"The future isn't what it used to be"

The HOPES (Holistic Options for Planet Earth Sustainability) ecological design conference began in 1994, created by inspired and concerned students at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. For ten years now the conference has been nurtured, the only ecological design conference developed and managed by students. Held every year in April, HOPES has brought such luminaries as Sim Van der Ryn, Samuel Mockbee James Hubbel, Angela Danadjieva, Michael Pyatok, Steve Badanes , Richard Register, David Orr, John Schaeffer and Clare Cooper Marcus to the University of Oregon.

Our 10th Annual HOPES conference promises to be an exciting continuation of the legacy begun in 1994, a time to look back, and ahead, to the progress made in ecological design. This year's theme "The future's not what it used to be" encompasses our goal to engage critically in the advancement of sustainable design in academia and practice, and to urge students, professionals and academics alike to greater collaboration and achievement in ecological design.

Eric Lloyd Wright, who has followed in his grandfather's footsteps and whose dedication to sustainability makes him a vanguard in architecture, will join us as keynote speaker at our 10th annual conference, along with Edward L Blake Jr, landscape architect and educator, Ananya Roy, author and professor of Urban Studies and Planning, and Brock Dolman, ecologist, activist and educator.

On Friday, April 16 the first student-sponsored LEED intermediate course will be given by the US Green Building Council and will be open to students, faculty and professionals.

We will highlight the work of alumni of the University of Oregon, whose efforts towards sustainability are testament to the legacy that the HOPES conference continues to inspire. Expert panels on subjects ranging from integrating sustainability in design education and into professional practice to natural ventilation and watershed remediation and management are featured at this year's HOPES, and along with hands-on workshops, provide many opportunities to probe the depth and breadth of ecological design. The 24-hour design charrette, held on the eve of every conference, has been an opportunity for students and community members to face the challenge of a design problem together. This year our charrette will focus on the potential, both conceptual and pragmatic, of a Center for Applied Sustainable Living, a project now underway at the University of Oregon.

It is our hope that you will join us at the 10th Annual HOPES Conference to celebrate, critique, evaluate and inspire the field of ecological design.

Conference sponsors:

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