hubevents: Energy (and Other) Events

Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston area that catch the editor's eye.

Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.

If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com

---------------------------------------------------------
************************************************

Tensegrity Everywhere
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/04/17/1199996/-Tensegrity-Everywhere

---------------------------------------------------------
************************************************

Event Index - full Event Details available below the Index

--------------------
Monday, April 22
--------------------

10am Sonic Practice, Discourse & Auditory Experimentation
12pm Flexibility in Engineering Design
12pm "Evaluating Licensing Agreements for Technology Diffusion at the U.S. National Labs"
3:30pm Smart Classrooms and Knowledge Communities: New Pedagogical Models and Technology Architectures for 21st Century Learning
4pm Sustainable Fisheries in a Changing Climate: On Cod and Coral Reefs
4pm Mathematics at Google (a video seminar)
4pm Miller Lecture: The Research University in the Digital Age
4:15pm Climate Changes and Water Resources: The Case of Taiwan
5:30PM "A Voting Architecture for the Governance of Free Driver Externalities, with Application to Geoengineering."
7:45pm "Chinese Village, Global Market "

---------------------
Tuesday, April 23
---------------------

11:30am What Are Foundations For? A Panel Debate on Philanthropy & Democracy
12pm Energy Sufficiency: New Approaches to Saving Energy in an Era of Climate Constraints12pm 12pm Environmental Lawmaking in the 21st Century: Is a Catastrophe Necessary?
12pm Compulsory Voting, Voter Turnout, and Income Inequality
12:30pm How to archive for the future? Ensuring the Present benefits from a Relevant Past.
4pm Future Industrial Requirements for Power Semiconductor Technology
4pm “A Strategy for U.S. Leadership in Civil Nuclear Power”
5pm Public Art Discussion Series: Building for the Outdoors
5:30pm Emerging Thailand: The Spirit of Small Enterprise
6pm April 2013 Boston New Technology Meetup #bnt28
6:30pm Cultural Agents All: How Art Promotes Education, Innovation, and Citizenship

-------------------------
Wednesday, April 24
-------------------------

8am-4pm SUSTAINABILITY: PRACTICES AND POSSIBILITIES
11:30am Sustainability Fair at Harvard School of Public Health
12:30pm EcoLogic Green Bag: Why REDD+ Can Work
2pm From Climate Conflict to Climate Action: Capturing the Greatest Opportunities of Our Generation
2pm Personal Digital Archiving
3:30pm The role of miscibility and mesostructure in organic photovoltaics
4pm Oceans, Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate: Surface ocean impacts on the chemistry of the tropical free troposphere
4pm Obama's Dilemma: How the Media Influence Public Debate on the Keystone XL Pipeline Decision
4pm The Chevron Case in Ecuador: Maria Aguinda's Fight to Bring a Major Corporation to Justice
4:10pm Contracting for Environmental Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa
5pm PANDORA'S PROMISE
5:30pm Shahnaz Husain: Pioneer and Entrepreneur
7pm Dave Winer: Using HTML 5 as a platform

----------------------
Thursday, April 25
----------------------

8:30am-6pm GHP@50 Global Health Symposium
10am Energy and the Arab Awakening: A View from Riyadh
11:30am Sustainability Fair at Harvard Medical School
12pm Gas Exchange and Environmental Forcings in Engineered Wetlands
1pm Climate Change and Insurance: Recent Litigation and Regulatory Developments
2:30pm Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: New Models for Online Learning
2:50pm Educational Technology Re-imagined
3pm Securing our Clean Energy Future in Massachusetts
4pm Energy Lecture Series: Carbon Capture and Storage
4pm A World Citizen, Visualizing the Glocal (Global + Local) Condition
5pm Sustainability unConference
5:30pm Guy Djoken, Executive Director for UNESCO Center for Peace speaks about UNESCO's Missions
7pm Lesley University Forum: Three Towns, One Forest - Imagine The Silver Maple Forest Forever
7pm Urban Films: The Last Mountain (2011)

-------------------
Friday, April 26
-------------------

Second Cambridge Area Economics and Computation Day
8am-6pm SYMPOSIUM: Online Technology and the Future of Higher Education
9am RGGI Amendments: Implications for New England & the Nation
12:30pm Beyond Smart Objects
1pm MIT Workshop on Sex Trafficking + Technology
1:30pm Is Education a Civil Right?
4pm 50th Anniversary of the MIT Jazz Program Panel Presentations
7pm Bidder 70 - Film Screening
7pm The Folly of Technological Solutionism

----------------------
Saturday, April 27
----------------------

MIT Sustainability Summit
9am-1pm Climate Change: What Would Olmsted Do? Presented by Olmsted 2022
9am Green Entrepreneur Small Biz
10am-4pm Climate Revival 2013: An Ecumenical Festival to Embolden the Renewal of Creation
5:30pm "Nallah to Nadi, Sewer to Stream: Transforming Urban Riverscapes in South Asia and the U.S."

---------------------
Sunday, April 28
--------------------

MIT Sustainability Summit

---------------------
Monday, April 29
--------------------

12pm "Power Sector Technology Investment Planning under Uncertainty"
12:30pm Performative Design of Genetically-Engineered Structures
1pm "Future Africa" a talk by Jonathan Ledgard
2pm Media Lab Conversations Series: Greg Brandeau and Josh Sarantitis
4:10pm Chinese Cities: Booming Growth or Doomed to Fail?
5pm Building Capacity for Scientific and Technological Catch-Up in Developing Countries: The Role of The World Academy of Science
6pm Writing in Water
7pm Bestow Media Literacy, Expose, Inspire Change

----------------------
Tuesday, April 30
----------------------

Startup Walkabout
12pm "Evolution of the News Ecosystem."
4pm Energy Management: The Next Big Thing
5pm Future of Energy: "The Well-Tempered City"
5:30pm Legatum Lecture ~ Entrepreneurship in an Emerging Economy: The CWG Illustration
8pm David M. Lee Historical Lecture in Physics: Recollections of Los Alamos and the Nuclear Era

---------------------------------
****************************

Event Details

--------------------
Monday, April 22
--------------------

Sonic Practice, Discourse & Auditory Experimentation

Monday, April 22

10am

MIT, Act Cube (E15-001), Wiesner Building, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge

Keith Fullerton Whitman

Keith Fullerton Whitman is a musician based in Cambridge, MA. His current work is split into two avenues: 1) Live Electronic Music: largely improvised and/or performed in loose, through-composed or "automatic" frameworks on an array of hardware modular synthesis equipment; 2) Studio Music: largely concerned with the transformation of acoustic and electronic materials via Musique Concrète techniques, but also with systems. Active as a performer of real-time computer music (as Hrvatski) since the mid-nineties, he later turned to computer-processed instrumental music and a variety of hardware-based synthesis and process-oriented musics. Whitman graduated from the Berklee College of Music with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Synthesis in 1995. He has since lectured in Computer Music and History of Electronic Music and gave artist talks at Harvard, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

---------------------------------------

Flexibility in Engineering Design
Monday, April 22, 2013
12:00p–1:00p
Location: Virtual, RSVP at http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_042213/webinar-neufville-engineering-design.html

Speaker: Richard de Neufville, , Ph.D., Dr. h.c. Professor of Engineering Systems and of Civil and Environmental Engineering
MIT System Design and Management Systems Thinking Webinar Series
This series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.

FLEXIBILITY IN ENGINEERING DESIGN

Designed for those concerned with acquiring and implementing new products and systems, such as owners, managers, developers and engineers, this webinar will explain the concept of flexibility in engineering design, using non-technical language and many practical examples.

Professor de Neufville will cover:
the problems with predetermined forecasts and requirement sets;
the benefits of flexibility in engineering design and its role in developing products that can adapt to a wide range of uncertainties;
how flexibility in engineering design delivers value by reducing or eliminating downside risks, increasing access to upside opportunities, and ultimately producing overall win-win solutions and developmental strategies;
specific ways successful companies apply flexibility in engineering design, and;
a framework and next steps for applying flexibility in engineering design in your organization.

We invite you to join us!

Web site: http://sdm.mit.edu/news/news_articles/webinar_042213/webinar-neufville-engineering-design.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to all
Tickets: See URL above.
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, MIT System Design and Management (SDM) program
For more information, contact: Lois Slavin
617.253.0812
lslavin@mit.edu

-----------------------------

The Degree of Segregation in Social Networks
Apr 22, 2013
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Maxwell Dworkin G125, 33 Oxford Street, Cambridge

Nicole Immorlica, Microsoft Research in New England
Social networks form the basic medium of social interaction. The structure of these networks significantly impacts and co-evolves with the behavioral patterns of society. Important societal outcomes – the global reach of an epidemic, the degree of cooperation in an online network, the adoption of new technologies – are dictated by social networks. In this talk, we explore the impact of networks on segregation. In 1969, economist Thomas Schelling introduced a landmark model of racial segregation in which individuals move out of neighborhoods where their ethnicity constitutes a minority. Simple simulations of Schelling's model suggest that this local behavior can cause global segregation effects. In this talk, we provide a rigorous analysis of Schelling's model on ring networks. Our results show that, in contrast to prior interpretations, the outcome is nearly integrated: the average size of an ethnically-homogenous region is independent of the size of the society and only polynomial in the size of a neighborhood.

Joint work with Christina Brandt, Gautam Kamath, and Robert D. Kleinberg.

Speaker Biography: Nicole Immorlica is a researcher at Microsoft Research in New England (MSR NE) and an assistant professor in EECS at Northwestern University. She received her PhD from MIT in 2005 and continued on to do postdocs at Microsoft Research and Centruum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (CWI) before starting her tenure-track job. She is the recipient of various fellowships and awards including the NSF CAREER Award, the Sloan Fellowship and the Microsoft New Faculty Fellowship. Her research interests lie in the field of algorithmic game theory, specifically social networks, market design, and mechanism design.
Contact: Carol Harlow
harlow@seas.harvard.edu

----------------------------

"Evaluating Licensing Agreements for Technology Diffusion at the U.S. National Labs"
Monday, April 22, 2013
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, HKS, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge

Gabe Chan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group, Harvard Belfer Center

ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar
Contact Name: Louisa Lund
louisa_lund@hks.harvard.edu

------------------------------

Smart Classrooms and Knowledge Communities: New Pedagogical Models and Technology Architectures for 21st Century Learning
Monday, April 22, 2013
3:30 PM to 4:30 PM (EDT)
Center for Engineering Education and Outreach, 474 Boston Avenue, Medford

Jim Slotta, Associate Professor of Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), The University of Toronto

Abstract: This talk will present a recent theoretical model of collective inquiry called Knowledge Community and Inquiry, developed by Jim Slotta to guide the designs of complex collaborative inquiry curriculum for secondary science. Typical KCI designs are several months in duration, with students engaged in developing a shared knowledge base that serves as a resource for carefully scripted inquiry projects. In the past several years, Slotta and his team have advanced a sophisticated technology architecture called SAIL (Scalable Architecture for Interactive Learning) to provide scaffolding and real time analytic support for the sequencing of interactions amongst people, materials, tools and activities. This talk will review KCI and SAIL, then present three curriculum designs from current research projects.

Bio: Jim Slotta is an associate professor of education in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at The University of Toronto, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Education and Technology. He completed his doctorate in Cognitive Psychology with Micki Chi at the University of Pittsburgh (1997) and spent 10 years as a researcher and faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, where he developed the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE). In 2006, he established the ENCORE lab (http://encorelab.org), a team of talented students, designers and developers who investigate collaborative inquiry learning in formal (K-12) and informal (home, field and museum) settings. Recent funded projects have examined the use of embedded phenomena in elementary classrooms, distributed and ubiquitous learning in high school physics, and an immersive rainforest simulation for high school biology. Together, these projects examine how students can become a knowledge community, supported by technology, to enable inclusive participation and promote the growth of ideas.

Tufts STEM Education Lecture Series
Co-sponsored by the Tufts Center for Engineering Education and Outreach and Dept. of Education
Open to the public. All are welcome.

---------------------------

Sustainable Fisheries in a Changing Climate: On Cod and Coral Reefs
Monday, April 22, 2013
4:00pm
Harvard School of Public Health, Kresge 204, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston

Join Jake Kritzer, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Environmental Defense Fund Oceans Team in New England for a lecture on Sustainable Fisheries.

The Atlantic cod, a New England icon and foundation of the first commercial fishery in the United States, is struggling to recover from a history of persistent overfishing. Although harvest management has undergone a significant transformation that is giving the population its best chance to grow in decades, rapid and uncertain changes in ocean temperature, chemistry, and prey species linked to global climate change present daunting new challenges. Still greater threats from a changing climate are being faced in the developing tropics, where coral reefs are especially vulnerable to sea level rise, warming waters, and acidification, and are also vital for food security. Efforts underway in Cuba to build ecological resilience in the face of climate change provide an illuminating case study in both solutions and barriers.

---------------------------

Mathematics at Google (a video seminar)

April 22nd 2013, Monday Google

4:00pm-5:30pm
MIT, Building 32-124, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Refreshments served

Javier Tordable
Abstract: There is a wide variety of mathematics used at Google. For example Linear Algebra in the PageRank algorithm, used to rank web pages in search results. Or Game Theory, used in ad auctions, or Graph Theory in Google Maps. At Google there are literally dozens of products which use interesting Mathematics. These are not just research prototypes, but real Google products; in which Mathematics play a crucial role. In this presentation, I introduce several applications of Mathematics at Google. I begin with a detailed explanation of search on the web and PageRank. Then I show a dozen examples of Google products and the corresponding Mathematics that are used. The presentation has an extensive list of links and references. And it's available in English and Spanish.

Speaker’s Biography: Javier Tordable graduated from the University of Valladolid, Spain with degrees in Computer Science (Ingeniero Superior en Informática) and Mathematics (Licenciado en Matemáticas). He joined Google in 2008 and works currently in Google Seattle.

Please contact Ruby Fu (rubyfu@mit.edu) for any questions.

---------------------------

Miller Lecture: The Research University in the Digital Age
Monday, April 22, 2013
4:00p–5:30p
MIT Faculty Club - Dining Room 5, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

Speaker: Lawrence Bacow, President Emeritus of Tufts and former MIT Chancellor
Lawrence Bacow, President Emeritus of Tufts and former MIT Chancellor, will present the talk, "The Research University in the Digital Age." This talk is co-sponsored by MIT Engineering Systems Division and Civil and Environmental Engineering. (Refreshments at 3:30)

The Charles L. Miller Lecture Series

Web site:http://esd.mit.edu/Headline/calendar/2013/042213millerlecture.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Engineering Systems Division, Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact: Stefanie Koperniak
skoperni@mit.edu

----------------------------

Climate Changes and Water Resources: The Case of Taiwan
WHEN Mon., Apr. 22, 2013, 4:15 – 5:45 p.m.
WHERE Knafel Building, Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), 1737 Cambridge Street, Harvard University
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences, Humanities, Lecture, Science, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies: Environment in Asia Lecture Series
SPEAKER(S) Ts’ui-jung Liu, Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO lkluz@fas.harvard.edu
NOTE Water is essential to life and central to the welfare and sustainable development of society. The movement of the water cycle, also known as the hydraulic cycle, is sensitive to climate change. Ts’ui-jung Liu will give a general description of climatic conditions and water resources in Taiwan and then focus on climatic disasters caused by typhoons and droughts. She will discuss how people utilized water resources and produced wastewater, as well as controlled pollution, during these disasters. Based on historical experiences, Taiwan should devote more efforts to protect water sources, control water pollution, and promote water conservation. From a global perspective, a great challenge in the twenty-first century is how to provide enough food, clean water, sanitation, and health care for all the people in the world. The impacts of climate change on water resources are important issues that should be carefully considered.
LINK http://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/event/liu-tsui-jung

--------------------------

"A Voting Architecture for the Governance of Free Driver Externalities, with Application to Geoengineering."
Monday, April 22, 2013
Time: 5:30p–7:00p
Harvard, Littauer M15, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge

Martin Weitzman, Harvard University

Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy
For further information, contact Professor Stavins at the Kennedy School (495-1820), Professor Weitzman at the Department of Economics (495-5133), or the course assistant, Jason Chapman (617-496-8054), or visit the seminar web site: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k89370

-----------------------------

"Chinese Village, Global Market "
WHEN Mon., Apr. 22, 2013, 7:45 – 8:45 p.m.
WHERE CGIS South, Tsai Auditorium (S010), 1730 Cambridge Street, Harvard University
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Fairbank Center New England China Seminar
SPEAKER(S) Anthony Saich, Harvard University
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO lkluz@fas.harvard.edu
NOTE This will be a special session of the New England China Seminar dedicated to the memory of Stuart Schram.
Yantian village has transformed from a sleepy rural backwater into a key part of the global production chain over the last 30 years. Sitting on the Pearl River delta, it lies at the heart of southern China’s grain basket. Today, you would be hard pushed to find paddy fields and water buffaloes, and the village is almost unrecognizable from its former pastoral tranquility. At its peak, the village was home to 400 foreign-invested enterprises and 150,000 migrant workers. Tony Saich will focus on what facilitated the transition and the challenges the village now faces in sustaining its development.
LINK http://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/event/anthony-saich

---------------------
Tuesday, April 23
---------------------

What Are Foundations For? A Panel Debate on Philanthropy & Democracy
WHEN Tue., Apr. 23, 2013, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, Land Hall, HKS, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Co-sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Boston Review Magazine, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, and the Edward J. Safra Center for Ethics
SPEAKER(S) Rob Reich, Stanford University; with discussants Eric Beerbohm, Frederick S. Danzinger Associate Professor of Government; Phil Buchanan, President, Center for Effective Philanthropy; and moderated by Archon Fung, Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship, and Christine Letts, Rita E. Hauser Senior Lecturer in the Practice of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO bruce_jackan@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE Are foundations “total scandals” in the words of Judge Richard Posner? Foundations are rarely held under normal electoral or market accountability standards, receive generous tax breaks, and have few transparency requirements. In this final Democracy Seminar of the semester, Rob Reich will explore both how foundations have gained legitimacy in democratic society and how, in spite of their plutocratic power, foundations have the opportunity to play an important, supportive role in democracy. Phil Buchanan, Christine Letts, and Eric Beerbohm will serve as respondents.
LINK http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events/What-Are-Foundations-For

--------------------------------

Energy Sufficiency: New Approaches to Saving Energy in an Era of Climate Constraints
April 23, 2013
12:00 – 1:00PM
Webinar
RSVP at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/594582166

Chris Calwell, Senior Research Fellow, Ecova

COST: Free
ORGANIZER: Blueprint for Efficiency

---------------------------------

Environmental Lawmaking in the 21st Century: Is a Catastrophe Necessary?

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

12:00 PM
Wasserstein Hall, Harvard Law School, 1585 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

An Informal Talk by Professor Richard Lazarus

After the first Earth Day in 1970, Congress passed a series of increasingly stringent pollution control laws and natural resource conservation laws. These laws were successful and transformed the nation’s legal landscape, but pressing environmental problems warrant new legislation. Yet Congress is so mired in partisan conflict that needed legislation has neither been passed nor seems likely soon to be passed. Over forty years after that first Earth Day, will it require a true environmental catastrophe to break the lawmaking logjam?

Sponsored by the HLS Green Team Events Committee, the Joint Council, and the Office for Sustainability

--------------------------------

Compulsory Voting, Voter Turnout, and Income Inequality
WHEN Tue., Apr. 23, 2013, 12 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, 1730 Cambridge Street, CGIS South S-250, DRCLAS, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR DRCLAS, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) John Carey, John Wentworth Professor in the Social Sciences, Department of Government, Dartmouth College; Yusaku Horiuchi, associate professor, Department of Government and Mitsui Chair of the Study of Japan, Dartmouth College
CONTACT INFO sjampel@fas.harvard.edu
LINK http://www.drclas.harvard.edu/node/1894

--------------------------------

How to archive for the future? Ensuring the Present benefits from a Relevant Past.
April 23

12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2013/04/caron#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30pm ET.

Daniel J. Caron, Deputy Head and Librarian and Archivist of Canada and Eric Mechoulan,Université de Montréal
If we want to preserve accessibility to valuable information about legal, political, social and cultural discourses in an era of information abundance, it becomes vital to design carefully how we distinguish between noise and significant pieces of information. In order to secure our future, we need to know how to organize our past.

About Daniel
Daniel J. Caron joined the federal public service in 1982. In 2009, he was appointed Librarian and Archivist of Canada. One year later, he launched the modernization initiative to ensure that Library and Archives Canada could meet the multiple challenges of the digital environment. This initiative is a call for collaboration, epistemologically grounded institutional policies and policy driven decisions. In addition to his organizational experience, Mr. Caron is a seasoned author and speaker on public administration and issues related to information and memory both in Canada and abroad. Mr. Caron has also taught in several Canadian universities. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Economics from the Université Laval, and obtained a doctorate in Applied Human Sciences from the Université de Montréal. Mr. Caron has been Chair of the Forum of National Archivists for the International Council on Archives since 2010. He is the author of WEB HT.0 Pour une société informée: la pertinence numérique et ses défis pour les sociétés démocratiques au XX1e siècle, Hermann 2011.

About Eric
Eric Mechoulan is a professor at the Université de Montréal and visiting prof at Harvard, chair of the Intermedial Research Center on Letters, Arts and Techniques as well as the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Emerging Technologies (Montreal). His most recent research project is about “Archiving in the digital age”. Recent publications : special journal issue on “Archiving”, Intermediality, 2012; D’où nous viennent nos idées? Métaphysique et intermédialité, VLB, 2010; La culture de la mémoire, PUM, 2008

------------------------------

Future Industrial Requirements for Power Semiconductor Technology
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Refreshments at 3:45 p.m.

Speaker: Neil Rasmussen, Schneider Electric

The efficient generation, distribution, and end use of electrical power continues to be enhanced by power electronic systems. This talk is from the point of view of a major manufacturer of power conversion systems and addresses these issues: where is the technology good enough? Where are important improvements needed? What new industrial solutions will be enabled by improvements in power semiconductor technology?

MTL Seminar Series

Web site: http://mtlweb.mit.edu/seminars/spring2013.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact: Valerie Dinardo
253-9328
valeried@mit.edu

------------------------------

“A Strategy for U.S. Leadership in Civil Nuclear Power”

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
4:00 PM

MIT, Building 26-414, Kolker Room, access 60 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Refreshments served at 3:45 PM

Victor H. Reis, Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Energy
Dr. Victor H. Reis is Senior Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy, where he works on various DOE issues – mostly involving small modular nuclear reactors. He is a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of the U.S. Strategic Command. He returned to the DOE in 2005 to help formulate the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership.

Dr. Reis led the development of the DOE’s Stockpile Stewardship Program when he was Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs in the U.S. Department of Energy.

His past government appointments include serving as Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) in the Defense Department; Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); and Assistant Director for National Security and Space, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President.

He was Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning at SAIC, Senior Staff Member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and has held other industrial research and management positions. He has chaired and served on numerous government and laboratory advisory committees for the DOD, CIA, NASA, NNSA, U.S. Navy and Los Alamos, Sandia, Argonne and Idaho National Laboratories.

--------------------------------

Public Art Discussion Series: Building for the Outdoors
New England Foundation for the Arts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013

5:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)

Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, 85 West Newton Street, Boston

Building for the Outdoors
Materials, installation, maintenance, OH MY! Preparing your artwork for the outdoor elements is no easy task. Join fellow public artists and public art administrators for an evening of presentations that feature installation best practices and lessons learned. Come away with applicable tips for your next public art project! All levels of public art experience are welcome.
The following is the format of the event:
Part I: Material Choice & Conservation Reviews
Find out how to use a conservator to help you with material choices and communication with commissioning agents! Whether you are an emerging artist looking for general assistance describing materials and techniques for a proposal, or an established public artist looking to confirm or update recent advances in the technology of art materials, this presentation will give you the information you need through case studies, examples of actual materials, and written reviews. Presenter: Public Art Conservator for the Cambridge Arts Council, Rika Smith McNally.
Part II: Public Artist presentations on process & materials. How do you get it up, and make it stay up!

By land: David Fichter & Joshua Winer' murals and mosaics; Gillian Christy' sculptures

By sea: Terry Bastian's water installations

By air: Georgie Friedman's projections

Part III: Question & Answer

The Public Art Discussion Series is all about project sharing! We encourage you to bring promotional materials (handouts, business cards, pamphlets, etc.) to share at the event.

-------------------------------

Emerging Thailand: The Spirit of Small Enterprise

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

5:30p–7:30p
MIT, Building E25-111, 45 Carleton Street, Cambridge

Reception at 5:30 P.M. - Screening at 6:00 P.M.

Speaker: Robert Townsend (MIT) -- Documentary screening and Q&A with Robert Townsend about his over 15-year survey and research in Thailand

Web site: http://cier.uchicago.edu/emergingthailand/index.shtml
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Economics Special Events
For more information, contact: Theresa Benevento
theresa@mit.edu

-------------------------------

April 2013 Boston New Technology Meetup #bnt28

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

6:00 PM
StartupLab Allston, 20 Linden Street, Suite 224, Allston

RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Boston_New_Technology/events/111028392/

Come to the ballroom on the lower level - separate entrance at rear of the building. Look for BNT signs.

Free event! Boston New Technology's April product showcase - 28th edition!

Come learn about 8 innovative and exciting technology products and network with the Boston/Cambridge startup community! Each presenter gets 5 minutes for product demonstration and 5 minutes for Q&A. Please follow @BostonNewTech and use the #bnt28 hashtag in social media posts: details here.

Presenters:
1. Aereo / @AereoTV - Allows consumers to watch and record Live, HD broadcast television online. No cable required. (Chet Kanojia /@CKanojia) www.Aereo.com
2. Amico Bracelets / @AmicoBracelets - Connects you to relevant people in real life. (Fabrizio Filippini / @FaFilippini) Tech: iOS, Bluetooth Low Energy www.AmicoBracelets.com
3. Akiban Technologies / @Akiban - Cloud database service enables developers to build powerful data-driven applications without the complexity or compromise of modern database architectures. (Ori Herrnstadt / @OriHerrnstadt) www.Akiban.com
4. Amazd / @ImAmazd - Social highlighting to share text you find intriguing, both on the web and in eBooks. (Ahmad Sadraei) Tech:LAMP stack www.Amazd.com
5. Sookbox / @TheSookbox - Gives you power over your media: Play your videos, music and favorite apps on any television or stereo, all controlled from your handheld device. (Cyrus Vafadari /@CVafadari) www.Sookbox.com
6. Green Door Labs / @GreenDoorLabs - Unique, custom games for for education and culture with playful designs accessible to museums, libraries, nonprofits and after-school programs. (Kellian Adams) www.GreenDoorLabs.com
7. Who's That / @WhosThatGame - Engaging social game for college students only. See who's interested in you and win. (Sam Davidson / @SamDavidsonII) Tech: PHP, CakePHP, jQuery, JavaScript, CSS3 www.WhosThatGame.com
8. Tripchi / @Tripchi - Make the most of your airport time with great deals & recommendations. (Chandra Jacobs /@TheRestlessRoad) Tech: iOS, ASP.net, MonoTouch, JavaScript, JQuery, Transact-SQL www.Tripchi.com

---------------------------------

Cultural Agents All: How Art Promotes Education, Innovation, and Citizenship
WHEN Tue., Apr. 23, 2013, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Allston Education Portal, 175 N. Harvard Street, Allston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Education, Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Allston Education Portal
SPEAKER(S) Professor Doris Sommer
COST Free and open to the public
TICKET WEB LINK http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6197052551
CONTACT INFO allston_edportal@harvard.edu
NOTE In everything from education, medicine, science and law to political leadership and business, art is a force that drives innovation.
Professor Sommer will speak about the role that arts and humanities play in developing societies, including her work in “Pre-Texts,” an arts-literacy program for youth at the Ed Portal in Allston-Brighton, among many other sites.
Light refreshments will be served.
LINK edportal.harvard.edu

-------------------------

Wednesday, April 24

-------------------------

SUSTAINABILITY: PRACTICES AND POSSIBILITIES
3rd Massachusetts Sustainable Communities Conference
2nd Massachusetts Sustainable Campuses Conference
April 24, 2013
8am - 4pm
DCU Center, Worcester, MA

Conference details at http://masustainablecommunities.com
Register early and save at http://masccc.eventbrite.com
Cost: $45 to $75

---------------------------

Sustainability Fair at HSPH
Wednesday, April 24, 2013

11:30am - 1:30pm
Kresge Atrium, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston

Peruse a showcase of sustainable organizations and vendors from HSPH and beyond. Exhibitors will be providing green resources and highlighting initiatives.

Exhibitors will be providing green resources and highlighting initiatives. Organizations and vendors include: Bootstrap Compost, Boston Building Resources, NEAQ's Sustainable Seafood Programs, Best Bees, the Harvard Longwood Bicyclists, and more.

Don't miss the CFL bulb drop off! Bring your dead CFLs for disposal.

----------------------------

EcoLogic Green Bag: Why REDD+ Can Work
Wednesday, April 24, 2013

12:30pm - 1:30pm
EcoLogic Headquarters, 25 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 203, Cambridge

We will be discussing EcoLogic's role in the controversial United Nations Program Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). Currently, EcoLogic works with communities in southern Mexico implementing a REDD+ project. We'll be discussing the progress of the project and why we believe that REDD+ can achieve conservation on a landscape level.

We encourage you to bring your own lunch and be ready to enjoy a relaxed discussion about all aspects of REDD+ program and more about the communities with which we are working.

http://bit.ly/16hCQqZ
Contact Name: Dave Kramer
dkramer@ecologic.org

------------------------------------

From Climate Conflict to Climate Action: Capturing the Greatest Opportunities of Our Generation
Wednesday, April 24, 2013

2:00pm - 3:30pm
UMass Boston, Campus Center Ballroom A, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston

Lecture by Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Climate Change at the University of Massachusetts Boston

Managing and overcoming conflict is central to finding solutions to global climate change. As Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres is charged with resolving conflict and bringing together governments, scientists, business and the public to collectively address climate change challenges.

Please join the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance at UMass Boston for this year’s annual Slomoff Lectureship featuring Christiana Figueres.

Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance, Graduate Programs in Conflict Resolution, in cooperation with the Center for Governance and Sustainability, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMASS Boston

Directions to Campus Center Ballroom A: http://www.umb.edu/the_university/getting_here

http://bit.ly/ZqpjXP
conflict@umb.edu
617-287-7489

---------------------------------

Personal Digital Archiving

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
2:00p–4:00p
MIT, Building 14N-132, 160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

Speaker: Kari Smith
Increase your understanding of common digital files--digital photos, recordings, video, documents, and others--and learn what it takes to preserve them. Technology changes rapidly. If you don't actively care for your digital possessions you may lose access to them as some technologies become obsolete. Learn about the nature of the problem and hear about some simple, practical tips and tools to help you preserve your digital stuff. Join us after the webinar for a collaborative Q+A with Kari Smith, Digital Archivist, Institute Archives and Special Collections at MIT Libraries. Kari will be on hand to discuss personal digital archiving and offer guidance for preservation of digital materials.

Web site: http://libraries.mit.edu/preservation/preservation-week.html
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Libraries
For more information, contact: Andrew Haggarty
ahaggart@mit.edu

----------------------------

The role of miscibility and mesostructure in organic photovoltaics

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
3:30p–4:45p
MIT, Building 66-110, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge

SEMINAR 3:30 REFRESHMENTS 3:00 PM

Speaker: Prof. Enrique Gomez, Penn State University
MIT Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST) Polymer Seminar Series
PPST sponsors a series of seminars covering a broad range of topics of general interest to the polymer community, featuring speakers from both on and off campus. We invite the polymer community at MIT and elsewhere to participate. For further information, contact Professor Brad Olsen at bdolsen@mit.edu. All talks take place on Wednesdays.

Web site: http://www.che.psu.edu/faculty/gomez/
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Program in Polymer Science and Technology (PPST)
For more information, contact: Gregory Sands
(617) 253-0949
ppst-www@mit.edu

--------------------------

Oceans, Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate: Surface ocean impacts on the chemistry of the tropical free troposphere

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 54-915 (the tallest building on campus)

Speaker: Professor Rainer Volkamer, Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder

EAPS Department Lecture Series
Web site: http://eapsweb.mit.edu/events/lectures
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
For more information, contact: Jacqui Taylor
617-253-2127

------------------------

Obama's Dilemma: How the Media Influence Public Debate on the Keystone XL Pipeline Decision
WHEN Wed., Apr. 24, 2013, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman Bldg - Nye A, Fifth Floor, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Business, Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Environment and Natural Resources Program, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) Michael Levi, author, "The Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity & the Battle for America's Future"; David Keith, professor, HKS and SEAS; Elana Schor, Greenwire reporter, E & E Publishing
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO enrp@hks.harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6046/obamas_dilemma.html

-----------------------------

The Chevron Case in Ecuador: Maria Aguinda's Fight to Bring a Major Corporation to Justice
WHEN Wed., Apr. 24, 2013, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Carr Center Conference Room (Rubenstein 219), Harvard Kennedy School of Government, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Law, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Latin America Program, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy
SPEAKER(S) Andres Sneider, Harvard Law School '91, litigation counsel, Wilmer Hale; Chris Jochnick, director of private sector department, Oxfam America
CONTACT INFO git_nahmens@hks.harvard.edu
LINK http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr/programs/latin-america/calendar/event-details/the-chevron-case-in-ecuador

-------------------------------

Contracting for Environmental Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa
WHEN Wed., Apr. 24, 2013, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Harvard Kennedy School, Littauer-382, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Kennedy School
SPEAKER(S) Kelsey Jack, Tufts University
LINK http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k89370

---------------------------------

PANDORA'S PROMISE

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
5:00p–7:30p
MIT, Building 34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Screening & discussion with filmmaker Robert Stone
A hit at the Sundance Film Festival, PANDORA'S PROMISE tackles the emerging divide within the environmental movement over nuclear energy through the intimately told stories of thinkers, experts and authors who have come to change their minds about nuclear power.

PANDORA'S PROMISE inspires serious and realistic debate about how mankind will continue to power modern civilization without destroying it.

Web site: http://web.mit.edu/nse/events/pandoraspromise.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Nuclear Science and Engineering
For more information, contact: Lisa Magnano-Bleheen
617-253-7522
magnano@mit.edu

--------------------------

Shahnaz Husain: Pioneer and Entrepreneur
Apr 24, 2013
5:30pm
MIT, Building E62-223, 100 Main Street, Cambridge, Sloan School of Management

Shahnaz Husain, Chairman & Managing Director, Shahnaz Husain Group of Companies

Shahnaz Husain's revolutionary business model and marketing approach is well-known throughout Asia. On April 24th, Shahnaz Husain will be at MIT to share the experiences and views of a female entrepreneur who has seen the growth of entrepreneurship in India, the increased role of female entrepreneurs, and the changing opportunities for people living at the bottom of the pyramid.

The dynamic growth of the Shahnaz Husain Group occurred concurrently with the rising economic strength of India, which gives Ms. Husain an insightful perspective on the role of entrepreneurship in emerging economies. While creating commercial success, Ms. Husain faced and overcame obstacles commonly encountered by female entrepreneurs working in low-income countries - experiences that provide her with a wealth of advice for female entrepreneurs. And in creating her business model, Ms. Husain offered employment opportunities to thousands of women who, for the first time, experienced the benefits of earning a wage. The empowerment of these women demonstrates the broad-based and positive impact of innovative entrepreneurship.

Co-hosted by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
This lecture is open to the general public & free of charge.

---------------------------

Dave Winer: Using HTML 5 as a platform
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
7:00 PM
Boston Globe, 135 Morrissey Boulevard, Dorchester
RSVP at http://meetupbos.hackshackers.com/events/112470182/

Dave Winer, well-known in the developer world for evangelizing open standards in Internet technology, will talk the future of the web as a development platform and opportunities for developers to work together to keep it growing as an open medium. He will also talk about Little Outliner, the new browser-based notepad and organizer from his latest company, Small Picture.

Winer hopes this will be an interactive talk, with lots of comments and questions from people in the room.

Bio: Dave Winer is the founder of Userland Software, Living Videotext and most recently Small Picture. He was instrumental in the creation of RSS, XML-RPC, OPML and SOAP. He has blogged at Scripting News since 1997 (http://scripting.com), was a contributing editor to HotWired, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Technology in 2003-2004 and co-hosted the "Rebooting the News" podcast with Jay Rosen.

More on Dave:
Wikipedia bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Winer

----------------------

Thursday, April 25

----------------------

GHP@50 Global Health Symposium
WHEN Thu., Apr. 25, 2013, 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
WHERE HSPH Longwood Campus, Boston
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Conferences, Health Sciences, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health
SPEAKER(S) Wafaie Fawzi, Julio Frenk, Barry Bloom, Jeffrey S. Flier, Howard Hiatt, Ana Langer, Robert Black, Jaime Sepulveda, Michelle Williams, Kenneth Brown, Calestous Juma, Walter Willett, Peter Berman, Rifat Atun, Jono Quick, Winnie Yip, David Canning, Esther Duflo, Majid Ezzati, Sue Goldie, Richard Horton, Lincoln Chen, Michael Reich, David Bloom, Till Baernighausen, Theresa Betancourt, Marcia Castro, Jessica Cohen, Goodarz Danaei, Gunther Fink, Margaret McConnell
COST Free and open to the public
TICKET WEB LINK hsph.me/ghp50
CONTACT INFO ghp@hsph.harvard.edu
LINK http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e6ycagwca3dc1b7e&llr=aqs5oylab

----------------------------

Energy and the Arab Awakening: A View from Riyadh
WHEN Thu., Apr. 25, 2013, 10 – 11:30 a.m.
WHERE Allison Dining Room, 5th Floor, Taubman Building, Harvard Kennedy School, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Middle East Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
SPEAKER(S) Mohammed Al Sabban, professor, King Abdulaziz University; Ali Al Shihabi, dounder, Rasmala Investment Bank; Abdulaziz al Fahad, principal of Abdulaziz al Fahad Law Firm
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE A panel discussion with distinguished experts from Saudi Arabia on the Kingdom's policies in the Middle East, as seen through the prisms of energy and financial security.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6023/energy_and_the_arab_awakening.html

----------------------------

Sustainability Fair at Harvard Medical School
Thursday, April 25, 2013

11:30am - 1:30pm
Courtyard Café, HMS Quadrangle, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston

Free Giveaways
Raffles
Sustainable showcase of vendors and organizations
Local food samples

----------------------------

Gas Exchange and Environmental Forcings in Engineered Wetlands

Thursday, April 25, 2013
12:00p–1:00p

MIT, Building 48-316, 15 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Evan Variano, Assistant Professor, Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley

To help improve the active management of wetlands, we investigate the fluid dynamics driving gas transfer across the air-water interface in the presence of emergent vegetation. We produce a parameterization in terms of easily measured environmental variables, which can be included in biogeochemical models describing two important wetland processes: carbon sequestration and methane emission. Our approach uses laboratory and field experiments. Field experiments highlighted the need to improve velocimetry technology for slow flows, and thus we present an improved wetland velocimeter. Laboratory experiments focused on measuring the oxygen transfer rate across an air-water interface in a model wetland while systematically varying environmental forcing (e.g. wind and thermal convection). We use an innovative application of particle image velocimetry to extend our laboratory measurements to more general cases, by explaining the mechanisms behind the trends we measure. Finally, we explore the potential impact of our results on wetland modeling and management, for issues such as carbon sequestration and methane emission.

Environmental Sciences Seminar Series
Join us for a weekly series of EFM/Hydrology topics by MIT faculty and students, as well as guest lecturers from around the globe.
Web site: http://cee.mit.edu/events/318
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Sponsor(s): Civil and Environmental Engineering
For more information, contact: Ruth You
617-253-7145
ryiu@mit.edu

--------------------------------

Climate Change and Insurance: Recent Litigation and Regulatory Developments
04/25/13
A Live 90-Minute Webinar Program with Interactive Q&A

Thursday, April 25, 2013
1:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 12:00 p.m. Central Time /
11:00 a.m. Mountain Time / 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time

Sponsored by the Legal Webinar Group of Strafford Publications

The renewed political, legal and scientific focus on climate policy, especially in the wake of recent extreme weather events, is having a profound impact on insurance. Practitioners must understand the evolution of climate change liability cases to assess the insurance risk.

In May 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court issued the first climate change coverage ruling inAES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins. Co. It is critical to understand what issues were addressed in AES as well as what the court did not address. There is much uncertainty and many coverage-related questions that insurers and their policyholders should consider in assessing this emerging risk and the future of climate change litigation. This seminar will examine the types of claims being filed over climate change losses, the latest trends and developments in federal and state statutory and regulatory initiatives impacting loss from natural catastrophes due to climate change, and specific insurance coverage issues attendant with climate change losses. McCarter's J. Wylie Donald joins the authoritative panel of attorneys examines the types of claims being filed over climate change losses, recent statutory and regulatory developments, insurance coverage issues for both policyholders and insurers and other impacts of climate change on insurance coverage.

I.Climate change liability cases and related insurance case
A.  AES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins. Co. (Va. 2012)

II.  Recent statutory and regulatory developments
A.    National Flood Insurance Program reforms
B.     FEMA rules on rebuilding after extreme weather events

III. Insurance coverage issues (property, casualty, commercial)
A.   Trigger of coverage
B.    Pollution exclusion
C.    BI/PD exclusion
D.   Occurrences involved?
E.    Intended or expected harm
F.   Allocation of damages to policies

IV. Other impact of climate change
A.    Green insurance market
B.     Supply chain risk issues

What are the underlying causes of action for lawsuits on climate change liability facing companies now?
Can policyholders establish coverage using a qualified pollution exclusion?
Do climate change claims involve an occurrence? Does the lack of an occurrence preclude coverage?
What coverage issues did the Virginia Supreme Court address in the AES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins. Co. case?
For more information or to register, please contact Christine Bongard atcbongard@mccarter.com

----------------------------------

Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: New Models for Online Learning
Thursday, April 25, 2013
2:30-3:30pm
MIT, Building 4-237, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Carol Twigg, President and CEO of the National Center for Academic Transformation
Abstract: Colleges and universities are offering thousands of fully online courses, ostensibly altering centuries-old methods of teaching and learning. Few of these courses, however, make significant improvements in either the cost or quality dimensions of student learning. Instead, they frequently replicate face-to-face pedagogies and organizational frameworks rather than taking advantage of IT’s capabilities to design new learning environments. Using examples drawn from NCAT’s work with more than 200 colleges and universities, this presentation will discuss new models for online learning that improve the quality of student learning and reduce instructional costs.

Dr. Carol A. Twigg is President and CEO of the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT). NCAT serves as a resource for colleges and universities, providing leadership in how effective use of information technology can improve student learning while reducing instructional costs. A widely published writer and a sought-after speaker, she is seen as an authority on how information technology can be used to transform teaching and learning. In 1995, Newsweek named her one of the 50 most influential thinkers in the information revolution, and in 2010, she was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company magazine. She is the recipient of the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education (2003), the Virginia B. Smith Innovative Leadership Award (2007) and the O’Banion Prize for Excellence in Education (2009). Dr. Twigg received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

-------------------------------

Educational Technology Re-imagined
April 25, 2013
2:50 pm - 4:00 pm
Tufts, Halligan 111, 161 College Avenue, Medford

Speaker: Mike Eisenberg, University of Colorado, Center for LifeLong Learning and Design
Traditionally, discussions of "educational technology" are accompanied by a number of (usually unstated) assumptions: (a) that the "technology" in question is exclusively or predominantly "computers", (b) that the end product of design is material presented on a two- dimensional screen, (c) that the "education" in question is characterized by classroom settings and orthodox subject matter, and (d) that the methods of evaluation for technology are derived from studies of skill acquisition. By challenging these constraints, we can re-imagine a much more expansive, fertile, and realistic portrait of the possibilities of educational technology. This talk will use projects in our own Craft Tech Lab at Colorado, not as exemplars of this re-imagined approach (they don't always succeed in that light), but as springboards for encouraging future work.

Bio Mike Eisenberg earned his doctorate in Computer Science from MIT in 1991; since then he has been on the faculty at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He and his wife Ann co-direct the "Craft Technology Lab" at CU; the lab focuses on blending the affordances of new technologies with the most fruitful traditions of children's crafts and construction.

----------------------------

Securing our Clean Energy Future in Massachusetts

Thursday, April 25, 2013
3:00p–4:30p
MIT, Building W16, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts
Massachusetts is widely recognized as a leader in clean energy - ranking first in the nation in energy efficiency and having installed more than 300 megawatts of solar and wind capacity in the last six years. These accomplishments take on even greater significance in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, which brought the urgent need for climate adaptation into sharp focus and underscored the critical importance of climate change mitigation through a strong clean energy agenda. Join us as we welcome Governor Deval Patrick to reflect on the Commonwealth's leadership in clean energy and efforts to stay the course as economic challenges persist and climate vulnerabilities grow.

Web site: http://mitei.mit.edu/calendar/securing-our-clean-energy-future-massachusetts
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Initiative
For more information, contact: Jameson Twomey
617-324-2408
jtwomey@mit.edu

----------------------------

Energy Lecture Series: Carbon Capture and Storage

Thursday, April 25, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
TBD

Speaker: Dwight Peters, President, Schlumberger Carbon Services
Over the last several years the energy domain has undergone many changes. Carbon-emitting industries are rapidly evolving to meet end-user needs while attempting to anticipate regulatory, environmental, and financial requirements in the near- and long-term future. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) efforts are evolving with them to identify where the CCS requirements will be and to build an industry ready to take on these challenges. This talk will provide a brief introduction to CCS, highlight projects and opportunities that are ongoing today, and attempt to describe what we are anticipating for the future.

Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): MIT Energy Club
For more information, contact: MIT Energy Club
energyclub@mit.edu

---------------------------

A World Citizen, Visualizing the Glocal (Global + Local) Condition
WHEN Thu., Apr. 25, 2013, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE Kang Room (S050), Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Humanities, Lecture
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
SPEAKER(S) Tomokazu Matsuyama, contemporary artist
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO rijs@fas.harvard.edu
LINK rijs.fas.harvard.edu…

-------------------------

Sustainability unConference
Thursday, April 25, 2013
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Cambridge Innovation Center, One Broadway, Havana Room 5th floor, Cambridge
RSVP at http://sustainabilityunconference2013-es2005.eventbrite.com

An unConference is a conference where the attendees make it all happen. There will be several programmed panels, exhibitors and thematic spaces, but the majority of the unConference content will be up to you! As Wikipedia says, "...at an unConference, the agenda is created by the attendees at the beginning of the meeting. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on a topic can claim a time and a space. Unconferences typically feature open discussions rather than having a single speaker at the front of the room giving a talk, although any format is permitted. This form of conference is particularly useful when the attendees generally have a high level of expertise or knowledge in the field the conference convenes to discuss."

Are you knowledgeable about some aspect of sustainability? Are you passionate about changing the path we're on as a society? Are you excited to see what can come out of a gathering of Boston's change-makers? Space is limited, so make sure to reserve your spot now!

If you are interested in hosting a session, you can propose your idea here. If you are interested in volunteering for the unConference, please submit your information here.

Visitors must comply with Venture Café attendance policies (see http://bit.ly/vc-credo for more details.)

-------------------------------

Guy Djoken, Executive Director for UNESCO Center for Peace speaks about UNESCO's Missions

Thursday, April 25, 2013
5:30p–7:30p
MIT, Building 4-145, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Guy Djoken
Mr. Djoken speaks about UNESCO's missions, which focus on increasing access to education in science, encouraging the development of global citizens, and respecting and preserving cultural heritage. MIT has a new UNESCO club and we hope his visit will encourage closer relationships and interaction between UNESCO and MIT.

Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Sponsor(s): Electronic Research Society, MIT
For more information, contact: Tobie Weiner
6172533649

-------------------------

Lesley University Forum: Three Towns, One Forest
Imagine The Silver Maple Forest Forever
April 25, 2013
7:00pm
Lesley University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Home to 20 mammal and 90 bird species.
Environmental education center for youth.
Important floodplain forest in the Mystic River watershed.
Unique Boston area urban wilderness.
Forest is integral to largest city wetlands.
Provides balance against 1700 new housing units
Flood, storm, and climate change protection.
Conservation of Alewife herring spawning run.
Protects new, costly Cambridge storm water project.

Convened by Friends of Alewife Reservation, Green Cambridge and Lesley University

Expert speakers, a call to action!

---------------------------

Urban Films: The Last Mountain (2011)

Thursday, April 25, 2013
7:00p–9:00p
MIT, Building 66-110, 25 Ames Street, Cambridge

Special Earth Day Feature. In the valleys of Appalachia, a battle is being fought over a mountain. It is a battle with severe consequences that affect every American, regardless of their social status, economic background or where they live. It is a battle that has taken many lives and continues to do so the longer it is waged. It is a battle over protecting our health and environment from the destructive power of Big Coal.

The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal. Directed by Bill Haney. Official selection: Sundance (2011); full frame documentary film festival.

Urban Planning Film Series
A mostly-weekly series showing documentary and feature films on topics related to cities, urbanism, design, community development, ecology, and other planning issues. Free.

Web site: http://www.urbanfilm.org
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Urban Studies and Planning
For more information, contact: Ezra Glenn
617-253-2024
eglenn@mit.edu

-------------------

Friday, April 26

-------------------

Second Cambridge Area Economics and Computation Day
Friday April 26, 2013
RSVP at http://caec.seas.harvard.edu/register/
This event is free to participants, but PLEASE register by Monday April 22.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided for the event. There will be no cost to participants.

A lot of research and business activity in the Cambridge/Boston area is engaged in economic and computational questions in regard to understanding and developing the economics of Internet activity. Examples of topics of interest include theoretical, modeling, algorithmic, and empirical work on electronic commerce, networked behavior, and social networks.

One of the main purposes of CAEC is to encourage collaboration between local researchers. Significant emphasis will be placed on a poster session and short talks. The overall structure of the day will involve four longer talks, by Daron Acemoglu, Yiling Chen, Matthew Jackson, and Silvio Micali, with a short talks session and a poster session over lunch, along with brief poster announcements.

The suggested format for a short talk is (a) description of the problem, (b) statement of results, and (c) discussion of open research directions. There will be no time for setting up individual laptops for the short-talk session, instead we will have all presentations preloaded on a computer in the auditorium.

-------------------------------

SYMPOSIUM: Online Technology and the Future of Higher Education

Friday, April 26, 2013

8:00 am to 3:00 pm
BU, Photonics Center, 8 St. Mary’s Street, 9th Floor Colloquium Room, Boston
RSVP by emailing cetli@bu.edu

This symposium brings to campus major thinkers about higher education and innovators in educational technology for discussion with the BU community.
Speakers include Anant Agarwal, President, edX; David Attis, Education Advisory Board; Jennifer Campbell, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science, University of Toronto; Lisa Dierker, Professor of Psychology, Wesleyan University; Eric Rabkin, Professor of English Language and Literature, and Professor of Art and Design at the University of Michigan

Contact Email cetli@bu.edu

------------------------------

RGGI Amendments: Implications for New England & the Nation
April 26, 2013
9 am to 12:15 pm
Foley Hoag LLP, 155 Seaport Boulevard, 13th Floor, Boston

The New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable Presents:
Please join us to as we celebrate the beginning of Spring (no snow storm cancellation likely this time)! This Roundtable will consider the recent substantive amendments to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) including an agreement by our six New England states, along with New York, Delaware, and Maryland, to reduce the cap by approximately 45%!

We will review the various RGGI amendments and their rationales, and explore the implications for energy markets in New England and the nation as a whole. Our panel members were all actively and directly involved in the RGGI negotiations, and are well-poised to help us understand the changes and their implications for our region and the nation:

Commissioner Ken Kimmell, MA DEP (RGGI Secretary)
Commissioner David Littell, Maine PUC (RGGI Vice-Chair)
John Quinn, Senior Manager, Environmental Strategy, Exelon
Peter Shattuck, Director, Market Initiatives, Environment Northeast
Brian Jones, Senior Vice President, M.J. Bradley & Associates

Free and open to the public with no advanced registration!!

----------------------------------

Beyond Smart Objects

Friday, April 26, 2013
12:30p–2:00p
MIT, Building 7-429, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Maggie Orth, Maggie Orth Studios/International Fashion Machine, Seattle

Computation Lecture Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Asli Arpak
aarpak@mit.edu

----------------------------

MIT Workshop on Sex Trafficking + Technology

Friday, April 26, 2013
1:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building E25-111, 45 Carlton Street, Cambridge

Organized by Ph.D. student Mitali Thakor and faculty affiliated with WGS and the Anthropology Program, this multidisciplinary workshop convenes activists and scholars working on issues relating to human trafficking, sexual exploitation of domestic minors, labor, and migration in the United States. Bringing together anti-trafficking advocates -- at NGOs, state social services, shelters, and health and legal clinics -- and scholars from the humanities, law, and social sciences -- especially those with expertise in feminist theory, critical race studies, queer studies, and youth and new media studies -- we aim to understand the phenomenon of trafficking in historical perspective, embracing dialogue and friction between different points of view.

Questions we are keen to address include: Is the language of "trafficking" useful? What does this terminology include and exclude? How does trafficking discourse intersect with legal discourse? What role does technology play in facilitating and disrupting problematic practices? What are the social and political challenges to constructive dialogue about trafficking? How can questions of identity politics and feminist activism intervene in policy discussions about technological determinism and complicate notions of "empowerment?" By hosting this event at MIT we hope to highlight the role of technology in influencing sex trafficking discourse.

To register please visit: http://mitsextraffickingworkshop.weebly.com/
Web site: http://mitsextraffickingworkshop.weebly.com/
Open to: the general public
Cost: FREE
Sponsor(s): Women's and Gender Studies, Anthropology, History, STS
For more information, contact: The Friendly WGS Staff
617-253-8844
wgs@mit.edu

---------------------------

Is Education a Civil Right?
Friday, April 26th, 1:30 to 4:30 pm
Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School

On the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that education is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution, the United States faces the economic and social consequences of its failure to ensure educational opportunity for all. Education is widely considered an underpinning for social mobility, a means for narrowing income inequality gaps, and the basis for economic growth and competitiveness.

Since children and students of color suffer disproportionately, some have called education "the civil rights issue of our times." During our part of the Advanced Leadership Initiative's Think Tank, we will explore some innovative programs and policies that promise to increase opportunity and open doors for previously excluded and/or underserved students.

*This portion of the Think Tank is free and open to the public.*
Friday, 4/26
Agenda:
1:30 - 1:45 - Introduction to Legal Cases
Speaker: Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School
1:45 - 2:30 - Keynote Address: The State of Education as a Right Today
Speaker: Professor Kimberly Robinson, University of Richmond
2:30 - 2:45 - Break
2:45 - 4:30 - Preparing Students for a Diverse and Changing World:
Action, Innovation and Law in America's Public Schools
Moderator: Susan Eaton, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and
Justice, Harvard Law School

Panelists: Leticia Smith-Evans, Assistant Counsel, Education Practice Legal Defense Fund, NAACP; Willie Barney, CEO, Empowerment Network, Omaha, NE; Scott
Thomas, Executive Director, Magnet Schools of America; Gregg Roberts, World Languages Dual Immersion Specialist, Utah State Office of Education
This event is the Houston Institute's contribution to the YWCA's Stand
Against Racism movement. Stand Against Racism is a national day of action to raise awareness that racism still exists in our communities and we cannot ignore or tolerate it. This year's Stand Against Racism will take place April 26-30, 2013. More than 165 Boston organizations have registered to date.

http://advancedleadership.harvard.edu/Portals/115252/docs/agenda_education_3.28.13.pdf

----------------------------

50th Anniversary of the MIT Jazz Program Panel Presentations

Friday, April 26, 2013
4:00p–6:30p
MIT, Kirsch Auditorium, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Panel presentations for the 50th Anniversary of the MIT Jazz Program.
4-5pm, Jazz at MIT: Excellence, Spirit, and Community, A Historical Perspective of Jazz at MIT. ??Former band members from all decades share memories. Moderated by Richard Orr.
5-6:30pm, Herb Pomeroy???s Boston: Big Bands, Berklee, and the Bridge to MIT. Presentation by Richard Vacca, author of The Boston Jazz Chronicles, with guest panel: Ray Santisi, Fred Bouchard, David Bondelevitch, ???85, and John Harbison. Moderated by Mark Harvey. Kirsch Auditorium, Stata Bldg., Vassar and Main Sts.

Open to: the general public
Cost: FREE
Sponsor(s): Music and Theater Arts
For more information, contact: Clarise Snyder
mta-request@mit.edu

-----------------------------

Bidder 70 - Film Screening

4/26

7pm
At First Parish Church in Cambridge, 3 Church Street, Cambridge

Doors open at 6:30 for popcorn. Suggested donation $5.

In 2008, Tim DeChristopher (a student) disrupted the Utah Bureau Land Management and Gas lease auction and outbid others. He saved 22,000 acres of pristine land from destruction via fossil fuel extraction.

EnvironmentalJTF@firstparishcambridge.org for more.

---------------------------

The Folly of Technological Solutionism

Friday, April 26, 2013

7:00 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Evgeny Morozov
discusses To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism

Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome The New Republic's EVGENY MOROZOV for a discussion of his new book, To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism.

In the very near future, “smart” technologies and “big data” will allow us to make large-scale and sophisticated interventions in politics, culture, and everyday life. Technology will allow us to solve problems in highly original ways and create new incentives to get more people to do the right thing. But how will such “solutionism” affect our society, once deeply political, moral, and irresolvable dilemmas are recast as uncontroversial and easily manageable matters of technological efficiency? What if some such problems are simply vices in disguise? What if some friction in communication is productive and some hypocrisy in politics necessary? The temptation of the digital age is to fix everything—from crime to corruption to pollution to obesity—by digitally quantifying, tracking, or gamifying behavior. But when we change the motivations for our moral, ethical, and civic behavior we may also change the very nature of that behavior. Technology, Evgeny Morozov proposes, can be a force for improvement—but only if we keep solutionism in check and learn to appreciate the imperfections of liberal democracy. Some of those imperfections are not accidental but by design.

Arguing that we badly need a new, post-Internet way to debate the moral consequences of digital technologies, To Save Everything, Click Here warns against a world of seamless efficiency, where everyone is forced to wear Silicon Valley’s digital straitjacket.

----------------------

Saturday, April 27

----------------------

MIT Sustainability Summit
Saturday, April 27 and Sunday April 28
MIT Media Lab (E14), 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

The fifth annual MIT Sustainability Summit has the theme of “empowering action” towards sustainability. This reflects the urgency of innovation, leadership, and change at numerous scales, from the individual to the firm and from the city to the world, in light of global environmental threats.

We intend for our attendees to leave feeling empowered to take action towards a sustainable future, either in their existing personal or professional context or in a new one. This is the motivation for showcasing multiple domains of action. We hope that germs of company, product, or project ideas spring from the panels and charettes, and new communities of action emerge out of the formal and informal conversations over the weekend.

Editorial Comment: A paid event ranging from $45 to $150 but may very well be worth it. Sunday is a design charette.

------------------------------

Climate Change: What Would Olmsted Do? Presented by Olmsted 2022

Saturday, April 27 2013

9:00 am Coffee and Registration

10:00 am Panel Discussion

12:00 pm Box Luncheon Presentation on the Muddy River Restoration Project with Army Corps of Engineers (lunch provided)

1:00 pm tours of the Emerald Necklace parks

Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston

Registration fee $10 (includes coffee and lunch).

Panel moderated by Ted Landsmark, President and CEO of the Boston Architectural College with panel speakers: Ethan Carr, Author and Olmsted Scholar, Brian Swett, City of Boston Chief of Energy and Environment and Jhana Senxian, Founder and CEO of the Sustainability Guild International.

Event details at http://www.emeraldnecklace.org/calendar/events/climate-change-what-would-olmsted-do/

---------------------------------

Green Entrepreneur Small Biz
Saturday, April 27, 2013

9:00 AM
West on Centre, 1732 Centre Street, Boston

Join Green Neighbors Education Committee, Inc. and the Foundation for a Green Future, Inc.for a Special Workshop with Social Media Expert, Jay Campbell of Strategic Social Consulting

Followed by a networking lunch (at participants' expense)
LINK IN FOR YOUR BUSINESS ADVANTAGE!

Foundation for a Green Future, Inc.

Any questions, please call Owen at 617-427-6293
or email otoney@comcast.net

---------------------------------

Climate Revival 2013: An Ecumenical Festival to Embolden the Renewal of Creation
Saturday, April 27, 2013
10am-4pm
Old South Church, UCC, 645 Boylston Street and Trinity Church (Episcopal), 206 Clarendon Street, Boston

This event will be led by national and international religious and environmental leaders. Preachers so far include:
The Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus South Africa and Bill McKibben, author and environmentalist will send video messages.

Come together for an inspirational day of preaching, worship, prayers, and music as we celebrate the splendor of Creation, mourn its desecration, and advocate for restoration and renewal. Led by national and international religious leaders, we will call upon the Holy Spirit as we rise up to stabilize the climate and to create a better future. Churches will have an opportunity to participate in an informational fair about their environmental work.

Direct link to this page: macucc.org/climaterevival
This event brought to you by NEREM (New England Regional Environmental Ministries). The event is being held as part of the United Church of Christ Mission 4/1 Earth: http://www.ucc.org/earth/

----------------------------

"Nallah to Nadi, Sewer to Stream: Transforming Urban Riverscapes in South Asia and the U.S."
Saturday, April 27, 2013

5:30pm - 7:00pm
Doris & Ted Lee Gathering Room, CGIS South, Room S030, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge

James Wescoat, Aga Khan Professor, Department of Architecture, MIT

In cities around the world, societies seek to transform degraded urban drains into healthy streams. This paper explores catalysts and constraints on riverscape transformation in South Asia and the U.S. It begins with a brief historical perspective on urban stream restoration, featuring Olmsted’s work in the Boston Fens, and proceeds to a series of recent design workshops that strive to link urban watershed research with river channel restoration and landscape heritage conservation. Each case involves experiments with and arguments for comparative methods in water and landscape design inquiry.

James Wescoat is an Aga Khan Professor in the Department of Architecture at MIT. His research concentrates on water issues in South Asia and the US, from the site to the international river basin scales. At the site scale, he has studied historical waterworks of Indo-Islamic gardens and cities in India and Pakistan. At the regional scale, his work has addressed water policy issues in the Indus, Colorado, Ganges, and Great Lakes basins. He has contributed to recent international studies of Himalayan glaciers, climate change in the Indus basin, and is currently chairing a U.S. National Research Council study on Strategic Research for Integrated Water Resources Management in large deltaic regions.

This talk is the keynote lecture in the academic workshop, Challenges of Water Sustainability in Historical and Ethnographic Perspective, organized by Professor Steven C. Caton. Please note that the other portions of this workshop are by invitation only.

Sponsors: The Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship Program of the Social Science Resource Council; the Center for Middle Eastern Studies

http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/3388?utm_source=mideast-list&utm_medium=email&...
Contact Name: Liz Flanagan
elizabethflanagan@fas.harvard.edu

---------------------

Sunday, April 28

--------------------

MIT Sustainability Summit
Sunday April 28
MIT Media Lab (E14), 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

The fifth annual MIT Sustainability Summit has the theme of “empowering action” towards sustainability. This reflects the urgency of innovation, leadership, and change at numerous scales, from the individual to the firm and from the city to the world, in light of global environmental threats.

We intend for our attendees to leave feeling empowered to take action towards a sustainable future, either in their existing personal or professional context or in a new one. This is the motivation for showcasing multiple domains of action. We hope that germs of company, product, or project ideas spring from the panels and charettes, and new communities of action emerge out of the formal and informal conversations over the weekend.

Editorial Comment: A paid event ranging from $45 to $150 but may very well be worth it. Sunday is a design charette.

---------------------

Monday, April 29

--------------------

"Power Sector Technology Investment Planning under Uncertainty"

Monday, April 29, 2013

12:00pm - 1:30pm
Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, HKS, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
with Nidhi R. Santen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group, Harvard Belfer Center

ETIP/Consortium Energy Policy Seminar

Contact Name: Louisa Lund
louisa_lund@hks.harvard.edu

----------------------------

Performative Design of Genetically-Engineered Structures

Monday, April 29, 2013
12:30-2:00

MIT, Building 7-429, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Speaker: Peter von Buelow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Building Technology Lecture Series
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture
For more information, contact: Kathleen Ross
617-253-1876
kross@mit.edu

-------------------------

"Future Africa" a talk by Jonathan Ledgard

Monday, April 29, 2013
1:00p–3:00p
MIT, Building E14-633, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Jonathan Ledgard
The technology choices Africa makes in the next decade will help determine whether it becomes competitive or unmanageable. This informal talk will overview Africa's security and environmental challenges, underline its economic potential, and get beyond ICT to identify areas where science will be decisive.

Jonathan Ledgard is a leading thinker on risk and technology in Africa. He is director of the new Afrotech lab at EPFL and Africa correspondent at large of The Economist. He has reported from 50 countries and several wars for The Economist, with a focus on politics, security, environment and science, and has published two acclaimed novels, Giraffe (2007) and Submergence (2013).
http://submergencethebook.tumblr.com/

Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact:
Nicole Freedman
nicolef@media.mit.edu

---------------------------

Media Lab Conversations Series: Greg Brandeau and Josh Sarantitis

Monday, April 29, 2013
2:00p–3:30p
MIT, Building E-14, Third-floor atrium, 75 Amherst Street, Cambridge

What new technologies will enable new art forms? Before 1995 there had never been a computer-generated animated film--and then there was Toy Story. Creating Toy Story was not a simple matter of using new technology to make cheaper hand animated films; it was actually defining a completely new art form which was not previously possible. Former Disney CTO and collaborative community artist Josh Sarantitis will talk with Joi Ito about the ways in which art challenges technology and technology inspires art.

Media Lab Conversations Series
Web site: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/2013/04/29/media-lab-conversations-series-greg-brandeau-and-josh-sarantitis
Open to: the general public
Sponsor(s): Media Lab
For more information, contact: Jess Sousa
events-admin@media.mit.edu

-------------------------

Chinese Cities: Booming Growth or Doomed to Fail?
WHEN Mon., Apr. 29, 2013, 4:10 – 5:30 p.m.
WHERE HARVARD, 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Suite 200-North, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation
SPEAKER(S) Tony Saich, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs & Meg Rithmire, assistant professor, Harvard Business School
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO melissa_danello@hks.harvard.edu
NOTE China's cities have reportedly been driving the country's decades-long economic miracle. But behind this veneer of economic stability lies a system of mass migration and debt that appears to be collapsing under the weight of its own success. Join us as Tony Saich, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, and Meg Rithmire, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, discuss the future of Chinese cities.
LINK http://www.ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events/Chinese-Cities-Booming-Growth-or-Doomed-to-Fail

---------------------------

Building Capacity for Scientific and Technological Catch-Up in Developing Countries: The Role of The World Academy of Science
WHEN Mon., Apr. 29, 2013, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
WHERE Starr Auditorium, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Science, Technology and Public Policy Program and Science, Technology, and Globalization Project
SPEAKER(S) Romain Murenzi, executive director, The World Academy of Science (TWAS)
COST Free and open to the public
NOTE Moderators: Calestous Juma and Venky Narayanamurti
Science, technology, and innovation (STI) are crucial for poverty alleviation and long-term economic development. Generally, countries can be classified in four STI categories: highly advanced, advanced, middle-advanced and least advanced. This last category comprises most of Africa – South Africa and Egypt are exceptions – and it is this category that is the main focus of TWAS.
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/6052/building_capacity_for_scientific_and_technological_catchup_in_developing_countries.html

------------------------

Writing in Water
WHEN Mon., Apr. 29, 2013, 6 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE Yenching Auditorium, 2 Divinity Avenue, Harvard University
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Art/Design, Film, Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies Emergent Visions: New Independent Documentaries
SPEAKER(S) Angela Zito, director
COST Free and open to the public
CONTACT INFO lkluz@fas.harvard.edu
NOTE Writing in Water follows two generations of calligraphy teachers, Wang Tongxin (王童性) and Liu Lanbo (刘兰波) through the eyes of an American who learned to write with them. In Tuanjiehu Park, Beijing, they practice on the plaza every day. The group is made up of the funny, philosophically inclined teachers and the community of students — people who have been retired, left behind by China’s get-rich-quick reforms. Alone at home and together in the park with their students, the teachers connect past to present, master to pupil, friend to friend, making a community, creating Chinese characters that slowly materialize, lasting long after the water has evanesced into air. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Angela Zito.
LINK http://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/event/writing-water

--------------------------

Bestow Media Literacy, Expose, Inspire Change
Monday, April 29

7pm

MIT, Act Cube (E15-001), Wiesner Building, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge

Simin Farkhondeh

Simin Farkhondeh is an award winning filmmaker, artist, educator, and activist. From 1995 to 2003 she produced and directed the acclaimed monthly TV show Labor at the Crossroads. Her films have been screened at the Whitney Biennial, Margaret Mead Film Festival, and MoMA, as well as on PBS and BBC Channel Four. Farkhondeh's personal work includes Caught Between Two Worlds (2007), a documentary about the Iranian Diaspora in the US, and Who Gives Kisses Freely From Her Lips (2009), a film that combines fact and fiction to discuss temporary marriage in Iran. In addition to teaching film, video arts, and communications theory at the School of Visual Arts, Farkondeh is the Education Director at the news program Democracy Now!

Spring 2013 Lecture Series
Experiments in Thinking, Action, and Form: Cinematic Migrations

----------------------

Tuesday, April 30

----------------------

Startup Walkabout

April 30 - May 3

Startup Walkabout is a week long event where startups open their doors to let the tech community get a look inside some of Boston's most innovative companies.
http://startupwalkabout.com

----------------------------

"Evolution of the News Ecosystem."
WHEN Tue., Apr. 30, 2013, 12 – 1 p.m.
WHERE Taubman 275, Harvard Kennedy School, 15 Eliot Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Information Technology, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy
SPEAKER(S) Richard Gingras, head of news and social products, Google
COST Free and open to the public
LINK http://shorensteincenter.org/news-events/calendar/

-------------------------

Energy Management: The Next Big Thing

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
4:00p–5:00p
MIT, Building 34-101, 50 Vassar Street, Cambridge
Refreshments at 3:45 p.m.

MTL Seminar Series presents Sami Kiriaki, Texas Instruments

Web site: http://mtlweb.mit.edu/seminars/spring2013.html
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free
Sponsor(s): Microsystems Technology Laboratories
For more information, contact: Valerie Dinardo
617-253-9328
valeried@mit.edu

----------------------------

Future of Energy: "The Well-Tempered City"
Tuesday, April 30, 2013

5:00pm
Harvard, Science Center D, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge

Jonathan Rose, President, Jonathan Rose Companies.
Jonathan F.P. Rose’s career has been dedicated to integrating positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes. In 1989, Mr. Rose founded Jonathan Rose Companies LLC, a multi-disciplinary real estate investment, development, planning, and consulting firm, as a leading green urban solutions provider. The firm has successfully completed over $1.5 billion of real estate projects aimed at building value for its investors and clients, and the communities in which it works.

Mr. Rose has been a leader in establishing the real estate impact investing field. In 2005, he created the nation’s first private equity real estate fund dedicated to delivering economic, social, and environmental returns. The firm has developed impact investment partnerships with high-net-worth investors, family offices, and institutions including Goldman Sachs, Citibank, and TIAA-CREF.

Mr. Rose is Vice Chair of Enterprise Community Partners and is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He also serves on the Board of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and is an Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Rose chaired the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Blue Ribbon Sustainability Commission, which developed the nation’s first green transit plan, and was a commissioner on Governor Cuomo’s NYS 2100 Commission, tasked with identifying strategies for the long-term resilience of New York State’s infrastructure post-Hurricane Sandy.

Mr. Rose is also the co-founder of the Garrison Institute, where he founded the Climate, Mind and Behavior program.

Contact Name: Lisa Matthews
matthew@fas.harvard.edu

---------------------

Legatum Lecture ~ Entrepreneurship in an Emerging Economy: The CWG Illustration

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
5:30p–6:30p
MIT, Building E62-262, MIT Sloan, 100 Main Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Austin Okere: Founder & CEO, Computer Warehouse Group
There is an increasing global focus and emphasis on entrepreneurship as the most viable vehicle for job creation. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2011 report, there is an upsurge in entrepreneurship around the world, with a total number of about 400 million entrepreneurs spread over 54 countries. The GEM in its 2006 report revealed that there is a systematic relationship between a country's level of economic development and its level of entrepreneurial activity.
Okere believes that "It is better to have a thousand millionaires than ten billionaires. It is better still to have a million people with access to a hundred thousand dollars, if they can be taught how to nurture and grow it through entrepreneurial endeavor".

In 20 years Austin has grown the Computer Warehouse Group from a company which he founded with a seed capital of about $35,000 into a $130 million revenue company, with 650 staff spread across Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon.

Web site: http://legatum.mit.edu/content/1283
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Sponsor(s): Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, MIT Sloan Africa Business Club
For more information, contact: Agnes Hunsicker
617-324-2768
agnesh@mit.edu

----------------------

David M. Lee Historical Lecture in Physics: Recollections of Los Alamos and the Nuclear Era
WHEN Tue., Apr. 30, 2013, 8 p.m.
WHERE Harvard, 1 Oxford Street, Science Center Hall D, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Science
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Harvard Physics Department
SPEAKER(S) Roy J. Glauber, Mallinckrodt Research Professor of Physics, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics
COST Free and open to the public
LINK physics.harvard.edu

**********
------------
Upcoming
------------
**********

Extreme Inclusion

May 2, 2013

The Fletcher School at Tufts University, 160 Packard Avenue, Cabot 404, Medford

Extreme Inclusion (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/5jqiib), a conference exploring the role and impact of financial services in reducing poverty and generating well-being for marginalized populations.
Participants of Extreme Inclusion will have the opportunity to engage with decision makers and thought leaders, including:
Keynote speaker Reverend James Lawson (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/lcriib), Activist and Principal Strategist for the American Civil Rights Movement
Daryl Collins (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/14riib), Director, Bankable Frontier Associates
Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/hxsiib) Global Economic Advisor, MasterCard Worldwide
Lauren Hendricks (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/xptiib), Executive Director, Access Africa, CARE
Joanna Ledgerwood (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/diuiib), Senior Advisor, Access to Finance, Aga Khan Foundation
Ignacio Mas (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/taviib), Senior Fellow, The Center for Emerging Market Enterprises (CEME), The Fletcher School
Conference co-chairs Nicholas Sullivan (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/92viib), CEME Senior Fellow and author of Money Real Quick and You Can Hear Me Now, and Kim Wilson (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/pvwiib), CEME Senior Fellow and Lecturer, The Fletcher School

Please register here (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/5nxiib) (registration is free). New speakers are being confirmed every day, so make sure to visit http://fletcher.tufts.edu/ExtremeInclusion (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/lgyiib) for updates. Please forward this invitation to others in your network who might benefit from attending as well.

Questions? Email fletcherextremeinclusion@gmail.com or call CEME at: (617) 627-3700. We hope to see you at the conference!
Join the live-tweet on May 2nd: #extremeinclusion
@IBGC_Fletcher (http://e2.ma/click/xluge/tuenmp/18yiib)

-------------------------------

Boston Quantified Self & IDEO: Health & Wellness Innovation Night
Thursday, May 2, 2013
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Harvard Innovation Lab, 125 Western Avenue, Allston
RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/BostonQS/events/111251842/
These events fill up fast!

Boston Quantified Self & IDEO: Health & Wellness Innovation Night will feature researchers, entrepreneurs and companies who are leading the way to more personalized health and wellness using self-tracking systems. The evening will start with live product demonstrations showcasing cutting-edge innovation that is transforming health and wellness, followed by world-class speakers and finally a compelling panel discussion moderated by IDEO's Life Sciences Chief Strategist Rodrigo Martinez.

SCHEDULED SPEAKERS
Jonathan Farringdon - Director of Informatics, BodyMedia
Jaqueline Thong - Co-founder & CEO, Ubiqi Health
John Moore, MD - Doctor & Technologist, New Media Medicine (MIT)

If you are a designer, tech inventor, entrepreneur, journalist, scientist, health professional or user, please join us for an evening of inspiration packed with great speakers, demos, networking and more!

Boston Quantified Self would like to thank our event partner Harvard Innovation Lab for hosting this event at their amazing facility.

----------------------------

Social Capital Forum: How Can Engagement Drive Economic Growth?
Friday, May 3, 2013
8:00 AM to 10:30 AM (EDT)
Goulston & Storrs, 400 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
RSVP at http://socialcapitalforum-eanrecl.eventbrite.com

Event Details
8 a.m. Registration, networking & light breakfast
8:30-10:30 a.m. Program

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) study “Civic Health & Unemployment II ”, released in September 2012, presents data linking high levels of civic health to lower unemployment rates. In particular, the study points to the importance of “social cohesion” and the presence of nonprofits that engage the community as contributing to a stronger employment picture.

The goal of this inaugural Social Capital Forum is to present this research to Boston area community leaders and identify practical steps we can take to increase community engagement that leads to economic and social benefits.

Format: Presentation of the research by one of the study authors, followed by a panel of experts and small group discussion.
Audience: A diverse range of community leaders, including nonprofit leaders, foundations, government, academics and business.
About the Presenter: Peter Levine will open the Forum by presenting a summary of the Civic Health & Unemployment II study, which he co-authored. Levine is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs in Tufts University’s Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service and Director of CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Levine graduated from Yale in 1989 with a degree in philosophy. Levine studied philosophy at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, receiving his doctorate in 1992. In the late 1990s, he was Deputy Director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal. Levine is the author of numerous books, including The Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of American Citizens (2007). He also co-editedThe Deliberative Democracy Handbook (2006) with John Gastil and Engaging Young People in Civic Life(2009) with Jim Youniss. He has served on the boards or steering committees of AmericaSpeaks, Street Law, the Newspaper Association of America Foundation, the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, the Kettering Foundation, the American Bar Association Committee’s for Public Education, the Paul J. Aicher Foundation, and the Deliberative Democracy Consortium.

----------------------------------

Filling the News Gap in Cambridge and Beyond: Citizen Journalism
Saturday, May 4, 2013
9:00 AM
Cambridge Public Library Main Branch, 449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA
Register at http://citizenjournalismforum.eventbrite.com/ to attend this free half-day forum organized by Cambridge Community Television, Center for Civic Media/Comparative Media Studies at MIT, and the Digital Media Law Project and Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. The Forum will explore the quickly expanding world of citizen journalism: how technology is fueling its growth, and how that growth is changing the way we see our world, enact change, and disseminate the news.

This forum is a must for both consumers and creators of local news content; journalists and media professionals;
independent and collaborative website owners; legal
professionals; and everyone who values local information, civic participation, and social justice.

Schedule:
9 am - 9:45 am: Coffee, Refreshments, & Registration
9:45 am- 10:45 am: Oases in the News Desert
11 am -12 pm: Newsgathering and the Law: Hot Topics for Citizen Journalists in Massachusetts
12:30 pm- 1:30 pm: The Most Experimental Storytellers: Citizen Journalists

Presenters to date:
Christopher Bavitz, Cyberlaw Clinic, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Joe Bergantino, New England Center for Investigative Reporting
Denise Cheng, MIT Center for Civic Media
Jeff Hermes, Digital Media Law Project, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Joanna Kao, The Tech
Marc Levy,Cambridge Day
Andy Sellars, Digital Media Law Project,
Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society

David Schalliol, Gapers Block
CB Smith-Dahl, Oakland Local
Josh Stearns, Free Press
Saul Tannenbaum, NeighborMedia and Cambridge Happenings
Robert Winters, Cambridge Civic Journal

----------------------------

The Spring 2011 Mid-Cambridge PLANT SWAP
Saturday May 4
NOON to 2 pm

Fayette Park (near the corner of Broadway and Fayette St., across from former Longfellow School)
Rain date—in case of DOWNPOUR—is Saturday May 11, 12-2

Bring anything that's growing in too much abundance in your garden. Elegant packaging not required, but please do write down the names of plants. We expect to have perennials, biennial seedlings, seeds, indoor plants, catalogs, pots, and lots of "whatever." Feel free to just come, chat with neighbors, talk gardening.

-------------------------------

GET GROWING at the MAY FAIR festival

Sunday May 5

noon to 6

Palmer Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge

A repeat of the Get Growing at the May Fair held last spring—techniques for urban gardening, even in a tiny space. Will likely include composting, beekeeping, raised beds, hydroponics,

mushrooms, urban fruit, chickens, herbs, etc. Free and fun! Volunteers—and people offering info—very welcome. Contact me for more info.

--------------------------------

FESTIVAL FLORALIA

Sunday May 5

2 to 4:30

Hooper-Lee-Nichols House, 159 Brattle Street, Cambridge

A lovely fund-raiser for Grow Native Massachusetts, which encourages us to use native plants in our gardens. Great event: info sessions, music, food, native plants for sale. More info: www.grownativemass.org/programs/festivalfloralia

---------------------------------

KITCHEN GARDENERS’ MEETING

Tuesday May 7

6:30 to 8:3

Central Square public library

Jules, at ejkobek@gmail.com, plans 3 once-a-month meetings; if they catch on, they’ll keep going. The first one, in April, was great: a helpful, friendly, informal veggie-garden club.

---------------------------------

Cambridge Solar Challenge KICK-OFF

5/08
6:45pm

Main Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge

Hear from Mayor Henrietta Davis and HEET's President Audrey about how we're going to help residents get 100 solar installations this summer through a Groupon-style discount, while we distribute as much as $30,000 in donations to Cambridge nonprofits. Hear from a Next Step Living solar expert about the science of solar, as well as how to make it work for you. You can even have your home assessed with an online map to find out if you have good potential - and if you do - sign up to take advantage of the Cambridge Solar Challenge's significantly reduced price for solar. Solar experts will be available before the event begins and afterward to answer any questions you may have.

------------------------------

Weatherization Barnraising

Saturday, June 1
10 am - 2 pm

Saint James Church, 1991 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

We'll work on: Door weatherization, thermostat programming, closing up wide open damper that looks like it has been open since the church was built, basement air-sealing with masonry and spray foam, and grading some of the ground outside so the water runs away from the foundation.

Sign up to participate at

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEdncEo1d1pWRzljTjYtd3ZxLTYzR3c6MA#gid=0&utm_source=HEET+eNewsletter+April+2013&utm_campaign=HEET+eNewsletter&utm_medium=email

*************
----------------

Opportunity

---------------
*************

Where is the best yogurt on the planet made? Somerville, of course!

Join the Somerville Yogurt Making Cooperative and get a weekly quart of the most thick, creamy, rich and tart yogurt in the world. Membership in the coop costs $2.50 per quart. Members share the responsibility for making yogurt in our kitchen located just outside of Davis Sq. in FirstChurch. No previous yogurt making experience is necessary.

For more information checkout.
https://sites.google.com/site/somervilleyogurtcoop/home

---------------------

Boiler Rebate
If your boiler is from 1983 or earlier, Mass Save will give a $1,750 to $4,000 rebate to switch it out for a new efficient boiler that uses the same fuel (i.e. if you have oil, you have to continue to use oil) so long as it is installed by July 31, 2012.

Call Mass Save (866 527-7283) to sign up for a home energy assessment or sign-up online at www.nextsteplivinginc.com/HEET and HEET will receive a $10 contribution from Next Step Living for every completed assessment.

This is a great way to reduce climate change emissions for the next 20 or so years the boiler lasts, while saving money.

------------------------

CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for solar hot water systems. The grants will cover 50% of the remaining out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out. The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants. For more information, see
http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

-----------------------

Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.

That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).

---------------------

Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

-----------------------

HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)

*********
-----------

Resource

-----------
*********

Cambridge Solar Challenge

We're working to get 100 solar-panel installations on residential roofs in Cambridge this summer.

Because of the scale of the project, we've managed to bargain with Next Step Living (the solar installer) to get a:
20% discount for Cambridge residents from May 1st until August 1st. (That's 20% below the state average price per watt installed.) The discount applies whether the solar is purchased outright or leased.

$300 donation to any nonprofit for any solar installations that result from their referral. So, if your church, preschool or other nonprofit persuades a family in its community to sign up for a solar evaluation, and the family ends up installing solar, the nonprofit will earn $300 for its sustainability needs (such as adding insulation, installing efficient lighting, creating a garden, etc.). In this way we double the amount of good we are doing.

You can easily look up your home's solar potential through MIT's solar map (http://www.cambridgema.gov/solar/). Then email us (heet.cambridge@gmail.com) to sign up for a free solar assessment with an expert.

If you are associated with a nonprofit and want to help sign up solar assessments to increase the renewable energy in Cambridge as well as earn money for your nonprofit, email us with questions or to get started.

We will happily attend events at your nonprofit in order to explain how solar works, figure out who has good solar potential and explain how it can save residents money.

----------------------------------

Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org

--------------------------------------------------

Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

---------------------------------------

Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.
Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

----------------------

Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu

------------------------

Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

********************************************
-----------------------------------------------------

Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List http://aacel.blogspot.com/

Cambridge Civic Journal http://www.rwinters.com

http://www.massclimateaction.net/calendar/events/index.php

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/

http://www.greenhornconnect.com/events/calendar

http://harddatafactory.com/Johnny_Monsarrat/index.html

http://bostoneventsinsider.com/boston_events/

hubevents

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Energy (and Other) Events - April 21, 2013

No comments: