Natural Capital in Cities: A critical resource for improving equity, resilience, and sustainability
Wednesday, June 3, 2015, 12-1 pm

WHEN:  Wednesday, June 3, 12-1 p.m.
WHERE: Urban Center Building, room 270
FREE and open to the public 

Rapid urbanization at unprecedented scale will place enormous pressure on ecosystems in and around cities to provide good living conditions for the majority of humanity.  Accomplishing fundamental goals of urban livability in a way that ensures a resilient and equitable future for the human population and simultaneously maintains Earth’s biodiversity and critical ecological processes is essential to achieving a transition toward sustainability. Urban decisionmakers, from mayors to neighborhood activists and investors to corporate leaders, need tools to navigate transformation of their communities along sustainability and desired resilience pathways.

This presentation will summarize recent progress in urban ecosystem services research and present a social-ecological approach to assessing, mapping, and valuing urban ecosystem services from the first citywide urban ecosystem services assessment for New York City. 

Timon McPhearson is an assistant professor of urban ecology and chair of The New School’s environmental studies program, director of the Urban Ecology Lab, and research faculty at Tishman Environment and Design Center, where he works directly with designers, planners, and managers to foster sustainable and resilient cities. 

Hosted by the Portland State University Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning and the Institute for Sustainable Solutions.