Join City Parks Alliance – and more than 1,000 global park leaders, city planning and design professionals, and urban park advocates – for Greater & Greener 2015: Innovative Parks, Vibrant Cities – in San Francisco, April 11-14, 2015. A dynamic four-day forum and networking opportunity, Greater & Greener 2015 explores the role of public parks in creating healthy, resilient, and sustainable cities – now and in the future.

With the San Francisco Bay Area’s spectacular urban park system as our outdoor classroom, conference sessions will explore the people and programs having an impact across a wide range of social and cultural issues – in the Bay Area and globally. From fostering economic development and urban resilience, to supporting education and civic engagement, to improving public health and the urban landscape – Greater & Greener 2015 will demonstrate how and why parks are powerful tools in creating livable and vibrant cities.

Through expert-led tours, hands-on workshops, networking opportunities, and dynamic sessions with more than 150 high-level national and international speakers, Greater & Greener 2015 will provide you with the knowledge, tools and real-life examples to affect change in your city, community, or neighborhood parks.

Be a part of the conversation. View the conference program and register today at greatergreener.org.

JUST ANNOUNCED! David Escobar Arango to join Innovation & Design Plenary Panel

David Escobar Arango, Executive Director of Interactuar, and former Director of Planning for the City of Medellin, Columbia, was responsible for the social, economic, and urban planning of the city from 2012-15. David will share his expertise in transforming neighborhoods through the design and development of new parks, cultural centers, and educational opportunities – including five Library Parks (Parques Biblioteca) in some of Medellin's most marginalized neighborhoods, the Explore Park of Science and Technology, and Medellin Digital Botanical Garden.

Confirmed Speakers Include:

• Nico Tillie, Landscape Architect, City of Rotterdam and Researcher, Delft University of Technology 
• Jon Jarvis, Director, National Park Service
• Walter Hood, Professor of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning and Urban Design, University of California at Berkeley
• Ed Murray, Mayor of Seattle, Washington
• Jon Christensen, Journalist-in-residence and Adjunct Professor, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles
• Benjamin Grant, Public Realm and Urban Design Program Manager, SPUR Ocean Beach Master Plan
• Fabian Wagmister, Founding Director, Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP), UCLA
• Helena Bjarnegård, City Landscape Architect, Gothenburg City
• Shay Levi, Head of Environmental Planning Department, Ariel Sharon Park
• Mitchell Silver, Commissioner, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
• Holly Leicht, Regional Administrator, New York and New Jersey U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Jon Pape, Deputy Director, City of Copenhagen, City Operations
• Betsy Price, Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas
• Mark Pincus, Founder and Chairman, Zynga
• Gil Penalosa, Founder and Chair of the Board, 8-80 Cities
• Deborah Cohen, Senior Natural Scientist, RAND Corporation

Sample Conference Topics:

• Rethinking the Playground – New Approaches for Playscapes
• Park Innovation for Resilient Cities
• Reusing Landfills for Parks
• Designing Parks to Help People be Healthy
• Blue and Green Cities
• Making the Most of Highways
• Deserts & Droughts – Working in Arid Regions
• Street Parks – Transforming Places Between Spaces
• Linear Parks – Moving Beyond the Destination Park/Expanding Greenspace Networks
• Great Places, Safe Spaces – Integrating Security with Design & Programming
• Plazas & Parklets
• Wild Places – Biodiversity in the City
• A Developer's-Eye View of Parks
• New Approaches to Park Planning for Neighborhoods
• Ports & Parks

When & Where:

April 11-14, 2015
Westin St. Francis at Union Square, and urban parks across the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco, CA

More Information:

Learn more and sign up at greatergreener.org.