Our 12th annual Living Future unConference took place May 1-4 this year in Portland, OR, where we gathered to share ideas, get inspired, and collaborate with our community to work toward a Living Future. While it’s hard to pick just a few highlights from the jam-packed conference, here are some of our favorite moments that were captured on camera, including our keynotes, Terry Tempest Williams, Majora Carter, and Raj Patel, the trade show, our amazing afterparties, and more. Enjoy!
All photos by Jolie Goodson
Wednesday: The conference kicks off with an open trade show floor, mingling, and book signings from our keynotes and CEO, Amanda Sturgeon.
The Opening Night ceremonies begin with a quick address from Amanda, who has to shield her eyes due to the sheer brilliance of our amazing attendees gathered in the ballroom.
Terry Tempest Williams is our Opening Night keynote and moves many of us to tears with her inspiring and poetic message of hope. She sums up our organizational mindset of striving for a better tomorrow with: “The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying that we might see beyond our own time.”
Thursday: Attendees are wowed by Raj Patel’s morning keynote about the economy of cheap commodities and the urgent need to reconnect with our natural world. He challenges us with this question: “How do we move into a space that is readier to undo the cheap things and take a different relationship to ourselves and the web of life?”
Conference sessions begin in full force after the morning keynote; discussions abound and new ideas whiz around the rooms.
At the Big Bang Dinner on Thursday evening, we celebrate the Living Buildings that have been certified over this past year, as well as honor seven stellar members of our global community who have shown courage and leadership in their work for a Living Future. We are grateful to these people, our 2018 Living Future Heroes (below, from left to right): Nori Catabay of King County Green Tools, Kenner Kingston of Arch Nexus, Paolo Bevilacqua of Frasers Property Australia, Eileen Quigley of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Stephen Choi of the Living Future Institute Australia + Frasers Property Australia, Anjanette Green of GIGA + A Greener Space, and Martin Brown of Fairsnape. You can learn more about our Heroes here, at the bottom of the page.
Attendees have some fun at the ILFI step-and-repeat before heading to the Thursday night afterparty at Sustainable Northwest Wood.
#PetalPower
Sustainable Northwest Wood opens up their space to throw an awesome party, complete with ax throwing, a Yeti, Sasquatch, and a unicycling, bagpiping Darth Vader. Is it even a party if you don’t have a unicycling, bagpiping Darth Vader?
Our Living Community Challenge Director Alicia Daniels Uhlig got *this* close to the bullseye during her ax throw!
Friday: Majora Carter kicks off the last day of the conference with a powerful keynote about urban revitalization, equity, and creating sustainable communities. She left us with this thought: “If we had placed our waste facilities, power plants, and factories in high-income, mainly white neighborhoods—as opposed to lower-status communities as they primarily are—then we would already have sustainable communities.”
The last sessions of the conference begin, including a panel with Living Future Hero Nori Catabay and keynote Majora Carter about designing for vibrant communities.
And that’s a wrap! A huge thank you to the ILFI Events team (below), who makes this incredible event possible every year. Thank you, Rory, Julie, and Kevin!
We can’t wait to see you next year for Living Future 2019 in Seattle! Have you submitted your speaking proposal yet?
