the natural step and the twin ports early adopter project presentation to open world delegation...
TRANSCRIPT
The Natural Step and the Twin Ports
Early Adopter Project
Presentation to Open World DelegationDuluth, Minnesota October 13, 2008
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 Eco-municipalities
City of Madision, WI
The Natural Step Framework
1. A shared science- and systems-based definition for sustainability
2. A decision-making framework and process to help organizations and communities plan for sustainability
3. A compass to help us know if we’re moving in the right direction
Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt
Find fundamental principles of indisputable relevance, and thereafter ask the advice of others on how to apply them.
Why are we talking about sustainability
?
Only One Planet
Our Planet Is in Trouble
Growing Awareness
What is Sustainability?
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
~ The Brundtland Report
“It contains two key concepts: the concept of “needs,” in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”
~ The Brundtland Report
environmenteconomy
society
Dimensions of Sustainability
Society
Economy Environment
Conventional Thinking
Traditionally, we try to understand complex systems by reducing the whole and studying the individual parts.
This is called reductionist thinking.
Systems Thinking
But…
We know that the properties of systems depend on the relationships between the parts as much as the parts themselves.
When you dissect the system, you destroy the pattern of relationships.
We mustWe must
look atlook at
the whole ...the whole ...
… … and notand not
get stuckget stuck
on detailson details
Systems Thinking
Understanding the Sustainability Challenge
The Funnel as a Metaphor
Resource Funnel
Resource Availability and Ecosystem Ability to Provide Vital Services Raw materials, ecosystem services,
declining integrity and capacity of natural systems
SustainabilityMargin for
Action
Societal 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.
Supporting
• Nutrient cycling
• Soil formation
• Primary production
Provisioning
• Food
• Freshwater
• Wood and fibre
• Fuel
Regulating
• Climate regulation
• Flood regulation
• Disease regulation
• Water purification
Cultural
• Aesthetics
• Spiritual
• Educational
• Recreational
Ecosystem Services
Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Washington, DC: Island Press.
The Sustainability Challenge
A Systems Perspective
The Earth as a system
What can we agree on?
Closed System with respect to matter
Slow geological cycles - materials from the Earth’s crust
Open System with respect to energy
Sustainability is about the ability of these cycles to run forever.
“Photosynthesis pays the bills”
1) Nothing disappears2) Everything disperses
How we influence cycles
Introduce persistent compounds foreign to nature
2
Physically inhibit ability of nature to run cycles
3
Relatively large flows of materials from the Earth’s crust
1
Barriers to people meeting their basic needs
4
Basic Conditions for Sustainability
concentrations of substances extracted from the earth's crust
concentrations of substances produced by society
degradation by physical means
and, in that society…
people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:
43
2
1
FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN NEEDS
AffectionProtection
Understanding
Participation
Subsistence
Freedom
Identity Idleness
Creation
Global Human Needs
Sustainability Objective 1
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to the buildup of materials taken from the Earth’s crust. This includes fossil fuels and their associated wastes.
Scarce metals Abundant metals
Fossil fuels Renewables
Inefficient use Efficient use
Dissipative use Tight technical cycles
Sustainability Objective 2
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to the buildup of synthetic substances produced by society.
Dissipative use
Persistent and unnatural
Abundant and breakdown easily
Tight technical cycles
Inefficient use Efficient use
Sustainability Objective 3
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to the ongoing physical degradation of Nature.
Inefficient use of resources and land
Resources from poorly managed ecosystems
Resources from well-managed ecosystems use
Efficient use of resources and land
Sustainability Objective 4
Unsafe working and living environments
Economic barriers
Safe working and living environments
Sufficient resources for livelihood
Political oppression Political freedom
Reduce and eventually eliminate our contribution to conditions that undermine people’s ability to meet their basic needs.
“Knowing where we want to go will help us get there”
Key Concepts
Backcasting from Principles and the
ABCD Methodology
Backcasting
...looking ’back’ to the present and designing strategic, step-wise actions...current
reality
time
Backcasting from Sustainability Principles
...looking ’back’ to the present and designing strategic, step-wise solutions...current
reality
time
Generic Planning Framework
“D” Step
Right direction?
Flexible Platform?
Return on investment?
time
Review - Key Concepts
The Funnel
Backcasting
Principles of Sustainability
A Growing Movement
Community stories
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.
Swedish Eco-municipalities
What’s Happening in Our Area?
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
City of Sheboygan
Dunn County
Village of Spring Green
Duluth, MN
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.
Twin Ports Early Adopter
Project
Duluth, Minnesota and
Superior, Wisconsin
Early Adopter Project
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 Majority
34%
Late Majority
34%
Early Adopters
13.5%Laggards
16% 2.5%
“Critical Mass”
Innovators
Early Adopter Concept
Innovation-Diffusion Model
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.
Early Adopter Project Basics
• Fourteen Early Adopter organizations• Two to five participants per organization • Six 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
Early Adopter Organizations
Public Sector• City of Duluth • Superior Public Schools• Duluth Transit Authority• Douglas County • University of Wisconsin-
Superior
Nonprofit Sector• Challenge Center• Gloria Dei Lutheran Church• Duluth Area Chamber of
Commerce• Duluth-Superior Area
Community Foundation
Private Sector• Inn on Lake Superior, ZMC
Hotels• Glenwood Signs and Awards• Duluth Grill (Embers)• London Road Carwash• Twin Ports Testing
Key strengths
• Development of a shared understanding of and language for sustainability among leading organizations in the community or area
• Creation of local role models and success stories that inspire rest of community about sustainability
Challenges for transition
• We need more accurate models, metaphors, and measures to describe the human enterprise relative to the biosphere.
• It will require a marked improvement and creativity in the arts of citizenship and governance.
• The public’s discretion will need to be informed through greatly improved education.
• It will require learning how to recognize and solve divergent problems, which is to say a higher level of spiritual awareness.Source: David Orr. The Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics, and the Environment in an Age of Terror. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2004.
Thank You