Experts to Discuss Sustainable Development Challenges

CONTACT: Lia Unrau

Rice University
(713)
831-4793

Marilu Hastings

HARC
(281) 363-7913

EXPERTS TO DISCUSS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
CHALLENGES

Business leaders, policy makers, environmental
scientists and economists will discuss sustainable development challenges and
solutions at the De Lange Woodlands Conference in early March at Rice
University.

Sustainable development is the combination of economic development with
environmental protection in a way that preserves environmental, economic and
cultural resources for future generations, while providing for the current
generation. As world population is expected to double in the next 50 years,
increased demands for food, shelter and energy will generate more waste and
create a strain on natural resources.

The three-day conference, “Sustainable Development: Managing the Transition,”
will examine the shift from theory to action, develop a framework for a plan of
action and discuss the challenges nations must meet to create sustainable
solutions.

Some of the scheduled speakers include Nobel laureate Robert Solow, institute
professor emeritus, department of economics, MIT; Bruce Alberts, president of
the National Academy of Sciences; Robert Repetto, vice president of the World
Resources Institute and director of its Program in Economics and Population;
Robert Watson, office of the director, environment department, The World Bank;
and Kate Fish, director of public policy, Monsanto Co.

The conference, scheduled March 3-5, is sponsored by Rice University and the
Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC). The George and Cynthia Mitchell
International Prize for Sustainable Development will be awarded at a banquet on
March 4.

At the conclusion of the conference, a summary statement “charting the
roadmap” will be presented. The conference findings then will be published in
book form by a major publisher.

Some of the themes to be explored in discussions are “Sustainable
Development: Defining Our 21st Century Challenges,” “Achieving Ethical and
Equitable Leadership,” “Scientific Issues and Uncertainty in Decision Making,”
“Market Tools: Trade, Pricing and Signals,” “Stakeholder, Empowerment and
Dispute Resolution” and “Charting the Roadmap: Institutions, Leadership and
Policies.”

The conference is organized by the Energy and Environmental Systems Institute
of Rice University and the Center for Global Studies at the Houston Advanced
Research Center in The Woodlands, in partnership with the National Academy of
Sciences and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy of Rice
University.

The conference, which will be held in the Alice Pratt Brown Hall on the Rice
campus, is open to the public. For conference information contact Judy Howell at
(713) 737-5674, jmhowell@rice.edu; or
Marilu Hastings at (281) 363-7913, hastings@admin.harc.edu.