The Clean Water America Alliance will highlight seven major urban areas for green infrastructure innovations during the Urban Water Sustainability Leadership Conference at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia Dec. 6-7.

Leadership teams from Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Milwaukee, Portland (Ore.), San Francisco, New York City and Chicago will share innovations, strategies, and best practices for making green infrastructure the centerpiece of the urban water world. Sidebar conversations will be organized where small groups can strategize solutions for common obstacles.

In addition, leaders from the fields of philanthropy, water, sustainability, infrastructure, planning, politics, and science will identify the policy and system changes needed for substantive progress toward water sustainability.

Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter will open the event at noon on Dec. 6. Keynotes include Nancy Stoner, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. EPA Office of Water; and Vivian Chang, Director of State and Local Initiatives, Green for All. They will discuss how best practices in green infrastructure can ensure high-quality jobs and equitable access to new opportunities.

This event is supported in part by a grant from the William Penn Foundation and by CDM, the Philadelphia Water Department, Greeley and Hansen, Penn Institute for Urban Research, and the Wharton School Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership. Visit http://bit.ly/uwslc.