Sustainability Week aims to stimulate a green economy
This year's Sustainability Week offers various opportunities for investors, businesses and consumers to learn, share, and ultimately help improve environmental and economic performance. The event will take place from 17-19 June at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria.
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The Green Building Conference will be attended by international thought leaders such as Dr Elizabeth Farrelly from the Sydney Morning Herald, and built environment designer Alberto Kalach from Mexico City, along with a host of leading South African green building experts, who will share knowledge and best practice ideas. Green Building 2014 will feature master classes, technologies and materials, as well as case studies of exceptional buildings.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy are fast converging into one bold new field - smart energy. The Sustainable Energy Seminar will explore the idea that every effort should be made to redesign and reconfigure processes to be more energy efficient and reduce peak demand.
Transport and mobility
The Sustainable Transport and Mobility Seminar will focus on marine pollution, tail pipe emissions, profound degradation of secondary roads and high road accident fatalities. South African cities are designed around the car, with massive environmental and social impact. At this seminar, local and international experts discuss mechanisms to make public and non-motorised transport more attractive to South African commuters.
Water is becoming an ever-decreasing resource in South Africa. At the Sustainable Water Resource Seminar, leading experts present the latest water efficiency technologies and best practice solutions.
Market forces are such a powerful driver of ingenuity and innovation that they have created the modern world with all its wonders, and all its terrors. How do we harness the market to a significantly greater degree to drive South Africa towards a green economy? This is the key question the Green Business Seminar will seek to answer.
Vision for zero waste
South Africa is experiencing a waste explosion. Our landfills are over-flowing and still we continue to produce and dispose of more and more. The Vision Zero Waste Seminar, in partnership with the National Recycling Forum, will invite leading industry, government and related NGO executives to report back on actions and initiatives.
South Africa is regarded internationally as a leader in the area of responsible tourism - a term coined 11 years ago in a document called The Cape Town Declaration. The government has a dedicated division focussed purely on advancing the uptake of responsible tourism. At the Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Dialogue, experts will discuss ways to increase uptake and maximise opportunities within the tourism sector.
As the threat of climate change grows and rainfall patterns are affected, the question of food security becomes a very real concern. The Food Security Seminar invites thought leaders and experts in the field of food security and agricultures to discuss these issues and to contribute to the formulation of the best course for South Africa.
