BioInspired! So What? Now What!

Understanding the Past and Promoting a Sustainable Future”

This is a “Call for Abstracts for Oral Presentations, Posters and Electronic Demonstrations” for the National Training Conference on the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Environmental Conditions in Communities that will be held on April 11-13, 2012, in Washington, D.C., at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. This year’s conference will focus on pollution prevention (P2) and using Toxics Release Inventory data to promote sustainability. It will also include sessions on environmentaldata and conditions and trends in ecological and human health.

It is important to note that this Call for Abstracts uses a broader definition of “sustainability” which incorporates not only environmental components but also social and economic attributes. For example, sustainability may include the use of TRI data in analyzing children’s public health in a community or the use of TRI data to construct a product responsibility business model where sustainability is addressed early in the product lifecycle.

Co-sponsors of this year's conference — The Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)— invite you to submit an abstract for oral presentations, posters and electronic demonstrations following the theme of "Understanding the Past and Promoting a Sustainable Future.”

Abstracts will be accepted through November 19, 2011. This is your opportunity to present knowledge, share experiences, and voice expectations and aspirations related to TRI topics and your vision for a sustainable future.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Industry achievements and economic benefits of P2 initiatives
• External influences on industry behavior (e.g. TRI reporting consumer behavior, Global Reporting Initiative)
• Measuring and assessing corporate sustainability using TRI data alone or with other data
• TRI influences on corporate research and development
• Challenges to achieving sustainability
• Providing information to data users through effective partnerships, innovative tools, and outreach (e.g. E3 Program, CARE grants)
• How Federal programs are promoting sustainability (e.g. Green Chemistry; Office of Sustainable Communities; Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics; Dept. of Defense; Dept. of Energy)
• TRI, P2, and toxics reduction programs in localities, states, and Tribes
• Current research on toxics reduction and sustainability
• Improving public awareness and use of TRI
• Improving understanding of environmental and health conditions in communities through use of TRI data