UIS Earth Week keynote explores ways of achieving a resilient, secure and sustainable future

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) Speaker Series presents “Our Turn to Lead: Paving the Way for A Resilient, Secure and Sustainable Future”. The Earth Week keynote address will be delivered by Roger-Mark De Souza, director of population, environmental security, and resilience for the Wilson Center.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Focusing on ways we can build our resilience to natural and human-made shocks and stresses by investing in youth, women and communities, De Souza will explore how integrating concepts like women's empowerment, reproductive health, community engagement and food security can lead to better policy and actions that help us cope with adversity. He will present innovators who are developing new ideas and models of social change to address global and local sustainability in countries such as Ethiopia, Nepal and Tanzania. By sharing stories of some of these remarkable innovators, he will discuss the surprising ways that the broader integration of sustainability and conservation practices and policies can open the door to a resilient, secure and sustainable future.

Before joining the Wilson Center in 2013, De Souza served as vice president of research and director of the climate program at Population Action International. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the director of foundation and corporate relations at the Sierra Club. He holds graduate degrees in international relations and development policy from George Washington University and the University of the West Indies.

This event is sponsored by the Julia Henderson Fund, the World Affairs Council of Central Illinois and the UIS Sustainability Committee. For a list of other upcoming ECCE Speaker Series events and more information, visit www.uis.edu/speakerseries/. All events are free and open to the public.