Leanne Hedberg Carlson, Viterbo University

What is Sustainability? The Natural Step Framework Who else is using The Natural Step? Resources

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." -- Brundtland Report, Our Common Future, 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development

Natural environment Economy Society An Approach That Acknowledges the Interdependency and Order of the Economy, Society and the Natural Environment

An Example of The Sustainability Challenge: High Level of Complexity Environmental? Economic? Social? Cultural? *Resources *Ecosystem services declining increasing *Global population *Demand for: Resources Ecosystem services

Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert, cancer doctor Originated in Sweden, now being adopted in organizations and municipalities world-wide Built scientific consensus on sustainability Build on the premise of success – “What actions can we take that are based upon what is already proven to work?”

 Founded in Sweden in 1989  More than 70 municipalities and 60 corporations are now using TNS in Sweden alone.  The Natural Step currently has offices in 12 countries.

 TNS is a comprehensive approach shared by private, public & non-profit sectors.  Adopted by the City of La Crosse and the County of La Crosse in 2006 – creates, expands partnerships.  Community-wide understanding, inspiring vision & compelling action plan  Business in leadership – know expectations and can plan  Engages community support (students, staff, faculty, board of advisors)  Shift from serial single projects to cost-saving, comprehensive sustainability.

Swedish Eco- municipalities

A PARTIAL, GROWING LIST OF TNS ADOPTERS (JUST WITHIN THE US AND CANADA) A Sustainability Vision for the Automotive Services Industry Alcoa, Canada Antigonish Sustainable Development, Canada Ashforth Pacific, Inc., Portland, Oregon, USA Atlantic Canada Sustainability Initiative (ACSI) Axis Performance Advisors, Portland, Oregon, USA Bathurst Sustainable Development, Canada BOORA Archietcts, Portland, Oregon, USA Brazil Project City of Airdrie, Canada City of Madison, Wisconsin City of Santa Monica, California, USA College Housing Northwest, Portland, Oregon, USA Collingwood Region, Canada Community Foundations of Canada District of North Vancouver, Canada Electrolux Eugene Water and Electric Board, Eugene, Oregon, USA Gerding/Edlen Development Company, LLC, Portland, Oregon, USA Groupe Millet Guidebook on Municipal Sustainability Planning, Canada Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada Halifax Shambhala Centre, Canada Hot Lips Pizza, Portland, Oregon, USA Hydro Polymers Limited IKEA Interface, Atlanta, Georgia, USA J.M. Bygg Construction, Sweden Morbegno 2020 Nike Nike, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon, USA Norm Thompson, Portland, Oregon, USA North American Eco-Muni Network OMSI - Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon, USA Organically Grown Company, Eugene, Oregon, USA Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand Panasonic Portfolio 21 Investments, Portland, Oregon, USA Pret a Manger, United Kingdom Rejuvenation, Inc., Portland, Oregon, USA Resort Municipality of Whistler, Canada Riello Rio Tinto Alcan, Australia/Canada Santropol Roulant Scandic Hotels Scandic Hotels, Sweden SERA Architects, Portland, Oregon, USA ShoreBank Pacific, Ilwaco, Washington, USA Sokol Blosser Winery, Dundee Hills, Oregon, USA South Africa Project Sustainable Dublin, Ireland The Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada

THE NATURAL STEP: CONDITIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY 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:

Eliminate our community’s contribution to fossil fuel dependence and to wasteful use of scarce metals and minerals; Eliminate our community’s contribution to dependence on persistent chemicals and wasteful use of synthetic substances; Eliminate our community’s contribution to encroachment upon nature (e.g. land, water, wildlife, forests, soil, ecosystems); Create conditions that increasingly develop and improve the capacity of people to meet their needs. Develop policies and practices that ultimately

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 Develop awareness among all Viterbo community members (stakeholders) about what sustainability is and why it matters. This includes education about The Natural Step.

 Baseline mapping and analysis of the current reality.  What does Viterbo look like today with respect to the four System Conditions?  What are we doing that either supports or does not support each System Condition

 Creating scenarios of how Viterbo might look in a sustainable society that is meeting the System Conditions

 Set priorities for actions and manage them toward the goal of the Compelling Vision in alignment with the System Conditions  Decide what strategies will be used and which tools and actions we will use to implement the strategies.  Determine which metrics and systems will be used to measure progress, keeping the four System Conditions as a “compass”.  Ask the following 3 questions…

1. Does this action or investment move us in the right direction with respect to sustainability (i.e. does it move us towards meeting all 4 S.P.’s).

2. Does this action or investment provide a stepping-stone to future investments - i.e. is it a flexible platform? This speaks to the fact that no single investment will get us to sustainability, just like no single move will get a chess player to checkmate. Knowing this, we want to prioritize those investments that give us the greatest degree of flexibility for future moves, rather than tying up capital in moves or technologies that are dead ends or that are so costly that they make it difficult to invest in improvements later.

3. Does this action provide an adequate return on investment? This speaks to the idea that it doesn’t do anyone any good if an organization that is trying to become sustainable goes bankrupt. We need to maintain economic sustainability today and through every step of working towards ecological and social sustainability. This speaks to, as a rule of thumb, investing in the “lowest hanging fruit” earliest, those actions that generate a return on investment that can be used to fertilized more difficult moves later. Often, these early moves are efficiency improvements that generate savings - some of which can then be invested in more challenging measures later.

The Natural Step Resources: Books

 ds/TNSFrameworkGuidebook.pdf ds/TNSFrameworkGuidebook.pdf

  organization-evaluating-university- canterburys-strategic-transition-toward- sustainability organization-evaluating-university- canterburys-strategic-transition-toward- sustainability

Nattrass, B., Altomare, M., 1999, The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology, and the Evolutionary Corporation, New Society Publishers: Canada Nattrass, B., Altomare, M., 2002, Dancing with the Tiger, New Society Publishers: Canada Gipps, T., Presentation at Viterbo University on February 4, January 26, 2009