The Executive Symposium marked the first organized effort to bring together business professionals and experts in sustainable coastal resort  and second home design, construction, financing, as well as management of sustainable recreational activities. Our goal was to facilitate discussion of innovative practices and technologies, as well as obstacles and challenges in areas of social and environmental sustainability, and to help solidify these innovators into a more cohesive and interactive network.

This Executive Symposium was designed for developers, architects, hoteliers, bankers and investors, and other business executives committed to or interested in pursuing new models of marine, coastal, and island development. Participants in the symposium also include officials from key consumer organizations, development organizations, NGOs, and faculty from Stanford University. Click here to see the list of Participating Innovators!

The geographic focus was coastal and marine areas in the Americas, specifically Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States (including Hawaii and Puerto Rico). Specific attention was given to two major challenges: the current global economic recession and climate change. These challenges are impacting all types of coastal development, and sustainable alternative models hold a key to creative techniques to help mitigate the economic downturn and climate change.