Spring 2020 Lecture Series

10:30am to 11:45am

Kroon 321

The Urban SDGs: Localizing Sustainable Development in Urban Areas Across the World

Aromar Revi, Indian Institute for Human Settlements

Director

Aromar Revi is the founding Director of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), an interdisciplinary national University in India focused on urbanization. For over a decade, he has built IIHS into one of the world’s leading education, research, training, advisory and implementation- support institution, focusing on the multi-dimensional challenges and opportunities of sustainable urbanization. He is a global practice and thought leader, and educator with 35 years of interdisciplinary experience in sustainable development, public policy and governance, human settlements, global environmental and technological change.
Aromar is an international expert on Sustainable Development; Co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), from where he helped lead a successful global campaign for an urban Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11) as part of the UN’s 2030 development agenda.

Abstract

The Urban SDGs: Localising Sustainable Development in urban areas across the world

The battle for sustainable development will be won or lost in the world’s cities, especially those in Asia and Africa, where the largest urbanisation in human history is underway. Aromar Revi will outline the process and challenges of negotiating SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) at the United Nations and subsequent progress in the localisation of SDGs in urban areas, using examples from various parts of the world.

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Watch a recording of this talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=spD0TJzEddQ&feature=emb_logo

New Haven Downtown Bioswales: Design, Function and Measured Performance

Giovanni Zinn, City of New Haven

'05 BS, Director of Engineering

Speaker Information

Giovanni Zinn, P.E. is the City Engineer for the City of New Haven as of 2014. As City Engineer, he has worked on many projects focused on sustainable and livable infrastructure, including complete streets, encouraging alternative transportation options, adopting green infrastructure, designing resilient living shoreline installations, and reducing the City's carbon footprint through aggressive energy reduction. Prior to leading the Engineering Department, Giovanni also served as a project manager for the City of New Haven’s Engineering Department and Office of Sustainability and managed environmental programs for the City Plan Department. Giovanni graduated from Yale College in 2005, and lives in New Haven with his wife Megan and their three little boys (who keep them very busy!).

Gaboury Benoit, Ph.D., Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Grinstein Class of 1954 Professor of Environmental Chemistry, Professor of Environmental Engineering

Speaker Information

Gaboury Benoit is the Grinstein Professor of Environmental Chemistry at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where he has served as the Associate Dean for Research and Director of Doctoral Studies. He has a joint appointment in Yale’s Environmental Engineering program. He founded Yale’s Center for Coastal and Watershed Systems in 1992 and acted as its faculty director. He is also faculty director of Yale’s Hixon Center for Urban Ecology.
Dr. Benoit received his bachelor’s degree from Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics where he studied environmental chemistry. After working for three years in an independent environmental consulting firm, he earned a master’s in Water Resources Engineering from MIT (1985) and a PhD in environmental chemistry from the M.I.T.-Woods Hole joint program (1988).
Gabe is a nationally recognized expert on environmental chemistry and the impacts of land development on water. Recent research includes urban environmental issues and watershed based studies of nonpoint source pollution. Among his many publications, he co-authored the book New Strategies for America's Watersheds: Integrating Ecological, Economic, and Social Factors that was published by National Academy Press in 1998. Another important recent publication is the book Land and Natural Development (L.A.N.D.) Code, co-authored with Diana Balmori of Yale’s Architecture School, and which is a set of guidelines for sustainable land development.

Hixon Center for Urban Ecology