On Friday, May 21st, the Regional Green Economy Task Force will host the Green Pathways to Prosperity Summit in Pittsburgh.

This summit will bring together government officials, clergy, organizational leaders, business leaders and community advocates who represent traditionally disadvantaged constituencies for a day of discussion on how Pittsburgh can attain the goal of a socially just, economically prosperous and environmentally sustainable future.  Key topics of the summit will include climate change, environmental justice, emerging industries, and public policy.

The goals of the Green Pathways to Prosperity summit are to both contribute to a more informed group of community leaders, and to also inspire collaboration between those in attendance.  For more information on this summit, contact Khari Mosley at k.mosley@gtechstrategies.org.

This Saturday, March 27, join Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto for the return of PeduTube and help raise money for the Geek Art and Green Innovators Festival.

Saturday March 27, 2010
Cappy’s Cafe, Walnut Street
10pm – 2am

For a $5 donation you can request your favorite YouTube video to be played on the PeduTube screen.  All proceeds will go to the Geek Art and Green Innovators Festival.  Come out to Cappy’s Cafe for a night of videos, drinks, and fun with special guest DJ Muddy.

The Allegheny County district of the Rotary International club is offering two exciting opportunities for individuals in the Pittsburgh area.

First, they are offering the opportunity to take part in a Group Study Exchange trip to Argentina for 3 weeks in May. The opportunity to participate in this Group Study Exchange (GSE) is open to young professionals from age 20 to early 40s, and allows the participants to gain professional insight into the Argentinean culture through site visits, and meetings with local businesses, government and cultural leaders. The trip includes all travel and lodging expenses, but the entertainment expenses are the responsibility of the GSE participant. Last year, Councilman Bill Peduto participated in the GSE trip to Norway to study energy policy, and has remained involved with the rotary ever since. For more information, please contact Ron Gaydos at District 7300 of Rotary International at rgaydos@city-net.com.

The group is also accepting applications for the 2011-2012 Rotary Peace Fellowship program. This program invites non-Rotarian professionals who are interested in international relations, public administration, sustainable development, peace studies and conflict resolution or a related field to compete for one of 50 master’s degree fellowships or 50 professional development certificate fellowships to expand their knowledge in these areas.

For more information and instructions on the application process, visit the website. Applications are due by July 1, 2010.

Councilman Bill Peduto will be one of the sponsors the Three Rivers Bioneers conference that will be held in Pittsburgh this weekend. The mission of the conference is to foster a local movement of citizens and organizations who strive to cultivate sustainable communities in the Three Rivers bioregion through social justice, ecological health and innovative solutions.  The conference will take place from Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18 at the Pittsburgh Project.

The keynote speakers of the conference are Greg Boulos, the Western Director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, and Khari Mosley, the Director of Green Economic Initiatives for G-TECH strategies.  Other speakers broadcast via satellite from the National Bioneers Conference include Andrew Weil and Michael Pollan.

For more information, or to register for the conference, visit the website.

Last Saturday, Councilman Bill Peduto served as a judge for The Waffle Shop’s Visionary Ideas for this World or Another Event.

The event asked for submissions of visionary ideas for the future, and asked participants for extravagant proposals such as “visionary schemes for things like: how to survive the end of the planet, a way for animals to run governments, a cloning system that reinvents history, or an entire alternate universe of your own design.”

Ten participants were selected from the submissions to pitch their idea in a short presentation to the judges and the audience.  Participants could be local, national or even international, and could pitch their ideas to the judges in person, or using a “body double” that connected with the participants via Skype and spoke on their behalf.

The winning submission came from Vanessa German, with her presentation on “The Power of Imagination.”  Follow the links to read more about the event in The Tartan, and learn more about The Waffle Shop.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh Police Officers and Pittsburgh teenagers met at Mellon Park for the third annual Battle of the Badge basketball tournament.

Neighborhood teams from around the city came together for a day of basketball, live music and food.  Local businesses donated prizes food and raffle prizes, and The Marilyn G. Rabb (MGR) Foundation ran an art station.

The winning team came from Career Connections Charter High School.  Read more about the event here.

Today, Councilman Bill Peduto will speak at the 2009 Mahatma Gandhi Birthday Celebration,
presented by the Alliance for Humanitarian Initiatives, Nonviolence and Spiritual Advancement.

The goal of the Alliance is to  celebrate Mahatma Gandhi as a global humanitarian figure, promote his legacy of nonviolence, and engage youth in appreciating Gandhi’s powerful message.  The event will include dance performances, cultural activities, and inter-faith religious practices to celebrate the birth of Gandhi and his message.  Topics of discussion will include “Gandhi on a New Generation” and “Gandhi and Martin Luther King,” and the keynote speaker will be Professor Varadaraja Raman, Emeritus Professor of Physics and Humanities at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Councilman Peduto also issued a City Council Proclamation in honor of this event.

Yesterday, City Councilman Bill Peduto gave a presentation at the CEOs for Cities National Urban Leaders Summit in Washington D.C.

Councilman Peduto joined other Pittsburgh leaders Scott Bricker from Bike Pittsburgh, Mariann Geyer from Point Park University, Erik Lingren from Venture Outdoors, and Eve Picker from no wall productions in a presentation entitled City Update: Pittsburgh’s Transformation.

The group discussed the urban renewal of Pittsburgh that has begun to receive national attention, and ultimately led to Pittsburgh’s selection as the site for last week’s G-20 summit.  They addressed how the changes have been made possible, and what is in store for Pittsburgh in the future.  They also discussed how the community has been enabled to take action, and what role new social media technology will play in this transformation.

Learn more about CEOs for Cities.

The last session of Pedal, Paddle, Peduto took place on Sunday, as participants were led through Schenley Park for a City Parks Walkabout.
Nineteen people, and one dog, came out to walk 4 miles around the park, while learning about the ecosystem and plants around them, and the history and future plans for the park.  The weather held out long enough for the group to enjoy their walk.
This was the last session of this summer’s Pedal, Paddle, Peduto program.  Councilman Peduto hopes to partner with Venture Outdoors again next year to continue and expand the program.