Highland Park seeks funds to serve as GreenTown site

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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:43AM

Highland Park City leaders are looking to transform the city into a GreenTown in October.

But before Highland Park can officially announce it will be a 2012 host city for a regional conference on sustainability, city leaders are scouring its public and private partner agencies to raise the $25,000 host fee.

The initial financial commitment would send organizers from Seven Generations Ahead into motion, planning a two- or three-day environmental convention on Oct. 17, 18 and 19.

The Oak Park-based nonprofit, whose mission is to build ecologically sustainable and healthy communities, would set a three-day agenda headlined by a renowned keynote speaker coupled with additional roundtable workshops and exhibits spread across town.

Between 250 and 300 environmental professionals, academics, municipal leaders and residents would converge on Highland Park, putting the city’s environmental prowess in the spotlight.

The city would join Kalamazoo, Mich., and Valparaiso, Ind., as this year’s host cities for the carbon neutral, zero waste event, organizers boasted while briefing council members Jan. 9.

Venues identified

Mayor Nancy Rotering said the city would look to utilize The Art Center, Community House, the Elm Place Middle School auditorium and Ravinia Festival to stage its series of green-inspired activities.

The weekend would begin with a pre-conference event on Oct. 17. Activities would include a seminar on hospitals, health care and sustainability, followed by an evening at Ravinia featuring a speaker and a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring.”

On Oct. 18, the main conference will begin with a prominent speaker. A panel of mayors and other leaders would discuss shared services initiatives and showcase sustainability models. There would also be environmental workshops before a culminating networking reception featuring local, organic food and drinks.

A post-conference half-day the next morning would focus on planning and implementation with Highland Park community stake holders.

First held five years ago in Oak Park, GreenTown conferences are designed to be a catalyst for a deeper green revolution; and the movement has since grown to feature Chicago and four other regional host locations, including Lake County in 2010.

Enhances efforts

“These are really spectacular events,” said Rotering, who attended the Oak Park GreenTown conference last year. “We see this as something that will really jump start our sustainability efforts in Highland Park. Anybody can put in a fluorescent light bulb but you have to make a real commitment to long-term sustainability.

“I see the content of this conference bringing a more in-depth approach to sustainability in Highland Park.”

The lingering hurdle remains the $25,000 host fee, however. With an already thin municipal budget, Council members agreed last week to approach local corporate and municipal agencies to share the cost of hosting the conference.

“I don’t have grand total but we’re definitely whittling away at the $25,000,” Rotering said. “My goal is to have it completely underwritten by sponsors.”

Council member Steve Mandel has already inked at least one sponsor.

“The focus here is to try and bring together leaders within our community, and leaders from outside of our community, to talk about how we can be sustainable as a community that is vibrant, a great place to live, a great place to work, and a great place to visit,” Mandel said.

The larger picture

Both Rotering and Mandel added that Highland Park can put a unique twist on the GreenTown model. The city’s long-standing commitment to the environment, they explained, is only rivaled by its continued support for culture and the arts.

“We have a broader view of sustainability,” Mandel said. “The environmental perspective is typically framed by issues related to energy and our carbon footprint, but there also is a bigger picture. We are talking about the sustainability of our community, our cultural arts.”

Coming out of the conference, the city leaders pledged to leverage that momentum to implement strategies in its new sustainability plan, strengthen and build community coalitions, and work to bring environmental grants to Highland Park and the North Shore.

“There is a lot of work to be done,” said Mandel who’s vision includes elective vehicle charging stations throughout town, enhanced recycling options and children brought up environmentalists.

“We haven’t pulled this together yet,” he continued. “The (City Council’s) direction was to raise the money first before we make a commitment (to host the GreenTown conference).”