The Summit will include presentations about various H-GAC programs that can provide goods, services, technical assistance, and funding for parks and natural areas projects. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories. The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony. The awards program will be followed by networking with H-GAC staff and other parks professionals.

The Spotlight Award considers architects from around the world within the first 15 years of their professional practice who have demonstrated design excellence and curiosity through their body of work. Rice Design Alliance has selected DUST as the recipient of the Spotlight Award 2019.

DUST Principals, Cade Hayes and Jesús E. Robles, Jr., will be delivering the Spotlight Lecture 2019 at The Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium designed by Mies van der Rohe.

On Wednesday, February 20, 2019, Houston Wilderness will have the honor of presenting its annual Wild Life Award to Joe B. Allen at the Annual Luncheon at River Oaks Country Club. The award will honor his legacy of environmental-based laws that are providing new parks, trails, and open space in subdivisions all over the state.

Jean Hill, a fiery octogenarian, is deeply concerned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the world’s largest landfill. Since 2010, she has spearheaded a grassroots campaign to ban the sale of single-serve plastic bottled water in her hometown of Concord, Massachusetts. She spends her golden years attending city council meetings and cold calling residents. So far, her attempts to pass a municipal bylaw have failed.

As she prepares for one last town meeting, Jean faces the strongest opposition yet, from local merchants and the International Bottled Water Association. But her fiercest challenge comes from Adriana Cohen, mother, model and celebrity publicist-turned-pundit, who insists the bill is an attack on freedom.

When Adriana thrusts Jean’s crusade into the national spotlight, it’s silver-haired senior versus silver-tongued pro. In the same town that incited the American Revolution and inspired Thoreau’s environmental movement, can one senior citizen make history? A tense nail-biter of a vote will decide.

6:30 PM conversation, networking, and a light meal
7:00 PM film screening, followed by a panel discussion

Free to the public, though donations are kindly appreciated.

Rice Media Center is located at 2030 University Blvd, near Stockton and University.

The least expensive University parking is in the lot on the West Side of the stadium. Enter on Greenbriar, drive to the most southeastern spot you can find, then walk along University towards Stockton.

The next Going Green Sustainability Lecture, sponsored by The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N., is entitled “Pollinators: From Bees And Bats To Butterflies.” Kendall Clark, Environmental Education Specialist with The Woodlands Township and specializing in Sustainable Landscapes, will speak to the group about the importance of pollination and pollinators and the Woodlands Township’s new program to become a Monarch Champion City as recognized by the National Wildlife Federation. For more details, visit thewoodlandsgreen.org.

Those who attend will also enjoy learning about HARC’s energy and water efficient building. This event is free and open to the public.

Celebrate the talented people who are using historic preservation to make Houston a better, more interesting place to live during The Cornerstone Dinner. John L. Nau III is chairing Preservation Houston’s signature event.

During the event, Harriet & Truett Latimer will accept Preservation Houston’s 2019 President’s Award for their outstanding contributions to historic preservation in Houston and Texas. Preservation Houston hopes that you will share the excitement as they present the 2019 Good Brick Awards for excellence in historic preservation, recognizing the diverse people and projects that continue to make our city unique.

A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m., and the program will start at 7:30 p.m. at River Oaks Country Club. Reservations are required.

A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement – grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. Directed and written by Mark Kitchell, Academy Award-nominated director of Berkeley in the Sixties, and narrated by Robert Redford, Ashley Judd, Van Jones, Isabel Allende and Meryl Streep.

Inspired by the book of the same name by Philip Shabecoff and informed by advisors like Edward O. Wilson, A Fierce Green Fire chronicles the largest movement of the 20th century and one of the keys to the 21st. It brings together all the major parts of environmentalism and connects them. It focuses on activism, people fighting to save their homes, their lives, the future – and succeeding against all odds.

6:30 PM conversation, networking, and a light meal
7:00 PM film screening, followed by a panel discussion

Free to the public, though donations are kindly appreciated.

Rice Media Center is located at 2030 University Blvd, near Stockton and University.

The least expensive University parking is in the lot on the West Side of the stadium. Enter on Greenbriar, drive to the most southeastern spot you can find, then walk along University towards Stockton.

The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. is sponsoring a Going Green Sustainability Lecture “Texas Forest Pests; Some Old and Some New”. Allen Smith, Forest Health Coordinator for East Texas for the Texas Forest Service, will speak to the group about the common threats to forest health in Texas and the region, as well as updating the group on the new threat to Ash and other tree species from the Emerald Ash Borer. For more information, visit www.thewoodlandsgreen.org/lectures.

Join the Green Building Resource Center in celebrating their tenth year anniversary. Stop by to network and enjoy light refreshments as you catch up with their environmental initiatives and hear from their two new leaders, Paula Paciorek of Houston Public Works and Marissa Aho. This is a free event and is open to the public. Please RSVP Steve.stelzer@houstontx.gov or 832-394-9050.

On April 25, 2019, beginning at at 7 p.m., The Woodlands G.R.E.E.N. is sponsoring a Going Green Sustainability Lecture by Mary Anne Weber, education director for Houston Audubon’s Raptor and Education Center, titled “Enraptured by Raptors: What Would We Do Without Them,” at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), 8801 Gosling Road, The Woodlands. Weber will discuss the environmental benefits of these magnificent birds and the dangers they face in an urban and suburban setting. For more information, visit thewoodlandsgreen.org.