For those of you who are free this evening, the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents’ Club will be hosting, “Shanghai: A Green and Sustainable City?”, a panel discussion analyzing the viability of Shanghai’s commitment to becoming a sustainable city. On the panel will include Adam Minter, author of the blog “Shanghai Scrap”, Raefer Willis, architect and founder of GIGA (Green Ideas: Green Actions) and Tori Zwisler, Chairman of the Board of Jane Goodall Institute- Shanghai Roots & Shoots. You can find more information about the event below:
The Shanghai Foreign Correspondents’ Club Presents:
Shanghai: A Green and Sustainable City?
Adam Minter, Tori Zwisler and Raefer Wallis
Nova, 418 Dagu Lu
Thursday, June 10th, 7pm (Talk starts at 7.30)
Shanghai is currently hosting the world’s largest ever event on the theme of sustainable urban living. But how sustainable is Shanghai itself? Will its recent investment in subway construction, clean energy production and water treatment, along with measures to promote recycling and energy saving, make a significant difference? Or does the city’s obsession with private cars, neon-lit buildings and conspicuous consumption mean such measures can do little more than scratch the surface? And indeed, how sustainable can a city of 20 million people ever hope to be? To discuss these issues, we will be joined by Adam Minter, correspondent for Recycling International and author of the blog Shanghai Scrap, Tori Zwisler, founder of the Shanghai branch of the environmental education group Roots and Shoots, and Raefer Wallis, architect and founder of GIGA (Green Ideas: Green Actions) which promotes sustainable construction and design in China.
Venue details: Nova, 418 Dagu Lu, near Chengdu Bei Lu (6340 1889)
Admission: Members free; Non-members 50 RMB
RSVP: fcc.sfcc@gmail.com
(Membership can be renewed on the night: Correspondent and media members – 400 RMB; Associate – 600 RMB)
About the Speakers:
Adam Minter is Shanghai correspondent for Recycling International, and founder of the blog Shanghai Scrap. He has written widely about (among other things) the global waste trade, environmental issues and recycling in China, and indeed the World Expo. He has also written for publications including The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, Scientific American, and Sierra.
Tori Zwisler is director of the Shanghai branch of Roots and Shoots, an environmentally focused community group first established by primatologist Jane Goodall in Tanzania in 1991. Tori, who has lived in Shanghai since 1992, set up the local branch of R&S in 1999. It promotes environmental education in Shanghai and the surrounding provinces, and now has partner groups in 170 schools in the city. Tori Zwisler was previously coordinator of The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum in Shanghai - an initiative to promote sustainability among foreign- and Chinese-owned enterprises.
Raefer Wallis is director of A00 Architecture, which has designed projects such as URBN Hotel and the new Naked Stables eco-retreat in Moganshan. In 2008 he founded GIGA (Green Ideas: Green Actions) which promotes the use of green building materials in China. He has been involved in pioneering various sustainable building techniques in China, including ‘modern rammed earth construction’, and in the development of A00’s line of recyclable furniture.
