April 9, 2013—The University of Utah celebrates Earth Day with a full week of festivities focusing on sustainability measures and environmental topics. Beginning Monday, April 15, faculty, staff and students are encouraged to participate in activities to preserve the Earth’s land, air and water.

The highlight of the celebration will be the keynote lecture by Richard Register, founder and president of EcoCity Builders and one of the world’s foremost experts on ecological city planning. He will speak on April 16 in the auditorium of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. His talk will focus on the opportunities for cities to contribute to humanity’s creative and compassionate evolution of a healthy planet. Register has written many books, including “Ecocities: Building Cities in Balance of Nature.” Following the talk, there will be a reception and a showing of the glacier documentary “Chasing Ice.”

“Richard Register has spent decades informing new generations of city builders about the critical demands of our time, while simultaneously illuminating opportunities for creating cities that perform sustainably, where quality of life and environmental stewardship are aligned,” says Stephen Goldsmith, associate professor of city and metropolitan planning. “His working knowledge of how we can create places where our resources are utilized in balanced ways allows us to visualize Earth’s healthy potential rather than mourn its demise.”

On Thursday, April 18 from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. there will be a campus-wide Earth Day celebration on the Union Plaza featuring on-campus and off-campus environmental organizations. There will be a bike parade, bike maintenance shop, library giveaways, street performers and a solar DJ.

For more information and a list of events, visit http://umc.utah.edu/earth-week-2013.