Sunday, I leave on a tour of Korea sponsored by the US Department of State's Economics, Trade and Global Issues office, to lead discussions and presentations on measuring and developing Green Cities.
It will be my first trip to Korea, and my packed schedule includes meeting and lecturing with officials from the United Nations, national government, including the Environmental Minister, mayors and other officials in four cities (Seoul, Busan, Seungnam and Changwon, "The Environmental Hub of Asia"), the Korean Land Corporation, The Korea Energy Research Institute, and professors and researchers from numerous Korean universities, including the pre-eminent Seoul National Unviersity.
Non-profits and non-governmental groups I'll have discussions with include the Korea Green Foundation, the Green Women Federation, Green Transport and the Eco Plan Research Center.
Looks like there's much interest in greening new development and greening existing cities in Korea. We'll see next week how much of that interest translates into tangible progress.
I also am meeting with Cisco officials on their "Connected Urban Development" initiative, which provides PDAs with transport information in Seoul, as well as communications tools for plit projects in Amsterdam and San Francisco.
More to come while in Korea, or upon my return next Saturday.
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