A group of young Kiwis has taken climate change and the environment into their hands, and will be holding their own event, entitled 'Auckland's future', at this year's Sustainable City Showcase.
The youth climate action group, Generation Zero, will showcase their vision for Auckland as a liveable, low carbon city to the wider public and business sector at their micro-conference. The event will focus on setting the scene for a liveable, low-carbon city, and showcase Generation Zero's vision for Auckland combining their work on the Congestion Free Network, the Unitary Plan and the soon to be released cycling network.
At the Sustainable City Showcase, Generation Zero will be using Auckland as example of a city perfectly placed for all of Auckland to work together to create a liveable, low-carbon city. They will be joined by representatives from Auckland Council will also be piloting an interactive exercise to support the same end, with a focus on practical solutions to address local needs.
"We want people to take away a sense of hope for the future. We are witnessing a global shift away from polluting fossil fuels, and as New Zealanders, we are blessed with the opportunity to move our cities beyond car-dependence by making our cities much more liveable places with smarter transport options," says Ryan Mearns, Generation Zero's national campaign strategist. "We want people - through their voices as members of the public and their choices as consumers - to put pressure on the Government to take climate action."
Guest speakers at their event include Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse; CEO of Eco Store, Malcolm Rands; and leaders of Generation Zero discussing their vision for Auckland.
Generation Zero works to cut carbon pollution through smarter transport, liveable cities and independence from fossil fuels. They want to ensure that the future wellbeing of New Zealand and its people is not undermined by political decisions made today on climate change and fossil fuel policies.
Generation Zero has worked this year to establish its vision for Auckland through two major initiatives. At the start of the year the group worked to give young people a voice on the Unitary Plan, advocating for a quality compact city. They also developed, with the editors of Auckland Transport Blog, the Congestion Free Network, which is a fully costed, affordable plan for public transport in Auckland.
Their micro-conference will be all about setting the scene for a liveable, low-carbon city, and they want to invite people to bring along their own ideas of how Auckland can move towards this vision. The event starts at 10am on Friday, October 18 at The Cloud on Queen's Wharf and runs through to 4pm. Tickets can be purchased at http://aucklandsfuture.eventbrite.co.nz/
About the Sustainable City Showcase
Held from October 17-19 at The Cloud in Auckland's Queens Wharf, the Sustainable City Showcase event will host over 120 exhibitors sharing sustainable workplace and fashion solutions, organic food and drink, hybrid and electric vehicles, business and lifestyle ideas, and ways to make your home more sustainable, as well as live entertainment and family fun.
www.sustainablecity.org.nz