Hasta La Ideas

Weaning our society off of gasoline will be tough. Even if we all started riding bicycles to work tomorrow, the larger problem is that everything we eat, drink, wear, sell, and buy is shipped on the back of a smoke-belching truck.

To combat this, Art Center

is holding its third annual summit (named Expanding the Vision of Sustainable Mobility, from February 17-19) which will focus on one of the most pressing topics in society: sustainability and transportation. The Summit will bring a host of leaders together to determine how we can continue to move people and goods around the planet in a way that makes sense given our existing resources and expectations for long-term growth.

This summit is proof that designers can take a significant and strategic role in mapping out visions for the future and offering solutions. Designers can help industries, government and society to solve complex problems as they are used to working within constraints. With regards to the issues surrounding transportation, and energy, for example, designers can take complex issues and communicate them visually, emotionally and persuasively. This becomes an important skill when reluctant consumers might be asked to make difficult choices to save energy and resources, including taking public transportation.

This year Art Center has convened some of the most prominent speakers including:

* Mary Nichols, Chairman of California’s Air Resources Board
* Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute
* The former Director of the CIA, James Woolsey
* Wind-energy Pioneer, Paul Gipe
* Bryan Nesbitt, Vice President of Design, General Motors North America
* John E. Waters, CEO of start-up and alternative car company, Bright Automotive.

Click here for more info.

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