San Diego Zoo to Ignite a Statewide Conversation about Environmental Sustainability and Museums

     What are the top environmental challenges for our region? Who is working to address these challenges? How can museums become involved? These are some of the questions to be posed on Friday, October 14, 2011, by a group of museums meeting at the San Diego Zoo to discuss how museums can inform their communities about environmental challenges and inspire action. San Diego Zoo Global and the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership will engage museum, environmental and community leaders in roundtable discussions as part of a statewide initiative, titled Ignite! Museums as Catalysts for Sustainability. The goals are to explore the fundamental ecological issues facing each region and to seek ways in which museums can be partners in finding solutions to these challenges. The seven concurrent discussions will be connected virtually, and environmentalist, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken (www.paulhawken.com) will give the keynote address. For more information, see www.calmuseums.org/ignite.

 Ignite! Museums as Catalysts for Sustainability is spearheaded by the Green Museums Initiative, a program supported by the California Association of Museums. The regional roundtables will take place concurrently at seven host institutions: Sunnylands Center and Gardens in Rancho Mirage; San Diego Zoo; Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach; University of California, Merced, Library; California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco; Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences; and Gateway Science Museum in Chico. Each site is convening museum leaders, scientists, environmentalists, community stakeholders, and artists to discuss how to preserve ecosystems and promote healthy communities in their region. Artists participating in the regional roundtable discussions will create artworks for a statewide traveling exhibition by Exhibit Envoy (www.exhibitenvoy.org).