Conference - Beyond Coal - Building Healthy Communities in Appalachia: April 28-29

Conference - Beyond Coal - Building Healthy Communities in Appalachia
April 28-29
Hindman Settlement School

On Friday and Saturday April 28 and 29 Mountain Justice Summer and the University of Kentucky Committee for Social Theory will be hosting a conference titled Beyond Coal: Building Healthy Communities in Appalachia at the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, Ky.

The conference will begin on Friday, April 28 at 4:30 PM and will continue until Saturday evening. We invite you to attend as we discuss and think through the state of the Appalachian economy and its development beyond coal.

It is important at this time that we begin to formulate and imagine the Appalachian community without the coal economy. Just as with oil and natural gas, experts now predict a "peak" for coal production in the foreseeable future. This conference seeks to discuss the challenges facing Appalachians as economies based on coal transition in the future. We seek to answer the question: What does Appalachia do after coal?

Dr. Richard Couto of Antioch University will present the keynote address. Dr. Couto is the author of Making Democracy Work Better which examines grassroots organizations in the Appalachian region for their experience in providing social safety nets, fighting environmental assaults, upgrading education and job skills, and improving employment opportunities. He has been involved in community development in Appalachia since 1975 when he became director of the Center for Health Services at Vanderbilt University.

In addition to his teaching and research, he has developed programs to demonstrate the role of higher education in regional development and has traveled to Iraq twice recently to help establish partnerships between US and Iraqi institutions in health care, medical education, elementary and higher education, and the preservation of Iraq's cultural heritage.

Other topics at this conference will include sustainable rural economies, small business development, sustainable forestry, funding programs, organic farming and lean manufacturing. Please join us for an engaging line-up of speakers, work shops and discussions.

The conference cost is very very low!

For more info contact:

Brandon Absher
(859) 523-3231
dbabsh0@uky.edu

Mountain Justice Summer
University of Kentucky Committee for Social Theory

Dave Cooper
Mountaintop Removal Road Show
608 Allen Ct.
Lexington KY 40505
(859) 299-5669

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