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As the Virginia Society AIA looks towards the next 100 years in Virginia, it brings together the planning and design disciplines to examine two key themes critical to the future — job creation and environmental sustainability. Consider these topics through the lenses of transportation, the constructed environment, public health, land development, and urban infill at the Virginia Accord on Sept. 19–20, 2014 at the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond, Va. Read the summary and proposition.

Confirmed speakers include Richard Jackson, author of Making Healthy Places; James Cramer of Greenway Consulting and Chair of the Design Futures Council; Jason Hartke, VP National Policy and Advocacy USGBC; Mary Hines, Vice-Chair, Arlington County Board and chair, Northern Virginia Transportation Commission; Kim Tanzer, FAIA, Past-President of the National Academy of Environmental Design; and Ed Walker founder of Cityworks.

About the Accord

Sustainability of the Commonwealth is only achievable through the confluence of principles that reinforce job creation and environmental sustainability. We cannot have a viable job-centric economy with polluted air, water and devastated natural habitats.  Our natural environment cannot be sustained if the population is economically disadvantaged.  A balance is critical for the longevity of the quality of life in the State and region.  This requires commitment and compliance by a wide range of professionals, but none more important than those engaged in the built-environment.  With support from the institutions of higher education in Virginia who provide education and a knowledge base in support of multiple disciplines, Virginia can lead the world in responsible natural and constructed environments.

About our speakers

Richard Jackson, M.D., M.P.H.
Richard J Jackson is Professor and Chair of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. A pediatrician, he has served in many leadership positions in both environmental health and infectious disease with the California Health Department, including the highest, State Health Officer. For nine years he was Director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health in Atlanta and received the Presidential Distinguished Service award. In October, 2011 he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

James P. Cramer
Jim Cramer is the founder of Greenway. A researcher and consultant, he is the author of several hundred articles and several books, including the critically acclaimed Design Plus Enterprise: Seeking a New Reality in Architecture. He is co-author of How Firms Succeed 5.0: New horizons for the Professional Services Firm, and the editor of the Almanac of Architecture & Design. Cramer is the former chief executive of the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. (1988-94), the recipient of more than 80 awards and honors, a Richard Upjohn Fellow of the AIA, and a Fellow of the International Leadership Forum in La Jolla, Calif. He is currently the president of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Design Futures Council. An educator, futurist, and business adviser, he is often leading strategic retreats and facilitating sessions about “futures invention” and value migration changes in the design professions.

Jason Hartke
As Vice President of National Policy for U.S. Green Building Council, Hartke works to advance the USGBC’s national policy agenda and deliver the integrated environmental, economic and social benefits of green building policy solutions. In addition, he helps establish and oversee USGBC advocacy programs in sustainable communities, green schools and affordable housing. In the past six years, he has managed efforts that helped result in the passage of historic federal investment in green building and a tripling of green building policies at the state and local level. He launched and organized USGBC’s annual Green Jobs Summit as well as USGBC’s National Leadership Speaker Series on Resiliency and Security in the 21st Century at the National Press Club. He was appointed by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to serve on the Commerce Department’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Council.

Mary Hughes Hynes
Hynes was elected to the Arlington County Board in 2007. As a civic activist and public servant for more than 20 years, she has consistently and effectively led Arlington’s efforts to strengthen its government by enhancing civic participation, improving government management and increasing investment in Arlington’s public physical infrastructure. Her advocacy led Arlington to establish a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) citizen working group, a facilities and parks condition assessment as well as prioritization criteria to guide future investment strategies.

Kim Tanzer, FAIA
Tanzer is the Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia. Prior to beginning her tenure at the University of Virginia in 2009 she served as a professor of architecture at the University of Florida for more than two decades. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Duke University and her Master of Architecture from North Carolina State University.

Ed Walker
Ed Walker is a social entrepreneur and lawyer based in Roanoke, Virginia. He is the founder of CityWorks, an interdisciplinary collaboration dedicated to gathering, testing and sharing placemaking concepts. He is especially focused on smaller distressed cities and towns in the US and abroad. His practice emphasizes developing cooperative power among the realms of commerce, arts and design, education and good government. CityWorks initiated the annual (X)po conference that explores the exponential impact of sharing “big ideas for small cities”. As a Loeb Fellow, Ed will study the uses of design for placemaking.