Next Event
Envisioning a New “Water Ethic” for the Engineering Community
Virtual Preview – April 22, 2025
In-Person Summit – June 4-5 2025 (Tentative), Arizona St. University, Tempe, AZ
Climate change, population and economic growth, equity concerns, and new demands from emerging technologies, as well as legacy issues flowing from past infrastructure failures and shortcomings are transforming society’s ability to satisfy fundamental needs for clean water and sanitation.
These dynamics signal the advent of what author Peter Glieck calls “The Third Age of Water.” This “new age” presents a pressing obligation for the engineering community to fully manifest its commitment to a new “water ethic” as guidance for its stewardship of this vital natural resource on behalf of society.
A two-hour virtual preview will highlight the emergence of this “water ethic.” The following two-day, in-person summit will take a deep dive into what that ethic might look like, and inquire into a set of key imperatives present as this new water age unfolds, including:
- Catalyzing a shift toward a “water conscious culture.” Making water more “visible” and fostering water stewardship.
- Recognizing the “true value (cost) of water.” Moving beyond traditional beneficial use metrics.
- Prioritizing water insecurity and the needs of underserved communities. Addressing affordability challenges and disconnects in funding.
- Confronting driving forces and new demands reshaping water supply and demand such as:
- The explosion of demand driven by AI and other hi-tech developments.
- Climate change, resilience and implementation of net zero and de-carbonization strategies in the water industry.
The summit will conclude by envisioning what water engineers will be celebrated for as they guide society toward a regenerative future in this new age of water.
2025 Events
Cities and Urbanization: Challenges of the 21st Century
Virtual Preview – October 7, 2025
In-Person Summit – November 2025, Tampa, FL
Cities are at the same time the largest technologies humans make and the most complex living systems humans occupy. This summit will take a deep dive into the promises, perils, and paradoxes of the on-going transformation of cities and urban systems in the United States and explore the necessary role that the engineering community plays as stewards, guiding and shaping that evolution for the benefit of society.
The summit will inquire into transformational forces that will reshape urban environments in the next quarter century, such as:
- Remote work and other legacy conditions of the pandemic.
- New urban mobility and transportation technologies.
- Climate change imperatives.
- Sustainability and resilient infrastructure.
- Housing and homelessness.
- Smart cities and other disruptive technologies (AI).
- Social justice and equity challenges.
- Resource, environmental, and social stresses.
- Regenerative and circular economy approaches to urban transformation.
Learning Objectives for 2025 Summits
Our learning objectives for participants in both 2025 summits include helping members of the engineering community to be able to:
- Perceive and address systemic challenges and dynamics.
- Imagine and explore possible futures.
- Take responsibility for action and catalyzing change.
- Pursue positive change strategies within organizations and communities.
- Adopt and evolve an ethic of stewardship of technology and nature on behalf of society.
About Our Events
Each year, Engineering Change Lab–USA (ECL) hosts virtual summits and in-person summits. We convene to learn from thought leaders, share perspectives, provoke new ways of thinking, deepen understanding of engineering’s emerging future, and launch experiments and focused initiatives.
Contact us to learn more about how you or your organization can engage with and benefit from ECL events.
Anyone who is connected to the engineering community is welcome to join us — no membership is required.
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