Keep Knoxville Beautiful’s 4th annual summit, Urban Reconnection to Nature, will be held Thursday, Nov. 10, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 S. Gay Street. There is no charge to attend, and an optional boxed lunch is $13. Registration information here.
The event will showcase sustainable developments in Greenville, South Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; and Baltimore, Maryland. Speakers are:
Knox White, mayor of Greenville, S.C., since 1995. His tenure has been marked by major initiatives to transform the city. In 2018, Mayor White was profiled in Time Magazine as one of “31 people who are changing the south.”
Cathy Sloss Jones, president and CEO of Sloss Jones Real Estate Company in Birmingham. Her focus is on urban redevelopment/revitalization and the renewal of the community by renovating historic buildings, constructing new buildings that honor their surroundings and by providing planning services throughout the region. A recognized civic leader, Jones chairs the Alabama Chapter of the Urban Land Institute.
Ryan Alston, the communications and outreach manager for the Baltimore Tree Trust. She works closely with neighborhood stakeholders, elected officials and city residents to cultivate strong partnerships ahead of tree planting operations and ensure positive co-benefits during and after planting takes place.
A local panel will speak from 3-4 p.m.: Ben Bentley, CEO of KCDC; Carol Evans, executive director of Legacy Parks Foundation; and Kasey Krouse, urban forester of the city of Knoxville.
At 5 p.m. the group will reconvene at Pour Taproom, 207 W. Jackson Ave. for brews and a presentation by Kevin Murphy and Sandra Korbelik from the Knox Community Planning Alliance about Advance Knox, the county’s project to update the general land use plan and create its first comprehensive transportation plan.
Learn more about Falls Park here.