Conferences

 

The Center for Business and the Environment at Yale is hosting a weeklong course on conservation finance to be held June 25-29, 2007 on Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut.

 

The course will be an in-depth examination of private and public conservation finance. It will survey traditional and cutting edge funding techniques for raising philanthropic funds, public capital and private investment for land conservation, focusing on useful, hands-on tools for conservation practitioners. The course will feature many experienced guest speakers in addition to a knowledgeable core faculty. Speakers will offer case studies in such emerging topics as ecosystem service payments, conservation investment firms, public bond initiatives, and natural resource damage assessments.

Confirmed speakers include: Peter Howell (Open Space Institute), Ernest Cook (Trust for Public Land), Matt Pearson (Morgan Stanley) Michael Catania (Conservation Resources, Inc.), Nancy Perlson (Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust), Michael Dowling (Colorado Conservation Trust), Mark Schaffer (Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), Pat Coady (Coady Diemar Partners), and Jim Levitt (Harvard Forest). The core faculty for the course includes: Brad Gentry (Center for Business and the Environment at Yale), Peter Stein (Lyme Timber Company), and Story Clark (Conservation Consulting).

 

This highly interactive course will offer attendees the opportunity to combine the multiple techniques often required to successfully fund conservation transactions, as well as to seek advice on their own conservation projects from experts in the field. The course will include a field trip and time to network with experienced conservation leaders.

 

Course sponsors include: The Center for Business and the Environment at Yale, the Land Trust Alliance, Island Press, and Conservation Finance Innovations Network.

More information about the event can be found on the Land Trust Alliance website.

 

Tuition for the five-day course is $1000, including local transportation and meals. While participants are responsible for their own lodging, a block of rooms has been reserved at the New Haven Hotel (http://www.newhavenhotel.com/) at the Yale rate ($115/night) for those who are interested. Tuition is due upon registration.

 

For more information or to register, please contact Amy Badner, Senior Administrative Assistant, Center for Business and the Environment at Yale, at 203-432-5887 (amy.badner@yale.edu). Interest is expected to be high. Registration will be on a first-come first-served basis.