LA Climate Tech Events: Feb 12 - 19
LA Climate Tech Events: Feb 12 - 19
Super Bowl climate hangover, NZA Demo Day, UCLA Energy Innovation Conference - and more!
Hi friends,
Feeling the climate hungover after Super Bowl Sunday? Despite the thrilling game and Usher’s halftime performance, it's hard to ignore the stark reality: the NFL's deep-rooted connections to the fossil fuel industry are concerning and the show reflects the overarching influence of corporate forces. Moreover, a staggering 1,000 private aircraft were expected at Las Vegas airports yesterday, underscoring the environmental impact of such mega-events. These realities are significant in the context of climate change.
Here's one way to cure it: by shifting the focus on what matters the most, climate action! Here are our picks for this week:
On Tuesday, celebrate 2024 Black History Month and attend 🏡 Green Roots, Black Leaders: Celebrating Urban Farming & Climate Resilience, organized by The Niles Foundation in partnership with WLAC's BSU and Center for Climate Change.
Attend the ⚡ Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) Annual Demo Day on Thursday! More information and a few words from Colin Mangham, Director, Corporate Sustainability & Innovation, USGBC-LA below.
On Friday, don’t miss the 🔋 UCLA Energy Innovation Conference. Scroll down to hear from Nathan Hillis, VP of Conferences, Energy and Cleantech Association.
As always, scroll down for the full list of upcoming events.
Cheers,
Maëlys & The Climate Tech Cities Team
🌎 Climate Tech Cities and Streetlife Ventures Startup and Talent Platforms
Climate Tech Cities and Streetlife Ventures are launching new platforms to support climate founders, funders, and career transitioners! There is no shortage of great companies raising money for their groundbreaking ideas, great investors looking to support with capital, and great talent living the mantra that every job is a climate job. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Events in Focus
⚡ Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) Annual Demo Day
When: Thu, Feb 15th from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Where: La Kretz Innovation Campus, 525 S Hewitt St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
This annual USGBC-LA event is one of the most compelling, featuring live and interactive demonstrations from the NZA 2023 cohort, updates from NZA alumni, and an intro to companies in the SoCal CleanTech Express program with the Consulate General of Canada.
The opening keynote with David Hertz, architect and entrepreneur, will be followed by a panel discussion on the importance and development of public-private partnerships in scaling the adoption of vital innovation in the built environment. It will be completed with interactive, virtual breakouts for solution-focused deep dives as well as opportunities to connect on pilot projects featured in the NZA Pilot Flight Manual.
This is a hybrid event, with keynote, panel discussions, and some demos in-person integrated with virtual demos from around the US and Canada. Light lunch and refreshments will be served in the event space at the La Kretz Innovation Campus in downtown Los Angeles. Join us!
“The NZA Demo Day is a bright shining light on my events calendar. It highlights our months of collaboration with innovative young companies, and communicates to our community, including potential pilot partners, that net zero solutions are available here and now. Moreover, especially for lifelong learners like me who are passionate about green building, it offers a unique perspective to obtain vital insights from exceptional leaders at the intersection of sustainability and innovation.”
- Colin Mangham, Director, Corporate Sustainability & Innovation, USGBC-LA
🔋 Energy Innovation Conference at UCLA
When: Fri, Feb 16th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Where: UCLA Anderson School of Management
What are leaders in energy and sustainability focused on now and over the next decade? Discover the innovation and opportunities that surround the cleantech space at the 9th annual Energy Innovation Conference on February 16th, 2024, hosted by UCLA Anderson’s Energy and Cleantech Association and Center for Impact.
Immerse yourself in this year's theme of "Accelerating Cleantech Innovation" and gain valuable perspectives as industry and public sector leaders discuss practical plans for innovation and adoption. Join this electrifying event to observe how these leaders are contributing to an important era of energy transition, influencing the landscape through 2030 and beyond!
“We want to expand the footprint of UCLA Anderson’s growing cohort of climate focused MBAs and provide great connections and learning opportunities for the LA community at large. Are you a Cleantech/Energy professional, or aspiring to work in climate and have an interest in cleantech solutions? Join the event and hear from industry leaders across the climate spectrum, from hydrogen to AI, discuss how they are accelerating innovation towards a carbon free world. There has never been more people at UCLA interested in cleantech and sustainability, and there has never been a better time to get involved in the solution to climate change.”
- on behalf of the organizing team, Nathan Hillis, VP of Conferences, Energy and Cleantech Association
Opportunities
Apply now for the 2024 Cleantech Open Accelerator (Due April 14th)
Cleantech Open is the largest cleantech accelerator, providing entrepreneurs and corporate innovators resources to launch and grow successful cleantech businesses. CTO has built a robust innovation ecosystem over the last 20 years of programming that spans key cleantech innovation hubs in the U.S., linking labs and universities, service providers, investors, corporations, governments, and other cleantech incubators and accelerators. CTO’s annual accelerator helps 100-150 companies in the U.S. each year with a rich program of customer discovery, extensive mentoring, training, investor meetings, startup-corporate matching, and showcasing at both the regional and national levels. Learn more about the program, the eligibility criteria and the application process.
Rolling Deadlines and Upcoming
📈 LACI's Founders Business Accelerator (Due February 13)
🌎 LA2050 Grants Challenge (Due February 28)
🚀 Rocket Fund, CalTech (Due March 1)
⚙️ 2024 Cleantech Open Accelerator (Due April 14)
Events This Week
🏡 Green Roots, Black Leaders: Celebrating Urban Farming & Climate Resilience: Tue, Feb 13
🎨 It moves forward, always | Gallery opening: Tue, Feb 13
⚡ Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) Annual Demo Day: Thu, Feb 15
🔋 Energy Innovation Conference at UCLA: Fri, Feb 16
🍀 Eat the Weeds! Invasive Plant Foraging Walk + Salad + ID: Sat, Feb 17
🍄 Wild mushroom identification walk: Sat, Feb 17
🐦 Family Bird Festival 2024: Sun, Feb 18
Read on for more details about this week’s happenings.
Upcoming Events
🍻 Cleantech Open Kick-Off Event: Tue, Feb 20
🏢 USGBC-LA Member Mixer: Wed, Feb 21
💼 LA Green Jobs - Virtual Career & Resource Fair: Wed, Feb 21
🙌 2024 YES Summit: Tue, Feb 22
🌾 Sowing the Seeds of Change: A Lecture on Native Plants and Sustainability: Tue, Feb 22
🍃 Understanding Oaks: a Tree Walk and Talk: Fri, Feb 23
🦉 TreePeople Moonlight Hike: Fri, Feb 23
🏞 Habitat Restoration Day: Sat, Feb 24
🛶 River Session #2 Elysian Valley/ Frogtown: Sat, Feb 24
🐜 Soil Safari: Sat, Feb 24
🏄♀️ Open House: Sustainable Surf: Sat, Feb 24
💧 Tour of Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility: Sat, Feb 24
💬 Pico Rivera Climate Action Plan Community Conversation: Sat, Feb 24
🌿 Reading the Weeds: Sun, Feb 25
📊 Environmental Resilience Technology, Sustainable Solutions Using Value-Added Analytics in a Changing World: Wed, Feb 28
🌰 UCLA Botany Brown Bag: Why Trees Go Nuts: Thu, Feb 29
🚚 Zero Emission Ride & Drive: Fri, Mar 1
🎞️ USC Eco Film + Media Arts Fest: Fri, Mar 1
🥾 Guided Hike at Weir Canyon: Sat, Mar 2
🐝 Native Bees: Tue, Mar 5
👥 Climate Day at Expo West 2024: Tue, Mar 12
🎥 Common Ground Film Screening and Panel Discussion: Tue, Mar 12
🏗️ Clean Concrete Roundtable: Wed, Mar 13
Event Details
🎨 It moves forward, always | Gallery opening
When: Tue, Feb 13th from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Where: Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840
It moves forward, always explores photography’s ability to connect and reveal multiple timelines: geologic, social, imagined, or historical. The exhibition brings together nine artists including Laura Aguilar, Ilana Harris-Babou, Pao Houa Her, Sky Hopkina, Tom Jones, Hasabie Kidanu, Tarrah Krajnak, Dionne Lee, and Daniel Ramos whose lived experiences and critical perspectives engage themes surrounding land, place, and memory. Whether excavating historical traces in the natural world, giving architectural shape to latent memory, or performing within the complexities of the landscape, this inter-generational group of artists offers ways for sensorial and embodied engagements with time. We invite you to view the artists’ work with an openness not limited by the lens of curatorial vision, but by the ability of the works to communicate visually and be expanded by other works throughout the exhibition. We encourage museum viewers to experience the unresolved, revel in the poetic, and arrive at multiple possible meanings.
⚡ Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) Annual Demo Day
When: Thu, Feb 15th from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM
Where: La Kretz Innovation Campus, 525 South Hewitt Street Los Angeles, CA 90013
US Green Building Council- Los Angeles (USGBC-LA) and the Net Zero Accelerator (NZA) invite you to Demo Day 2024. This annual event is, featuring live and interactive demonstrations from our NZA 2023 cohort, updates from NZA alumni.
🔋 Energy Innovation Conference at UCLA
When: Fri, Feb 16th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Where: UCLA Anderson School of Management
What are leaders in energy and sustainability focused on now and over the next decade? Discover the innovation and opportunities that surround the cleantech space at the 9th annual Energy Innovation Conference on February 16th, 2024, hosted by UCLA Anderson’s Energy and Cleantech Association and Center for Impact.
🍀 Eat the Weeds! Invasive Plant Foraging Walk + Salad + ID
When: Sat, Feb 17th from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
Where: Elysian Park Arboretum, 1025 Elysian Park Drive Los Angeles, CA 90012
Winter and the rainy season bring the return of non-native, and invasive weeds that crowd out the native plants that are extra beneficial to our local ecosystem. But here's the thing though, many of them are also edible! By eating them we can help the natural ecosystem--from bugs to birds to bears--survive a little easier. In this workshop and easy hike we will learn about both the native and invasive plants growing throughout Elysian Park, practice plant identification skills to know what is edible and what is not, gather various invasive edible plants along a 2 mile walk, and at the end put them all together to enjoy a wild, foraged, hyper-locally-sourced salad. Jason Wise is a certified California naturalist, professional outdoor environmental educator, a native plant daddy, and prolific tree hugger. Let's go learn in nature together!
🍄 Wild mushroom identification walk
When: Sat, Feb 17th from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Where: Topanga, CA 90290
Join us for an exciting adventure in Topanga, CA! Get ready to explore the fascinating world of wild mushrooms on this in-person event. Our experienced guide will take you on a memorable journey through the beautiful surroundings, sharing their knowledge of mushroom identification, and mushroom ecology along the way.
🐦 Family Bird Festival 2024
When: Sun, Feb 18th from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Where: California Botanic Garden1, 500 N College Avenue, Claremont CA 91711
Fly, hop, waddle or soar to the Garden for the Family Bird Festival. Enjoy a day outdoors with hands-on experiences and educational opportunities for young beginners and bird enthusiasts alike, presented in partnership with Pomona Valley Audubon Society. Highlights include fun bird crafts, an immersive migration game, and booths from our friends at the International Bird Rescue, Friends of California Condors Wild and Free, San Dimas Canyon Nature Center, Alf Museum of Paleontology, CalPoly Pomona Urban Wildlife Lab, and more! Grab a treat, stay for lunch, and get involved with some community science at the Great Backyard Bird Count stations scattered throughout the Garden.