Twin Ports Early Adopters Project Brown Bag Seminar Duluth, Minnesota March 4, 2008
Jan 10, 2016
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
_________________________
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; [email protected]
Jerry Hembd – 715-394-8208; [email protected]
Thank You