Twin Ports Early Adopters Project

Twin Ports Early Adopters

Project

Brown Bag SeminarDuluth, 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 Majority

34%

Late Majority

34%

Early Adopters

13.5%Laggards

16% 2.5%

“Critical Mass”

Innovators

Early Adopters concept

Innovation-Diffusion Model

The Technology “T”

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 Eco-municipalities

City of Madision, WI

Understanding the Sustainability Challenge

The Funnel as a Metaphor

Resource availability and ecosystem ability to provide vital services

Raw materials, ecosystem services, declining integrity and capacity of natural systems

Sustainable societyMargin for

Action

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.

The Sustainability Challenge

environmenteconomy

society

Dimensions of sustainability

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

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)

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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:

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Sustainability objectives

Reduce dependence on fossil fuels, scarce metals, and minerals.

Reduce dependence on chemicals and synthetic substances that can accumulate in nature.

Reduce dependence on activities that harm life-sustaining ecosystems

Meet present and future human needs fairly and efficiently.

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Planning and action framework

“D” Step

Right direction?

Flexible Platform?

Return on investment?

time

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?

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

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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 FoundationFund 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; jskaron@chartermi.net

Jerry Hembd – 715-394-8208; jhembd@uwsuper.edu

Thank You