Town Hall Tuesdays
Spring 2021
With the Edgewater Environmental Coalition, 6018North hosted for a series of Town Hall discussions with community experts and innovators to explore Chicago’s most pressing issues to create a sustainable future. The Edgewater Environmental Coalition are community members and environmental stewards. Our mission is to bring a green voice to local challenges, empowering people to build and maintain a more sustainable future through action, organizing, education, and advocacy. We are rooted in advancing a healthy and verdant Edgewater. Town Hall Tuesday events supported by a COVID Response Grant from the Environmental Law and Policy Center. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.
Waste
The first town hall on January 26, 2021 discussed Chicago's waste collection, recycling, reuse, and regeneration, with featured speakers Megan Conway of the Delta Institute, Carter O'Brien of Chicago Recycling Coalition, Stephanie Katsaros of Bright Beat and Chicago Sustainability Task Force, and community innovators Erlene Howard of Collective Resource Compost, Nance Klehm of Social Ecologies, and Joanne Rodriquez of Mycocycle.
Housing
The second town hall on February 23, 2021 discussed sustainable housing in Chicago, with featured speakers Cheryl Johnson of People for Community Recovery, Noah Moskowitz of ONE Northside, Bob Remer of the Edgewater Historical Society, and community innovators Mario Machnicki of Marion Restoration, Anne Nicklin of Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse, and George Tully of Chicago Association of Realtors.
Water
The third town hall on March 30, 2021 discussed green and blue infrastructure, lead pipe replacement, flooding, pollution, and sustainable solutions to our water problems, with featured speakers Megan Vidis of Chicago Department of Water Management, Iyana Simba of Illinois Environmental Council, and Mariyana Spyropoulos of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago. The event also featured water erosion organizers Sharon Louis of South Side Lakefront Erosion Task Force and Chicago Black Water Council, Tom Heineman of GET Beaches PAC, and innovative voices of Alaina Harkness of Current Water, Mary Pat McGuire of The Water Lab, and Dom Marlow from Master of City Design at University of Illinois Chicago.
Transportation
The final event of the 2021 series on April 27 discussed public and mass transportation, active transportation such as biking and walking, and the future of sustainable and renewable energy in fuel use for car travel. Featured speakers include Vignesh Krishnamurthy of CDOT, Courtney Cobbs of Better Streets Chicago, Kassie Beyer of Jobs to Move America, Julia Gerasimenko of Active Transportation Alliance, and Deloris Lucas of We Keep You Rollin’, alongside community innovators Rick Rosen of LanzaTech and Zach Waickman the Biodiesel Lab Manager at Loyola University Chicago, and others.