This Planet's Going South

Can South by Southwest save the planet? On June 27, SXSW Conferences and Festivals announced the latest addition to its portfolio: SXSW Eco, a three-day conference concentrating on sustainability through technology, education, and research. The conference, scheduled for Oct. 4-6 at the Austin Hilton, follows the model of the education-oriented SXSWedu in targeting professionals and advocates in the field. United Nations Foundation associate director and SXSW Eco advisory board member Robert Skinner said SXSW's experience in "provid[ing] an environment that creates the kind of informal opportunity for the exchange of ideas ... could be very helpful in moving the agenda forward on these critical issues of sustainability." (Full disclosure: SXSW is partly owned and run by Chronicle Publisher Nick Barbaro and Editor Louis Black.) Regis­tra­tion is open, and the conference is soliciting proposals for panel topics and presentations via www.sxsweco.com.