Transcript Twin Ports Early Adopter Project - UW

Twin Ports
Early Adopters
Project
Brown Bag Seminar
Duluth, Minnesota
March 4, 2008
Overview
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sustainable Twin Ports
Early Adopters Project
The Natural Step Framework
Why The Natural Step?
Early Adopters Basics
How Do You Get Involved?
Questions
Sustainable Twin Ports
Sustainable Twin Ports is dedicated to
furthering economic, environmental
and social sustainability in the Twin
Ports and western Lake Superior
region through education, networking
and action.
Why are we
talking about
sustainability
?
Our planet is in trouble
Growing awareness
What is an Early Adopter?
Early Adopters are respected and
representative community businesses
and organizations that make the
commitment to provide leadership by
introducing and using The Natural Step
Framework in their respective
organizations.
Early Adopters concept
Innovation-Diffusion Model
“Critical Mass”
Innovators
2.5%
Early
Adopters
13.5%
Early
Majority
34%
Late
Majority
34%
The Technology “T”
Laggards
16%
What are the benefits?
• Participation for up to five staff in a proven
sustainability training and action planning program
• Potential revenue opportunities and/or cost savings
as a result of identified actions and investments
• Ongoing support and coaching from sustainability
experts as the organization develops and implements its
sustainability action plan
• Participation in a Twin Ports peer learning network of
other Early Adopter organizations
What do Early Adopters commit to?
• To learn about and apply The Natural Step
framework in their organization.
• To commit time for staff to participate in the
program – approximately ten days of training and
planning sessions over the course of a year
• To produce and implement a sustainability action
plan for their organization
• To participate with other Early Adopters in promote
the lessons, stories, and benefits of their experience
The Natural Step
The Natural Step is an
international non-profit
research, education and
advisory organization that
uses a science-based,
systems framework to help
organizations, individuals
and communities take
meaningful steps toward
sustainability.
Who uses it?
Swedish Ecomunicipalities
City of Madision, WI
Understanding
the Sustainability Challenge
The Funnel as a Metaphor
The Sustainability Challenge
Resource availability and ecosystem ability to provide vital services
Raw materials, ecosystem services, declining
integrity and capacity of natural systems
Margin for
Action
Sustainable society
Society’s demand for resources
Growth in population, resource requirements as affluence increases, increased
demands as technology spreads
Source: Nattrass, Brian, and Altomare, Mary. The Natural Step for Business. New Society Publishers, 1999.
Dimensions of sustainability
Society
Economy Environment
society
economy
environment
The natural world is “the
envelope that contains,
sustains and provisions
the economy.”
Herman Daly
Ways we are un-sustainable
we dig stuff (like heavy metals and fossil fuels)
out of the Earth’s crust and allow it to build up
faster than nature can cope with it
we create man-made compounds and
chemicals (like pesticides and fire retardants
in carpets, etc.) and allow them to build up
faster than nature can cope with them
3
4
2
1
we continuously damage natural systems and
the free services they provide (including
climate regulation and water filtration) by
physical means (for example, overharvesting
and paving wetlands)
And . . .
we live in and create societies in which many
people cannot meet their basic needs (for
example, to find affordable housing)
Basic conditions for
sustainability
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically
increasing:
concentrations of substances extracted
from the earth's crust
concentrations of substances produced
by society
degradation by physical means
3
and, in that society…
4
2
1
people are not subject to conditions that
systematically undermine their capacity to
meet their needs.
Sustainability objectives
Reduce dependence on fossil
fuels, scarce metals, and minerals.
Reduce dependence on chemicals
and synthetic substances that can
accumulate in nature.
3
Reduce dependence on activities
that harm life-sustaining
ecosystems
4
2
1
Meet present and future human
needs fairly and efficiently.
Planning and action framework
“D” Step
Right direction?
Flexible Platform?
Return on
investment?
time
A growing movement
Community
stories
Swedish Eco-municipalities
An eco-municipality aspires to
develop an ecologically,
economically, and socially healthy
community for the long term,
using The Natural Step
Framework for sustainability as a
guide, and a democratic, highly
participative development
process as the method.
What’s happening in our area?
Eco-Municipality Resolutions
City of Washburn
City of Ashland
City of Madison
City of Bayfield
Town of Bayfield
Douglas County
Johnson Creek
City of Marshfield
City of Manitowoc
City of Neenah
City of Menasha
Town of Cottage Grove
La Crosse
La Crosse County
City Beloit
City of Baraboo
_________________________
Duluth, MN
Early Adopters Project Basics
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Twelve to fifteen Early Adopter organizations
Two to five participants per organization
Ten days of training over one year
Baseline evaluations
Developing a vision of a sustainable organization
Action planning and implementation
Documentation, peer learning, and sharing with
broader community
Key strengths
• Creation of local role models and
success stories that inspire rest of
community about sustainability
• Development of a shared understanding
of and language for sustainability among
leading organizations in the community or
area
Recruitment criteria
• Candidate organizations are recognized
community leaders;
• they have an interest in sustainability; and
• they collectively represent the breadth of
the community or area.
How do you get involved?
• Join Sustainable Twin Ports
• See if your organization is interested in
becoming an Early Adopter
• Tell someone about the Project Coordinator
position
• Invite someone to speak about the project or The
Natural Step
• Share information with others who might be
interested
Project support
A.H. Zeppa Family Foundation
Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation
Fund for the Environment
Wildey H. Mitchell Family Fund
For additional information
Sustainable Twin Ports Website
www.sustainabletwinports.org
Contact Persons
Jan Karon – 218-722-7200;
[email protected]
Jerry Hembd – 715-394-8208;
[email protected]
Thank You