This project is a three-day public summit on fostering partnerships and linkages between disciplines, sectors, agencies and nations in sustainability science and innovation. The summit will feature invited presentations and discussions to showcase U.S. federal investments and institutional structures regarding sustainability, identify opportunities to help promote practices that would lead communities toward sustainability, and address communication issues needed to recognize science and innovation as central to the understanding and adoption of sustainable practices. An ad hoc organizing committee will develop the agenda, and select and invite speakers and discussants. Nominees to the organizing committee as well as the ~200 conference participants will include those with expertise in sustainability from a variety of perspectives, including federal, state and local government, the private sector, academia, nongovernmental organizations, and international bodies. The format will include multi-partner panels, plenary and breakout sessions addressing a variety of sustainability concepts, including, but not limited to, examples of successful partnerships, communication and outreach of sustainability science, sustainability metrics, infrastructure and data needs, and international sustainability efforts. Broader Impacts The summit will be held in spring 2012 and a brief summary of the event will be issued. This summary will be developed in accordance with institutional guidelines and will be subject to appropriate review procedures prior to release. The summary will be disseminated widely to interested audiences within local, state and federal governments, industry, universities and nongovernmental organizations.
