Introduction

According to the American Planning Association "The built environment is a primary contributor to climate change,...[thus] Planners must play a key role in promoting energy efficiency in the existing built environment and changing development patterns, transportation systems, and regulations in way that reduce green house gases."

To gain an international perspective on how this can be done, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at the University of Maryland, and the Habiforum Foundation in the Netherlands are co-sponsoring an international workshop on how urban planning can address climate change, May 7-9, 2009, in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The underlying assumptions of the workshop are three-fold:

1. The election of President Obama in the United States marks the beginning of a new era in U.S. and international policy approaches to climate change;
2. Innovative approaches to climate change have already been launched at the local and regional levels in Europe and the United States; and
3. There is much to be gained from the exchange of information on planning approaches to climate change across the Atlantic.

Purpose

The purpose of the workshop is to identify and disseminate across the Atlantic new techniques, policies, analytical tools, and lessons learned on land use planning to mitigate climate change. Discussion items will include strategies for reducing greenhouses gases by lowering vehicle miles traveled, carbon sequestration via tree cover and open space protection, and energy savings via sustainable urban design. More specifically, the workshop will address three questions:

1. What land use plans and strategic actions are currently being taken to address climate change at the local and regional levels in Europe and the United States?
2. How effective are those strategies and what needs to be done to make them more effective? And,
3. What role should state, national and international levels of government play in shaping land use policies at the local level?

Participants

The number of participants is intentionally small and includes three sets of individuals from both sides of the Atlantic: representatives of local or regional governments that have adopted innovative approaches to land use planning; scholars with expertise in planning, transportation, energy, and urban design; and policy makers from influential national and international organizations.

Venue

The conference will be held at the Hotel Ariston in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The Hotel Ariston is part of the Importanne Resort, which is located alongside the Adriatic Sea about 10 minutes from the Old Town of Dubrovnik. The venue features several restaurants, a fitness center, outdoor pool, and sauna.

Program

The program will open with a dinner for conference attendees on Thursday evening, May 7, followed by two full days of discussion on May 8 and 9. (A draft agenda is being developed.) The cost of travel and accommodations will be covered by conference sponsors.

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