The University’s Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment, or iSEE, will be fostering critical thinking on sustainability and climate change during the annual iSEE Congress Oct. 3 to Oct. 5 at the Illini Union.

The Congress, hosted by speakers and panelists from universities and companies across the country, will address topics regarding sustainability and solutions to global warming.

“Students will learn that there are no quick and easy solutions,” said Gerrit-Jan Knaap, director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland. “That progress toward environmental sustainability will require passion and persistence over long periods of time.”

During the entirety of the event, there will be different sessions focusing on various topics related to sustainability in food, urban environment, climate control and other related topics.

“Each year, a congress planning committee meets with the associate director for education and outreach to plan sessions and the best speakers possible,” said Tony Mancuso, director of communications and public affairs for iSEE. “Experts include faculty at Illinois, nationwide and internationally, as well as people from industry and government.”

Chancellor Robert Jones and local mayors will sign a joint commitment to shared resilience to climate change at the Institute for Sustainability Congress on Oct. 4.

The Congress will conclude on Oct. 5 with a lunchtime keynote from Georgia Tech’s Brian Stone titled “Fires, Floods and Frappuccinos: Planning for Climate Change in the Age of the Anthropocene.”

“The long-term sustainability of the planet depends critically on the long-term sustainability of its cities,” Knaap said. “If we are going to make progress on urban sustainability, it is important to assess what we have learned from 20 years of smart growth and to identify what has worked, what hasn’t and what now needs to be done.”

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