Hawaiʻi Sustainability Summit Frequently Asked Questions
What was the goal of this year’s Hawaiʻi Sustainability Summit?
The 2022 Hawaiʻi Sustainability Summit was an invitation-only event with a clear vision and a specific goal - Building Partnerships for Policy.
Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth, Hawai’i Green Growth Local 2020, and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai’i invited community and business leaders to gather for a four day summit at Mauna Lani Resort to build connections and align on common policy goals. This year’s summit was an in-person event designed to build a set of legislative policy priorities around areas key to our sustainability and resilience. These policy priorities will inform advocacy for the upcoming legislative session and future sessions.
What was on the Summit agenda?
The summit started with a showcase day of panel discussions and an exchange of ideas, followed by two days of keynote speakers and working sessions to identify policy priorities, initiatives, and strategies for the coming legislative session. Area experts delivered keynotes on each of six focus areas, aligned with the Aloha+ Challenge goals:
Green Workforce and Education;
Natural Resource Management;
Local Food;
Clean Energy Transformation;
Solid Waste Reduction; and
Smart Sustainable Communities
Participants worked collaboratively in breakout groups to work through policy questions and legislative priorities and develop a proposed agenda of policy objectives for 2023 and beyond. The results of these conversations will be published immediately post-summit, and tracked publicly on a progress dashboard at www.hisustainabilitysummit.com.
Why was Summit attendance limited this year?
We know that face-to-face engagement is the most effective way to turn rhetoric into concrete action, which is why the Summit was an in-person event this year, as opposed to a virtual or hybrid conference. The limitations of event space capacity, as well as COVID-19 considerations around mass gatherings, meant some compromises were needed regarding the number of people we were able to accommodate in-person. Broad public participation remains critical, and we look to this summit as a milestone in the ongoing work of our communities to create a sustainable future for our islands.
How can the public access the Summit content and work products?
A summary of the policy priorities identified at the summit will be published immediately following the event, and made publicly available at www.hisustainabilitysummit.org, on Mayor Roth’s official social media channels, and made freely available to the media.
Our Sustainability Summit documentation team will be on site to ensure that key moments and educational resources shared are captured and made available to the general public. The week immediately following the summit, videos of the Summit panel presentations as well as a recap video for the summit as a whole will be made available.
We have invited journalists to cover the summit, and welcome additional inquiries and coverage requests - email christine@paakaicommunications.com to coordinate.
How is the Summit funded?
The 2022 Sustainability Summit is funded by donations and sponsorships, with no taxpayer funds allocated to the operational costs of the event.
The Summit is supported by the generous contributions of Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, and Arizona State University, with sponsorship by Alexander & Baldwin, Altres, American Savings Bank, Castle Resorts, Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi, Central Pacific Bank, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiian Electric, Hawaiʻi Gas, Hilo Medical Center, HEI Foundation, HPM Building Supply, Maunakea Observatories, SPC Hotels, Terraformation, Ulupono Initiative, Young Brothers, and private donors.
What are the long-term action plans to implement the work done at this year’s Summit?
Post-summit, we will continue to work together in order to advocate for meaningful policy change and track our collective progress through a legislative dashboard maintained by Hawaiʻi Green Growth, in concert with the Aloha+ Challenge. The coalition-building work that happened at the 2022 Sustainability Summit will carry forward into 2023 and beyond, as the participating organizations hui together to continue advancing the shared policy agenda priorities discussed at the Summit.