The U.S. Institute Announces the Date for the ECR2010 National Conference


The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, a program of the Udall Foundation, will host its sixth national ECR Conference in Tucson, Arizona, at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. Training events, panel workshops, and associated meetings will take place throughout the week of May 24-28, 2010, leading up to Memorial Day weekend.

The ECR2010 Conference will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and mutual learning about the field of environmental conflict resolution among government representatives, non-governmental organizations, tribal nations and members, and professionals in the conflict resolution, mediation, and consensus building fields. Preliminary conference planning is currently underway and the solicitation for presentation proposals is scheduled to begin this summer.

The previous national ECR conference, ECR2008, was also held in Tucson on May 20-22, 2008. Approximately 300 participants met for an exciting three-day conference filled with cutting-edge training workshops, dynamic panel sessions, interactive roundtable discussions, and federal agency meetings. Discussions were held on topics and issues ranging from new tools and technology used in ECR processes, to global warming and climate change. The plenary speaker, Jonathan Overpeck, a climate system scientist at the University of Arizona and co-director of the Institute for Environment and Society, gave a provocative assessment on climate change and conflict. He was among those whose work on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007. Additionally, the ECR2008 conference coincided with the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Institute.

If you are interested in participating in or cosponsoring the ECR2010 Conference, please contact Conference Co-coordinators Pam Carlson at carlson@ecr.gov or Tina Gargus at gargus@ecr.gov. Please visit our Web site at www.ecr.gov for future information about the ECR2010 Conference.