MIT Prof. William Shutkin to Speak at UMass Lowell Conference

WHAT:  More than 100 scholars, community activists and business representatives are expected to attend this month's UMass Lowell national conference on "Education for Sustainable Development." The two-day forum will kick off Thursday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. with a keynote address by MIT Prof. William Shutkin, a leading voice for environmentalism and sustainable development.  The event is the 7^th annual conference sponsored by the UMass Lowell Committee on Industrial Theory and Assessment (CITA).

WHERE:  Wannalancit Mills Conference Room, 600 Suffolk St., Lowell, Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 to 9 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

WHY:   Prof. Shutkin also is an attorney and president of New Ecology Inc. (NEI), a nonprofit environmental organization in Cambridge that promotes sustainable urban development.  He is co-founder and former executive director of Alternatives for Community and Environment, a Boston-based environmental justice law center.

Over the past decade, UMass Lowell has mounted an effort to understand what makes a region and its communities sustainable and vital.  This year's CITA conference will focus on strategies for including concepts of sustainable development in college and university programs, the involvement of educational institutions in regions' geographic, social and economic fabric; and how schools are transforming into regional models for sustainability.

For complete conference information or to register on-line, visit

www.uml.edu/com/CITA/ or contact Prof. Robert Forrant, conference co-chair, at rforrant@external.umass.edu.