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| The
2016 Annual Conference marks the 102nd Annual Conference the League
has hosted since 1913! Today’s attendees were able to look into the past and see all the participants from the first conference in this photo. |
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| Brooklyn
Park was one of three cities that received a 2016 Alliance for Innovation
award. John Nerge accepted the award which recognized Brooklyn Park’s innovative GIS mapping system that connects technology and the community. |
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| Garry
Golden kicked off the 2016 Annual Conference by looking into the future,
encouraging government officials to observe present trends and technologies, and then asking them to think of how they can turn them into innovative ideas for the next ten years and beyond! |
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| There
was standing room only—and overflow out into the hall—during Peter Kageyama’s
educational session on building lovable communities for every age. Participants were encouraged to think about the things that make their communities unique and what inspires love for communities in their citizens, and write love notes to and about their communities. |
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| Representatives
from the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield, Northpoint Clinic,
Hennepin County, and the Minneapolis Bike Coalition discuss health equity in Minnesota and how health outcomes are impacted by where people live and their access to transportation. |
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| Who’s
at this year’s conference? During the interactive GreenStep Cities panel,
participants shared what city they were representing. |
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| GreenStep
Cities participants attended a panel on climate change. The panelists, from
left to right, are Elizabeth Kautz, mayor of Burnsville, Anne Hunt, environmental policy director for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Brendon Slotterback, McKnight Foundation program officer, and moderator Jessica Hellmann from the Institute on the Environment-University of Minnesota. Panelists discussed how climate change is impacting Minnesota cities, and what they and other Minnesota city officials are doing to work toward a solution. |
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| Local
government officials took part in an activity presented by Durham County Soil
and Water, based in North Carolina, that let them play the roles of county managers, landowners, and schools in an exercise highlighting energy and sustainability. |
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| Karen
Thoreson, executive director with the Alliance of Innovation, and Dave Unmacht,
League of Minnesota Cities executive director, spent some time meeting with local government officials and testing official’s city knowledge at the League’s City Spot booth in the exhibit hall. See a recap and photos from Day 2 of the conference See a recap and photos from Day 3 of the conference |