Blog: City Blog

Ideas Exchanged at 2nd Knoxville Green Economy Forum

Community leaders from throughout Knoxville met Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the University of Tennessee to discuss ideas and partnerships during the second Knoxville Green Economy Forum.

Their focus was on building a “green economy,” which is an economy that strives for sustainable growth and development while working to improve the environment. Beyond helping the environment, green economies can create jobs; improve air quality and public health; save resources; and more.

Nearly all sectors of business were represented at the Forum, with leaders from the City of Knoxville’s Office of Sustainability, the University of Tennessee, TVA, and Knoxville Utilities Board. Many other community organizations and businesses were also in attendance.

Led by Dr. Jon Shefner, the Director for the UT Green Economy Initiative and a professor of sociology, the forum discussed the research findings from the UT Sociology Department regarding eight different stakeholders in the Green Economy.

Issues addressed included social and economic development, government, workforce development, construction, research commercialization, agriculture, waste management and transportation.

The research findings highlighted what would be needed from each stakeholder to help bring “green jobs” to our area, including what assets they already have, what obstacles they would need to overcome, and some ideas for strategies for each stakeholder.

Attendees to the forum then discussed and presented further strategies to enhance Knoxville’s Green Economy. One strategy currently underway is the City of Knoxville placing a strong emphasis on sustainability.

Meanwhile, partnerships have been formed between UT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TVA, and other organizations to address some of the issues facing the Green Economy. These organizations are seeking ways to develop workforce programs that support green jobs.

For more information on Knoxville’s Green Economy, visit http://greeneconomy.utk.edu/.

Posted by evreeland On 07 December, 2015 at 10:52 AM