<nettime> PLANETWORK Conference, May 12-14

["Jonathan Evelegh" <je@wordsworld.net>]

PLANETWORK Presents IT/Ecology Conference at the Presidio

San Francisco----A high-tech group working to develop solutions to the 
global ecological crisis announces 
<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK, a conference to focus on 
what some might call the unlikely intersection of two worlds: 
information technology and global ecology. 
<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK takes place May 12-14, 2000 
in the San Francisco Presidio's Golden Gate Club.

The explosion of digital information technology is transforming the 
way we inhabit and perceive the earth. At the same time, environmental 
degradation continues at a staggering scale and speed. 
<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK will explore how the creative 
application of digital tools - scientific visualization, interactive 
databases, GIS-based systems and computational modeling, as well as 
the Internet itself - can help reverse the damage and open up new 
possibilities for environmental activism and positive global change.

"This conference is the first of its kind and is not just about 
theory," says Jim Fournier, one of the 
<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK founders. "We are creating a 
forum to showcase how digital tools are being used today to help the 
environment and to inspire new scientific collaborations and 
sustainable business projects."

<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK will feature both local and 
international experts from a wide range of disciplines and vocations - 
science, technology, business, green politics & activism, and the 
arts. Featured speakers include Kevin Kelly (Wired), Julia Butterfly 
Hill (tree-sitter & green activist), Gloria Brown Simmons (MIT Center 
for Advanced Visual Studies), Meredith Lane, (biologist, Academy of 
Natural Science), Eduardo Kac (Art Institute of Chicago), Tyler Volk 
(Professor of Biology, NYU; NASA), Pierre Levy (Hypermedia, University 
of Paris-VIII), John Helly (Supercomputer Center; UC San Diego), Adam 
Werbach (Sierra Club, past president), John Delaney (U of WA; Neptune 
Project), Char Davies (digital artist), Elisabeth Sahtouris 
(biologist, futurist), Duane Elgin, Brian Swimme, Ralph Abraham, and 
David Rothenberg.

Emphasizing <http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK's international 
scope, <http://www.planetworkers.org/presenters/liao_s.html>Sheri 
Xiaoyi Liao, founder and president of Global Village Beijing, will 
address the conference as a keynote speaker on "Chinese Civil Society 
Development and the Environmental Movement." In 1996, Liao founded 
Global Village Beijing (GVB), a leading non-profit in China's small 
but growing environmental movement, with the mission of educating the 
Chinese people about sustainable development. In addition to 
organizing grass roots community environmental initiatives, including 
China's first-ever recycling campaign, GVB produces "Time for 
Environment," the only independently produced environmental TV program 
broadcast nationally in China.

"In China, the people believe that environmental protection is solely 
the responsibility of the government," says Liao. "We hope that in 
educating the Chinese people about ecological issues, we can begin to 
show them that all people can be protectors of the environment." By 
participating in <http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK, Liao hopes 
both to share the techniques of her successes and to find American 
information technology and business professionals who want to support 
her vision for sustainable development in China.

Complementing Liao's address in the keynote session, 
<http://www.planetworkers.org/presenters/hauser_j.html>Jan Hauser, 
visionary Principal Architect for Sun Microsystems will speak on 
"Defending the Internet from Commercial Information Pollution." The 
evening will be rounded out by famed cyberpunk author, 
<http://www.planetworkers.org/presenters/sterling_b.html>Bruce 
Sterling, talking about the Viridian Green Movement, an art movement 
he founded this year with a radically innovative and engaging agenda.

<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK co-founder and conference 
co-director, Elizabeth Thompson comments on the unusual and 
provocative mix of presenters, "In a climate of increasingly 
specialized web-based 'community,' we are bringing together innovative 
people, who might not ordinarily be found in the same place, to meet, 
enrich and inspire each other."

For more details, please check the 
<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK website at 
<http://%20www.planetworkers.org>http:// www.planetworkers.org.
For a complete schedule, go to 
http://www.planetworkers.org/mayschedule.html.
Register online at http://www.planetworkers.org/registration.html.

Contact <http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK at 415-436-0123 
(voicemail), 415-621-7790 (fax).

For press passes or other press services, please contact either:

Cate Gable
Marketing and PR Director
for The <http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK Conference
President
<http://www.axioun.com>Axioun Communications Intl.
3035 Ellis Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
510-644-0193 voice
510-644-0194 fax
<mailto:cgable@axioun.com>cgable@axioun.com
<http://www.axioun.com>www.axioun.com

Jonathan Evelegh
PR Assistant
for The <http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK Conference
510-233-8349
<mailto:je@wordsworld.net>je@wordsworld.net

<http://www.planetworkers.org>PLANETWORK is a project of Social and 
Environmental 

#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net