Calendar
The health and safety of our generous donors and supporters are Turtle Island Restoration Network top priority, so the 2020 Art of Saving Sea Turtles benefit is going virtual!
Please join us on Thursday, October 29 from 5:30-6:30 pm Central to celebrate local sea turtle conservation and community art and help raise critical funds to support Turtle Island Restoration Network’s sea turtle conservation programs in the Gulf and on Galveston Island!
Turtle Island Restoration Network will be honoring Turtles About Town and the artists, sponsors, and individuals who have faithfully supported our mission. Turtle Island Restoration Network will also be introducing the artists and sponsors of 19 new sea turtle statues that will bring the total number of colorful Kemp’s ridleys on Galveston Island to 50!
Buffalo Bayou Partnership (BBP) is hosting a socially distanced picnic in place of its annual fundraising gala. Or, BBP will deliver
a picnic for you to enjoy at home while tuning into our virtual program. Although the event format has changed, the goal remains
the same—raising much-needed funds for the ongoing care,revitalization, and activation of Houston’s greatest natural resource.
Enhancement of the five-year-old Buffalo Bayou Park was made possible by a catalyst gift from the Kinder Foundation, along with the City of Houston through Houston Parks & Recreation Department, Harris County Flood Control District, and Downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #3. This award-winning park has become a focal point for the city, providing a place for recreation, relaxation, and respite for hundreds of thousands of visitors. During the current health crisis especially, this accessible public space has been a critically important refuge for Houstonians of all ages and walks of life. Buffalo Bayou Park comes to life when friends like you are there,
so please join with Buffalo Bayou Picnic in honoring its essential role in the community.
http://www.facebook.com/BayouLandConservancy/photos/gm.2584861421765029/10159302880777448/?type=3
Join Bayou Land Conservancy on Friday, November 13, 2020, for our Annual Land Lover Gala Home on the Range (your range!) This year’s event will be held virtually and bring just as much joy and excitement as ever. Get Wild About Texas this year with keynote speaker Ben Masters, Texas Wildlife Filmmaker. Ben will take us through a journey about his latest film Deep in the Heart.
Deep in the Heart will be the first blue-chip wildlife documentary ever produced about our beloved Texas. The film will celebrate many conservation success stories while showcasing some of the most important ecological issues through the eyes of wildlife and wild places. Imagine Planet Earth…but in Texas! Through witty narration, humor, and state-of-the-art cinematography, the film will showcase approximately twenty wildlife species ranging from the iconic bison to the mysterious ocelot. The feature-length film will begin in the high plains and peaks of West Texas, flow through diverse ecoregions along our many river systems, and conclude along the bays, estuaries, and the Gulf of Mexico. Deep in the Heart aims to inspire Texans to conserve our remaining wild places, to show the connectivity of water and wildlife, and to recognize Texas’ conservation importance on a continental scale.
Join us for the Bayou Preservation Association’s first virtual gala! Bayou Preservation Association will highlight 20 reasons to celebrate our bayous in 2020 and look back on 20 years of festive fetes in support of Bayou Preservation Association.
The event will take place on Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 6 pm and will feature:
Emcee, Sharron Melton, the host of CW39’s Morning Dose
- Flashbacks with photos from Bayou Preservation Association archives of 20 years of events
- Opportunities to win bayou-related items
- and much more!
As a participant, you won’t have to worry about coming up with a costume (as fun as that can be) or navigating parking. You can relax and enjoy the show, knowing that you have made a difference in the health of our waterways.
Carrin Patman
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Ellen Cohen
The event will feature a discussion with Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, led by METRO Chair Carrin Patman. Kanter was named one of the “50 most influential business thinkers in the world,” according to Thinkers50, the global ranking of management thinkers. She will speak about her latest book, “Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time.”
Center for Houston’s Future will also present the Vaughan Award to Ellen Cohen, a community leader who served as a Houston City Council member and Texas state representative.
Impact Hub houston envisions a more prosperous, inclusive, climate-resilient economy, where finance flows to green projects and activities, and where motivated people are empowered with the skills and capacity they need to take action.
This progress can only be achieved through systemic change – change that includes innovation across business, investment, regulation, governance structures, values and mindsets. They invite you to join Climathon Houston to see the most promising ideas that emerge around Houston’s challenges, including:
Energy Transition: developing innovative ways to …
- Shift from extractive to regenerative energy production, capture and distribution technologies.
- Restore, protect, and enhance Houston’s natural ability to capture and store carbon.
Materials Management: developing innovative ways to …
- Reduce waste production and/or Optimize waste operations.
- Reuse or Upcycle materials into useful products, to lengthen their lifespan and keep materials out of streets and landfills.
- Recycle materials into efficient energy or new raw materials for manufacturing and production.
Building Optimization: developing innovative ways to …
- Reduce building energy use and maximize savings.
- Increase the healthfulness and utility of existing buildings for sustainable community use.
Regional Resilience: developing innovative ways to …
- Address clean water, access, retention and flooding issues
- Engage more people in building better habits that promote cleaner, greener communities
- Accelerate clean urban mobility
Chaired by Scott and Judy Nyquist, the citizens of Houston will attend an event hosted by the Rice Design Alliance to honor Rice Architecture for bringing people together for the past 50 years. The Rice Design Alliance enhances the Houston urban community by working on local design issues, which keeps the working world in our city functional. The event’s proceeds will go to the Rice Design Alliance’s educational mission.
Parks and Natural Areas Awards
H-GAC established the Parks and Natural Areas awards program in 2006 to highlight best practices and innovative approaches to parks planning and implementation. H-GAC honors projects in the categories of Projects Over $500,000, Projects Under $500,000, Planning Process and Policy Tools, and Programming.
This program recognizes outstanding parks and natural areas around the region. No funding is associated with this award program.
Conservation Grants
Conservation Grants can be awarded to projects anywhere in Texas. In its first 25 years the Birding Classic has donated $1,071,000 in conservation funding to nature tourism and avian habitat restoration, enhancement, and acquisition projects throughout the state!
Number of grants awarded (and their amounts) are determined based on team registration fees (independent and sponsored) and corporate sponsorship dollars collected each year. The Birding Classic is a cost-recovery event, so once minimal event costs are covered all remaining funds go to conservation grants in Texas. Organizations are not required to register a team in the Birding Classic to be eligible to submit a project proposal.
All approved projects submitted by the May 1st deadline will be provided to winning Birding Classic teams to select which projects are funded by Conservation Grants.