Join Grace Farms Foundation and Live Green Connecticut for the first annual Regional Convening for Sustainable Development (RCSD). Thought leaders from around the world will discuss wide-ranging strategies for sustainable development, with regional case studies demonstrating how some of those strategies have been implemented locally. Learn how we can come together to make Connecticut a leader in community-driven sustainable development.

Convening Schedule:

9:00 am

• Welcome: Adam Thatcher, Grace Farms Foundation Director of Operations, and Daphne Dixon, Co-founder and Executive Director of Live Green Connecticut

9:15 am

• Video message from Jeffrey Sachs, Director of Sustainable Development at Columbia University
• Introduction: Dr. David L. Downie, Fairfield University

9:35 am

• Keynote Address: Kanni Wignaraja, Director, UN Development Operations Coordination Office
• Introduction to the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG Academy and Sustainable Development Solutions Network

10:05 am

• Panel 1: “Building Sustainability Into Our Cities,”; Introduction: Kevin Moynihan, First Selectman, New Canaan

10:30 am

• Coffee Break

10:45 am

• Catherine Smith, State of Connecticut Economic and Community Development
• Introduction: Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Conservation Biologist at Columbia University

11:15 am

• Panel 2: “The Condition of CT’s Sustainable Development Infrastructure”

11:40 am

• Panel 3: “The Critical Role Businesses Play in Sustainable Development”

12:15 p.m.

• Lunch

1:30 pm & 3 pm

• Breakout Sessions 1 and 2: Regional and Community Sustainable Development Presentations

4:20 pm

• Closing Remarks

4:45 – 6 pm

• Networking Reception

Call for Presentations

Applications due January 30th.

Grace Farms Members enjoy a 20% discount on programs and events. Learn more about Membership.

Grace Farms Foundation’s interdisciplinary humanitarian mission is to pursue peace through five initiatives — nature, arts, justice, community, and faith — and Grace Farms, a SANAA-designed site for convening people across sectors. Our stake in the ground is to end modern slavery and gender-based violence, and create more grace and peace in our local and global communities.