Permission to make copies is granted for nonprofit, educationaluses provided that the copyright and sponsorship information isincluded on all materials and Hart Environmental Data is notified.
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data2
Sustainable Community Indicators
A new way to look at the world
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data3
Sustainable Community Indicators
Agenda
/ Introductory exercise
/ What is sustainability?
/ Common terms for discussing sustainability
/ Definitions of sustainability
/ Examples of indicators
/ What makes a good indicator of sustainability?
/ Develop indicators of sustainability
/ Others working on sustainable community issues
/ Data sources for indicators
/ How do we get there?
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data4
Let’s define some terms:
/ Sustain
/ Develop
/ Carrying Capacity
/ Community Capital
/ Weak vs. Strong Sustainability
/ Community
/ Indicator
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data5
What does sustain mean?
Sustain:
To keep in existence without diminishing, toprovide sustenance and nourishment
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data6
What is development?
Develop:
To bring out the capabilities or possibilities of, tobring to a more advanced or effective state
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data7
What is carrying capacity?
Carrying capacity:
The population that can be supported indefinitelyby an ecosystem without destroying the ecosystem
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data8
What is community capital?
/ Natural capital
. Natural resources
. Services provided for human activity
. Ability of natural environment to maintain itslong-term health
/ Human/social capital
. Connectedness to people and community
. Education, skills and health of population
/ Financial/Built capital
. Manufactured goods, buildings, infrastructure
. Information resources
. Credit and debt
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data9
Weak vs. Strong Sustainability
Weak sustainability:
Manufactured capital of equal value can take theplace of natural capital
Strong sustainability:
The existing stock of natural capital must bemaintained and enhanced because the functions itperforms cannot be duplicated by manufacturedcapital
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data10
How do you define a community?
Community:
A social group of any size whose members reside ina specific locality, share government, and often havea common cultural and historical heritage
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data11
What is an indicator?
Indicator:
A way to measure, indicate, point out or point towith more or less exactness;
Something that is a sign, symptom or index of;
Something used to show visually the condition of asystem.
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data12
Traditional Measures
Environment Economy Society
WaterQuality
AirQuality
NaturalResources
StockholderProfits
Materials forProduction
Jobs
Education
Health
Poverty
Crime
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data13
Interconnected Measures
WaterQuality
StockholderProfits
Education
Health
Poverty
Crime
Materials forProduction
Jobs
AirQuality
NaturalResources
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data14
Definitions of Sustainability
/ Sustainable Development
/ Sustainable Community
/ Sustainable Production
/ Sustainable Agriculture
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data15
Sustainability is:
“..development that meets the needs of thepresent without compromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs”
World Commission on the Environment and Development
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data16
Sustainability is:
“Sustainable global development requires thatthose who are more affluent adopt lifestyles withinthe planet’s ecological means.
Sustainable development can only be pursued ifpopulation size and growth are in harmony withthe changing productive potential of theecosystem.”
World Commission on the Environment and Development
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data17
Sustainability is:
“...improving the quality of human life while livingwithin the carrying capacity of supportingecosystems.”
Caring for the Earth
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data18
Sustainable Community Indicators
Caring for the Earth
/ Energy use per person
/ Annual emissions of greenhouse gases perperson
/ Percent of land area that is natural, modified,cultivated, built, and degraded
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data19
Sustainability is:
“Sustainable community development is the abilityto make development choices which respect therelationship between the three “E’s” economy,ecology, and equity...”
Mountain Association for Community Economic Development(MACED)
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data20
Sustainability is:
“Sustainable development...(is) the process ofbuilding equitable, productive and participatorystructures to increase the economicempowerment of communities and theirsurrounding regions.”
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data21
Sustainability is:
“...long-term cultural, economic, andenvironmental health and vitality...”
Sustainable Seattle
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data22
Sustainability is:
“... A community is unsustainable if it consumesresources faster than they can be renewed,produces more wastes than natural systems canprocess or relies upon distant sources for its basicneeds.”
Sustainable Community Roundtable
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data23
A Sustainable Society is:
“... characterized by an emphasis on preserving theenvironment, developing strong peacefulrelationships between people and nations, and anemphasis on equitable distribution of wealth.”
Co-op America
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data24
Sustainable communities
/ Value and respect all people
/ Cultivate trusting relationships among people,organizations and institutions
/ Cooperate for the common good
/ Provide opportunities for communication andlearning
“Aloha ‘aina simply means to love and respect theland, make it yours and claim stewardship for it.
Malama 'aina means to care for and nurture theland so it can give back all we need to sustain lifefor ourselves and our future generations, and,
An ahupua'a is an ancient concept of resource useand management based on families living in adivision of land that connects the mountains to thereefs and the sea."
Puanani Rogers, Team Leader for the Ho‘okipa Network
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data26
Sustainability is:
“Sustainable communities foster commitment toplace, promote vitality, build resilience to stress, actas stewards, and forge connections beyond thecommunity”
Northwest Policy Institute,University of Washington,Graduate School of Public Affairs
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data27
Sustainable Community Indicators
/ Number of hours working at the average wage neededto pay for basic needs
/ Acres of land redeveloped
/ Number of acres of farmland remaining in the county
/ Percent of food produced locally
/ Annual fuel consumption and number of vehicle milestraveled
/ Dollars spent in local community that stay local
/ Percent of goods made from recycled material
/ Annual harvest of timber compared to growth rate
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data28
Sustainable businesses:
/ Replace nationally and internationally produced itemswith products created locally and regionally.
/ Take responsibility for the effects they have on thenatural world.
/ Do not require exotic sources of capital in order todevelop and grow.
/ Engage in production processes that are human, worthy,dignified, and intrinsically satisfying.
/ Create objects of durability and long-term utility whoseultimate use or disposition will not be harmful to futuregenerations.
/ Change consumers to customers through education.
Paul Hawken, “The Ecology of Commerce”
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data29
Sustainable Production
/ Products and services are ecologically safethrough out their life cycle
/ Processes and technologies minimize oreliminate hazards and wastes
/ Workers are valued and their creativity, skills,and capabilities are continuously developed
/ Communities are respected and enhancedeconomically, socially, culturally, and physically
Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data30
The Natural Step principles:
1. Substances from the earth's crust can notsystematically increase in the biosphere.
2. Substances produced by society can notsystematically increase in the biosphere.
3. The physical basis for the productivity anddiversity of nature must not be systematicallydeteriorated.
4. There must be fair and efficient use ofresources to meet human needs.
Robert, Daly, Hawken and Holmberg
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data31
Sustainable Production Indicators
/ Type and rate of material use
/ Amount and type of energy consumption
/ Amount and toxicity of waste and emissions
/ Amount of land used or reused
/ Development of workers
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data32
Sustainable Agriculture
“..farmers in sustainable agriculture are concernedabout feeding their families and paying their bills,but those are not their only goals in life. They setout to protect the land, improve their quality of life,and enhance the communities in which they live.Their day-to-day decisions are not guided by asingle minded search for profit, but by a delicatebalancing act among many goals.”
Dick Levins, Land Stewardship Program, Minnesota
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data33
Sustainable Agriculture Indicators
/ Reliance on government programs
/ Use of equipment, chemicals and nonrenewableenergy
/ Creation of jobs
/ Balance between feed use and feed production
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data34
Sustainability is a vision of the future:
/ Community oriented
/ Inclusive of all members
/ Long-term
/ Acknowledges linkages
/ Considers carrying capacity
/ Measurable
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data35
So far...
/ Definitions
/ Sustainable development
/ Carrying capacity
/ Community capital
/ Weak vs. strong sustainability
/ Traditional vs. interconnected view
/ Sustainable business, production, agriculture
/ Examples of indicators of sustainability
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data36
Next ...
/ Indicators
/ What are indicators for?
/ What makes a good indicator?
/ Traditional vs. sustainability indicators
/ How to make a better indicator
/ Small group exercise
/ Indicator projects
/ How do we get there?
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data37
Indicators are for:
/ Measuring progress
/ Explaining sustainability
/ Educating community
/ Showing linkages
/ Motivating
/ Focusing action
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data38
Showing Linkages
PeopleWith Jobs
Education
Health
Poverty
Wildlife
CrimeMaterials forProduction
HealthyForest
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data39
What makes a good indicator?
Address carrying capacity
Relevant
Understandable
Used
Long-term view
Show linkages
Community
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data40
A good indicator is notat someone else’s expense
Not at the expense of:
/ Another community’s sustainability
/ Global sustainability
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data41
Environmental Indicators
/ Parts per million of particulate matter in the air
/ Number of good air quality days
/ Increase in asthma-related hospital admissions
/ Number of vehicle miles traveled
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data42
Cultural/Social Indicators
/ Number of runaway children
/ Number of reported abuse cases
/ Families with satisfactory child care arrangements
/ Goals, linkages, brainstorming and evaluatingindicators
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data66
Next ...
/ Indicator projects
/ Indicator frameworks
/ Criteria for indicators
/ Data sources
/ Who else is working on sustainability?
/ How do we get there?
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data67
View of Community
Environment Economy
Society
Environment Economy
Society
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data68
View of Community
EnvironmentEconomy
Society
EnvironmentEconomy
Society
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data69
View of Community
Environment
Economy
Society
Environment
Economy
Society
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data70
Indicator Frameworks
/ Themes
/ Issues
/ Goals
/ Pressure-state-response
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data71
Indicator Themes
. Economy . Population
. Education . Public Safety
. Environment . Social/Cultural
. Health . Resource Use
. Housing . Recreation
. Politics/Government . Transportation
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data72
Issues
/ Poverty
/ Jobs
/ Pollution
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data73
Goals
Air QualityIndex
Waste per capita going
to landfills
Percent of forest
successfullyrestocked
EmploymentIndex
Per capitadebt
Live withinAlberta’scarryingcapacity
The economy is healthy
Albertans areeducatedand informed
Urban and ruralcommunitieshave a healthyenvironment
o
o
o o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data74
Indicator Criteria
/ Relevant to community
/ Addresses carrying capacity
/ Understandable and useable
/ Data accessibility, reliability
/ Not at the expense of others
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data75
Evaluating Indicators
/ Bellagio Principles
/ Hart Indicator Checklist
/ Waitikere City Smart Indicators
/ Hamilton-Wentworth Indicator Grades
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data76
How Many Indicators Do We Need?
“Trying to run a complex society on a singleindicator like the Gross National Product is literallylike trying to fly a 747 with only one gauge on theinstrument panel...”
Hazel Henderson, Paradigms of Progress
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data77
Data Sources
/ Local/Regional
/ National/International
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data78
Local and Regional Data
/ School system
/ Health officials
/ Town clerk
/ Department of Public Works
/ Environmental Agencies
/ Planning Commission
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data79
National/International Data
/ United States Government
/ Environmental Protection Agency
/ Census Bureau
/ Bureau of Economic Affairs
/ Bureau of Labor Statistics
/ Housing and Urban Development
/ United Nations
/ Nongovernmental Organizations
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data80
Who is Working on Sustainability?
/ Economic Development Corporations
/ Civic Organizations
/ Environmental Groups
/ Business Groups
/ Nonprofits
/ Foundations
/ Religious Organizations
/ Government Agencies
/ Local, Regional, State, and Federal
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data81
Where are They Working on it?
/ Seattle, Washington
/ Upper Valley, Vermont/New Hampshire
/ Farmington, Maine
/ Willapa Bay, Washington
/ Greenville, South Carolina
/ Chattanooga, Tennessee
/ Jacksonville, Florida
/ Chattanooga, Tennessee
/ Fife, Scotland
/ Hamilton/Wentworth, Canada
/ Waitakere, New Zealand
and many more...
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data82
How are They Working on it?
/ Visioning
/ Community Forums
/ Community Profiles
/ Master Plans
/ Location (Special Place) Mapping
/ Resource Mapping
/ Community Income Statements
/ Neighborhood Eco-Teams
/ Local Currency
/ Sustainability Evaluation
/ Indicators
Indicators
Hart Environmental Data83
Why are People Working on it?
“ ... it has always been my hope that the councilwould show the vision... and, more than creating aquality lifestyle, create a different lifestyle, alifestyle more appropriate to a planet ofdiminishing resources,...to look at new jobopportunities, to tune into the changing world andbe able to change and adapt to it.”
