12th annual Earth Summit branches out with workshops, displays, food

The 12th annual Earth Summit at UC Santa Cruz will take place Friday, March 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the College 9/10 Multipurpose Room. It is free and the public is invited.

Organized each year by the UCSC Student Environmental Center, the Earth Summit is an all-day festival celebrating sustainability on campus and in the surrounding community. This year's theme is  “Branch Out! Fostering Inclusive Solutions.”

The Earth Summit will feature student-led workshops and interactive activities along with fresh local foods, all-day information tables, and live spoken word and musical entertainment. Opportunities will be available for discussions between faculty, staff, students and community members to raise inclusive solutions toward a sustainable future at UC Santa Cruz.

Flora Lu, associate professor of environmental studies at UCSC,  and Maya Salsedo are the scheduled keynote speakers. Lu, who is trained as an ecological anthropologist, has been conducting research with the Huaorani Indians of the Ecuadorian Amazon since 1992, using interdisciplinary approaches to examine changes in resource use, household economic patterns, and social organization during a period of rapid change.

Salsedo is an environmental and food justice advocate from Santa Cruz who received a 2012 Brower Youth Award from the Earth Island Institute for her work creating the Youth Food Bill of Rights.

More information of the Earth Summit is available at http://sec.enviroslug.org/earth-summit.html and Katie Lippus, Earth Summit and Blueprint Coordinator, klippus@ucsc.edu.