attendees.
At this Conference I presented: “Regional Community and Political Geography: A Proposed Scale for Regions.” In Seattle, April, 2011, I presented: “Global Region-builder Geo-Code Prototype.” These two work together to solve the scale and alignment issues faced by regions, which operate within boundaries of convenience rather than political boundaries – city, county, state, province or nation, have powers.
Today Dr. Jeffery Sachs, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, spoke on the topic of “Geography and Sustainable Development.” Economists have not taken much note of the impact of geography on an economy. Data was always in alphabetic order. At the end of the lecture I told him I had a solution to the “tyranny of the alphabet.” He said he’s interested in seeing it.
In his lecture he called for a new integrated discipline, “sustainable development,” saying that Columbia was granting degrees as a major and special concentration.
Ed.
1. Announcement: 8th Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Roundtable - Real World Challenges: Water, Energy and Transportation Intergovernmental Planning to Solve Complex Problems - March 30, 2012 – Arlington, Virginia – Registration now open.
For: Planners and Elected and Appointed Officials, Business Persons and Citizens
Co-sponsored by: Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division, American Planning Association (APA) and APA Chapters participating Mid-Atlantic Regional Councils and the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions (VAPDC)
Hosted by: Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) and the Virginia Tech Department of Urban Affairs – National Capital Region
Panel 1 – Energy Challenges: Increasing Efficiency, Managing Cost, Supporting Economic Growth, Engaging Citizens and Employers - Locally and Regionally
Panel 2 - The Challenges of Water Management and Coastal Mitigation: The Dutch and American Experiences
Panel 3 – Transportation Challenges – How can transportation planning be integrated from the local level to regional to state? The Virginia solution.
Panel 4 – Integrated Planning Working Regionally in the Mid-Atlantic
In 2009 we identified six distinct “Americas” when it comes to the issue of global warming. One year later, we are releasing a report on the status of these six key audiences.
We have found that one of these groups: the “Dismissive” – who believe global warming is not happening and probably a hoax – has more than doubled in size since 2008 to 16 percent of the American public.
Meanwhile, the percentage of the “Alarmed” – Americans who are the most convinced that global warming is happening, caused by humans, and a serious and urgent threat – has dropped to 10 percent, from 18 percent in 2008. Shifts also occurred among the four other groups:
…
Note: This was presented at AAG. It is worth taking a look at to understand the challenges of communicating about this issue and communication options for working toward better understanding. Useful in understanding those who are in opposition to “sustainability.”
The Association has many specialty groups including the Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group.
Contact: Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com
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Basic Geocodes -
0000 - Earth
0900 - Arctic Ocean
1000 - Europe
2000 - Africa
3000 - Atlantic Ocean
4000 - Antarctica
5000 - Americas
6000 - Pacific Ocean
7000 - Oceana
8000 - Asia
9000 - Indian Ocean
"Global Region-builder Geo-Code Prototype" ©
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