Walden University Hosts Conference with Focus on Sustainability and Social Change

Minneapolis—July 11, 2007—More than 1,000 national and local social change leaders, doctoral students, faculty and alumni will converge in Minneapolis on July 19 and 20 to participate in the third annual Conference on Social Change hosted by Walden University, an accredited online institution. The theme of this year’s conference is “Sustainability and Social Change: Uncommon Vision for the Common Good.”

The two-day event will feature workshops, lectures, documentary films, art performances and presentations on sustainable development, population growth, environmental justice and other topics. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., author and environmentalist, will give the keynote address titled “Our Environmental Destiny.”

“Through this conference, we will highlight ways in which scholars, practitioners and community activists promote positive social change through their work by relying on sustainability as a core principle,” said Jonathan A. Kaplan, JD, interim president of Walden University. “The conference also aligns with Walden University’s mission of effecting positive social change, since the scope and diversity of the presentations address a number of important issues facing society today.”

Additional featured speakers include:

• Brian Kelly, editor, U.S. News & World Report, Media and Coverage of Sustainability Issues
• Winona LaDuke, Native American environmentalist, Environmental Justice from the Native Perspective
• Howard Berkes, Rural Affairs Correspondent, National Public Radio, Sustaining the Smallest Places: Stories from the Rural Road
• Jessica and Matt Flannery, co-founders, KIVA.org, Loans that Change Lives: Global Economic Sustainability
• Arvonne Fraser, senior fellow emerita of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota; Donald M. Fraser, former mayor of Minneapolis and former U.S. representative, Minnesota’s 5th District; William J. Holayter, political and legislative activist; and Amy Isaacs, national director of the Americans for Democratic Action, Sustainability or Compromising the Future

Presentations, workshops and lectures include: Environmental Justice; Clean Energy Now: How Grassroots Organizing Changes Communities; Sustainable Globalization; The Population Connection to Sustaining the Environment; and From Farm to Table: Challenges of Creating Sustainable Food Systems.

Tours of sustainability activities in the Twin Cities area will include The Green Institute, The Big Back Yard at the Science Museum of Minnesota, Farm in the City Garden Tour and the White Bear Racquet and Swim Club.

The Conference on Social Change will take place on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and is open to the public. The registration fee is $75. To register, email [email protected].

For more information about the conference, go to www.WaldenU.edu/conference.

About Walden University
Since 1970, Walden University has offered working professionals the opportunity to earn advanced degrees through distance learning. Today, this comprehensive, accredited online university offers master’s and doctoral degrees in education, psychology, management, public policy and administration, and health and human services, as well as master’s programs in engineering and IT and bachelor’s completion programs in business. Walden University is a member of the Laureate International Universities network, the largest global network of accredited campus-based and online universities. For more information, visit www.WaldenU.edu.

Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, www.hlcommission.org; 1-312-263-0456.

The University of Minnesota is not affiliated in any way with Walden University or the activities conducted by Walden University on the University of Minnesota campus. All classes, lectures and other offerings for the event are the product of Walden University. The relationship between the University of Minnesota and Walden University is solely that of a licensor and licensee.