April 5, 2007
Contact Dorothy Lenard at 608-796-3472 or dblenard@viterbo.edu
VITERBO UNIVERSITY TO HOST COMMUNITY EARTH WEEK EVENTS
LA CROSSE, Wis. – The La Crosse community will celebrate Earth Week at Viterbo University with environmental speakers Mary Rehwald and Irene Blakely, who will give three presentations on sustainable communities Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17–18.
The events are free and open to the public. Community members are invited to come and learn about Swedish “eco-municipalities.” “Eco-municipalities” have successfully reduced their ecological footprint while promoting economic development.
Rehwald and Blakely will present “Engaging Local Governments” from 4–5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17 in the D.B. and Marge Reinhart Center room 127; “Energizing the Public” from 7–9 p.m. Tuesday, April 17 in the D.B. and Marge Reinhart Center room 127, and “Enlisting Young People” from 9–9:50 a.m. Wednesday, April 18 in Murphy Center room 432.
Rehwald is serving her fourth term on the Ashland City Council, where she led a successful effort to have the city become the second “eco-municipality” in the United States. She is also the co-founder of the Alliance for Sustainability, a local environmental organization. Blakely is the mayor of Washburn, the first “eco-municipality” in the country.
The events are sponsored by the Viterbo University Environmental Studies program, the Viterbo University Biology-Chemistry-Environmental Club, Clean Energy Club, Sierra Club Coulee Region Group, the La Crosse Earth Week Committee, the
La Crosse Coalition for Peace and Justice, the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse Progressives, Robert and Maureen Freedland, and Donald and Barbara Frank. Barbara Frank, Clean Energy Coalition, at 608-788-3914 or Jai Johnson, La Crosse City Council and County Board member, at 608-796-1426.