Can environmental stewardship and sustainability be balanced or integrated with the pursuit of employment opportunities and other economic needs in urban and rural communities?

If so, how?

Urban and rural communities throughout Illinois regularly confront circumstances in which they must decide how to balance environmental stewardship and sustainability with economic needs such as employment opportunities, affordable energy, and affordable food. Six panelists – three from rural settings, three from urban settings – who have addressed such issues in their communities will discuss them from a variety of perspectives.

In doing so, they will draw upon their own experiences as well as excerpts from “The Land Ethic,” the concluding chapter of A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (1949). Members of the audience will have opportunities to participate in the conversation, as well. The urban counterpart to this event will take place at the American Indian Center in Chicago on December 6, 2018.

Doors open and refreshments available: 5:30 PM

This event is part of “The Country and the City program: Common Ground in the Prairie State?,” a year-long, statewide initiative will feature text-based discussions of issues that affect both rural and urban Illinois communities, involving panelists who are well-versed in those issues from both perspectives.

For more information, please contact Matt Meacham at matt.meacham@ilhumanities.org or (618) 468-5580.