Eco-Networking for Sustainable Solutions 2013 Schedule of Events

Eco-Networking for Sustainable Solutions is a business-to-business networking series hosted by the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. It is an invitation to the entire Twin Cities business community to network at the intersect of divergent industries, ideas, and business practices. It is an intentional exercise in the cross-pollination of ideas and leading-edge sustainable practices to foster growth and eco-innovation.

Join the sustainability conversation, make important business connections and discover new ideas and resources for implementing bold, practical, eco-friendly solutions.

Business Networking for Sustainable Solutions Kick-Off Event Thursday, November 1, 2012 Topic: Sustainability – It’s what’s for Lunch

Business Networking for Sustainable Solutions Friday, January 25th, 2013 Topic: Sustainability – Innovative Community Involvement - The ‘How Tos’ of Corporate Community Giving Gardens

Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota Conference Feb. 15th-16th, 2013 The goal of the Sustainable Farming Association is to help Minnesota farmers along the path to success and self-sustainability. The focus of the 2012 annual conference is to bring together rural to urban farmers in a joint effort to find solutions to farming and agricultural challenges involving policy, regulations, economics, business practices, safety, networking, and to share best practices. The conference will feature a variety of breakout sessions, speakers, and exhibits on the different paths our farms and communities need to embrace to lead a more sustainable existence.

School Garden Conference Feb 22nd, 2013 Research shows that developing a child's appreciation of nature enhances their physical health, cognitive and social development, and creativity. Discover how and why to transform schools' extensive paved surfaces into a sustained vibrant mosaic of outdoor learning and play opportunities. Explore innovative ways to weave curricula into school landscapes, diversify educational recreational offerings, enhance local ecology, and reflect each school's location and cultural context. This conference will share experiences, case studies, and best practices about creating and sustaining cutting edge schoolyards and school gardens. Attendees will meet like-minded colleagues while sharing ideas, and get inspired to bring these ideas back to their communities.

Beekeeping in Northern Climates Workshop March 2nd and 3rd, 2013 This two day course provides all the information necessary to keep bees in cold climates. We take you through two years of beekeeping; purchasing and assembling equipment, ordering bees and queens, hiving packages, ensuring colony survival through winter, dividing colonies in the spring, and producing, harvesting, extracting, bottling, and selling honey. We also cover the important basics of disease and mite management and control, emphasizing a reduction in chemical use within bee hives. This unique workshop is taught by Marla Spivak (University of Minnesota Entomology professor, MacArthur Fellow, and Distinguished McKnight Professor) and Gary Reuter (University of Minnesota Scientist and President of the American Beekeeping Federation).

Eco-Networking for Sustainable Solutions 2013 Schedule of Events, cont’d.

Spring Garden Expo March 8th-10th, 2013 Learn more about growing, buying, and enjoying plants. Start your spring plant-growing journey be joining in the conversation with nationally respected authors of gardening books and have your books signed by the authors. Get down-to-earth gardening advice from leading University of Minnesota horticulture experts and Arboretum experts on tried-and-true as well as new research and testing results in growing plants. Enjoy time spent with other gardening enthusiasts and talk with plant society representatives. Revel in what the Arboretum has to offer during the first spring awakenings.

Business Networking for Sustainable Solutions Thursday, April 25, 2013 Topic: Sustainability – What’s Wellness Got to Do with It?

Business Networking for Sustainable Solutions Thursday, June 27, 2013 Topic: Bio-Inspiration for Business

Clean Water Summit Sept. 15th, 2013 The annual Clean Water Summit brings together a wide variety of individuals, communities, businesses, and organizations involved in maintaining clean water in our communities. Featured presentations will address technical aspects as well as policy and planning issues that are tied with the economic, social, and environmental impact of protecting and achieving clean water. A focus is selected for the summit each year. Business Networking for Sustainable Solutions Thursday, September 26, 2013 Topic: Building a Sustainable Brand Healthy Foods, Healthy Lifestyles Summit First week of Oct. 2013 The safety, quality, and availability of the food that humans consume are constant concerns. The Healthy Foods Summit seeks to examine the impacts of current food system approaches on human health around the world. The symposium will identify critical points in the system where intervention can improve human health, exploring both "conventional" and "sustainable" approaches and seeking common purpose.

To this end, the summit will feature research and best-practice case studies that integrate human-health research and food-system decision making. Speakers across disciplines and from around the world will share knowledge and expertise and provide a framework for coordinated, collaborative research and policy. Together, participants will address such questions as how communities are engaging in creative strategies to improve their own food environments, and what industry, academia, government, and non-profits are doing to improve health outcomes across all populations. Holiday Networking for Sustainable Solutions Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013 Topic: Strictly Social – Using Social Media to tell an Eco-Story