Join the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association <http://www.ontario-sea.org/> on a unique Renewable Energy Tour in Germany from June 30 – July 8. Visit state of the art, successful Bioenergy, Solar, Wind and Hydro facilities and learn about community ownership models, financing vehicles as well as grid integration of renewables.

Special student rate for all-inclusive package now available. Only $2,184.

Register at: http://wwec2012ontariodelegation.eventbrite.com/?access=STUDENTPKG

We are thrilled to have author, educator, environmental activist Bill McKibben as keynote speaker for the ESAC Conference 2012– LIVE from Middlebury college in Vermont — and moderated by Alternatives’ “Power & the Glory” author Stephen Bede Scharper.

We are can confirm that the ESAC events will be housed at the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Environment with most of the activities taking place in the new EV3 building.

Conference attendees can participate in many other opportunities such as the Big Thinkers events with guest speakers such as Margaret Atwood and Thomas Homer-Dixon.

If you are coming from out of town, don’t miss out. Remember to book your rooms as space is limited and filling up quickly!  Don’t forget to invite your environmentally minded friends, colleagues and peers – you do not want to miss out on this event. For a limited time, new members of ESAC will receive a free copy of Alternatives Journal with their subscription.

Check out these events from a jam-packed Thursday May 31st:

At 12:15PM, Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of The Upside of Down and CIGI Chair of Global Systems at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, will be speaking.

From 2-4PM, Steven Svenson will be presenting his documentary on tourism in post-Katrina New Orleans, Disaster Tours: New Orleans after Katrina. This will be the world premiere of the film, so be sure to check it out! To learn more about Svenson’s work, view clips from the film on youtube, and check out Svenson’s piece on Those Brad Pitt Houses in the latest edition of Alternatives Journal.

Finally, from 4-6PM, ESAC is pleased to present Bill McKibben as keynote speaker – LIVE from Middlebury Vermont. McKibben is the founder of 350.org and the author of a dozen books including Eaarth: Making a life on a tough new planet.

There will be so much more…. [All event rooms are TBA, and times may change.]
Join ESAC today. Attend the ESAC Conference2012 by registering through Congress2012.

However, ESAC is always accepting new members! Join ESAC today – connect with other members + get a subscription to Alternatives Journal – among other benefits!

PLUS, keep checking the ESAC website for the first draft schedule of conference presentations, which will be posted soon. Check out this sneak peek of events.

Proposals are solicited for an edited volume on the bicycle in environmental history. In contemporary society, the bicycle is thelone “green alternative” in the array of transportation options: itrequires no parking space, produces no exhaust fumes, and causes notraffic jams. But it also constitutes a form of mechanized transportation that invariably puts the rider in close contact withthe elements (and, culturally, with community and surroundings). Whatwould an environmental history of the bicycle look like? What role hasthe bicycle played in human interactions with place? How does the bicycle as a symbol of mobility and motility shape our historical understanding of the environmental past? In what manner have changes and continuity over time in design variations, materials,manufacturing, and distribution contributed to technological advances in the machine on the one hand, and cycling advocacy networks on the other? And, indeed, vice versa: how have competitive sport and urban bike politics influenced the technological system built up around the bicycle and its relationship to the physical environment?

Perhaps because of its diversity and complexity, the history of the
bicycle has received little comprehensive treatment from historians.
The most coherent trend in bicycling historiography tends toward
emphasis on the bicycle as a liberating technology. In North America,the bicycle’s place in women’s emancipation efforts at the turn of the last century is a dominant theme; similarly, a growing literature on the bicycle as vehicle for social and economic empowerment is prevalent throughout the developing world. In the European literature, business and technology seem to predominate, along with a longstanding
interest in sport history. Outside of fleeting discussions of the bicycle in urban environments, the bicycle is conspicuous in its absence in environmental history works; this volume seeks to build on existing literature, while situating its focus squarely on the bicycle’s connection to environmental history.

As a venue for opening conversation about the bicycle in environmental history, this project does not plan to impose geographic boundaries on its analysis of the bicycle. Indeed, transnational, comparative, and global approaches are encouraged. Just as the geographic scope is broad so, too, is the volume’s intended chronological reach. Topics
will be considered from a variety of perspectives, ranging from (but not limited to) the bicycle’s role in place-making; human-powered motility; bicycling leisure and culture; gender, bicycling, and nature; the bicycle as economic tool in the developing world; bicycle technology; the bicycle in urban design; mountain bike trails; or bike  advocacy.

Inquiries and submissions can be sent to Dr. Michael Egan (McMaster University): egan@mcmaster.ca

Deadlines:

6 April 2012: deadline for submission of 300-word abstract
20 April 2012: invitations distributed
1 December 2012: deadline for submission of clean first drafts