1. C O O P E R A T I V E E X T E N S I O N S T A T E C O N F E R E N C E
O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 0
M A D I S O N , W I S C O N S I N
Integrating Sustainability
2. Wisconsin Eco-municipalities
Town of La Pointe
City of Washburn
City of Ashland
City of Madison
City of Bayfield
Town of Bayfield
Douglas County
Village of Johnson Creek
City of Marshfield
City of Manitowoc
City of Neenah
City of Menasha
Town of Menasha
City of Eau Claire
Town of Cottage Grove
City of La Crosse
La Crosse County
City of Stevens Point
City of Wausau
City of Beloit
City of Baraboo
City of Sheboygan
Dunn County
Village of Spring Green
Village of Colfax
Town of Greenville
Village of Shorewood
3. Four Sustainability Principles
...concentrations of substances
extracted from the Earth’s crust,
...concentrations of substances
produced by society,
...degradation by physical means,
...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...
and, in that society...
4. Evolving Views of the Community
Unconnected or silos view Interconnected or linkages view
Interdependent, nested, or systems view
EnvironmentEconomy
Society
EnvironmentEconomy
Society
Environment
Society
Economy
5. Authors:
Sherrie Gruder, UW-Extension, Madison, Solid
and Hazardous Waste Education Center
Anna Haines, UW-Stevens Point, Center for
Land Use Education
Jerry Hembd, UW-Superior, Northern Center
for Community and Economic Development
Lisa MacKinnon, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin
Jane Silberstein, UW-Extension, Ashland
County
6. UW-Extension Sustainability Team
Initiated in late 2006
State specialist and county faculty co-chairs
Over thirty members on roster
Monthly WisLine meetings since January 2007
Sustainable Communities Capacity Center
launched October 2008
(www.capacitycenter.org)
7. Eco-municipality Gathering in April 2008
City of Amery
City of Ashland
City of Baraboo/Sauk County
Barron County
City of Beloit
Calumet County
Dane County
Door County/Sturgeon Bay
Douglas County
City of Fitchburg
City of Galesville
City of Green Bay
Town of Greenville
Jefferson County
Village of Johnson Creek
Village of Kimberly
Lac du Flambeau Band
City of La Crosse
La Crosse County
City of Madison
City of Marshfield
City of Monona
City of Oconomowoc
Village of Osceola
City of River Falls
City of Stevens Point
City of Waterloo
City of Waukesha
UW-Extension
WI Alliance of Cities
WI League of Municipalities
WI Office of Energy Independence
8.
9. Building Community Webinar Series
Community Sustainability—Setting the Stage
Energy Efficiency
Renewable Energy
Comprehensive Community Planning and
Sustainability
Sustainable Business Practices
Green Collar Jobs
Local Food Networks
Sustainability Indicators and Measures
Community Organizing for Sustainability
11. Other Activities
Internal survey of understanding of sustainability
In-service training for 70 colleagues (January 2009)
with energy planning focus
Partnering with Energy Independent Communities
Program
Virtual study circles on The Natural Step
12. Sustainable Communities Public Policy Forum
Wisconsin Idea Public Policy Forums
UW Colleges and UW-Extension sponsoring a forum
on Sustainable Communities
Six regional roundtables
Statewide public policy forum
Web-based prioritization process
Document with recommendations nearing completion
13. Current Projects and Efforts
Video case studies of successes related to community
sustainability
TNS-US survey of state’s eco-municipalities
Identification of community-based sustainability
organizations
Sustainable communities curriculum for Extension
educators – from regional origin to national program
UWEX Sustainability Initiative
The verbiage below relates to community and economic development trends in the postwar period. Note that they have evolved into a view that is the same as the world view that was just outlined. Much of the science of sustainability focuses on the fairly dramatic changes that have been occurring in the postwar period. Views regarding the relationships between the three major components of most sustainability frameworks have been changing as well. These three elements are represented here as economy, environment, and society. Sometimes they are framed as the “three Es”—ecology/environment; economy/employment; and equity/equality or as the “three Ps”—people, planet, and profit. Economic models treat them as the three types of capital that comprise total capital stock—natural capital, physical (built) capital, and human capital. I am going to use a community-level example and briefly overview how views have evolved over the past fifty years through the different historical waves of community and economic development. This first figure depicts economy, society, and environment as unconnected to each other and representing a silos view of capitals within the community. This typified the industrial recruiting “wave” of economic development that prevailed from the 1950s to the early 1980s. Economic concerns were accorded primacy over environmental and societal considerations. Less generous depictions of this period show the economy circle, from the business point of view, as much larger than the other two or as containing the other two circles within it. The second figure is often used to depict a sustainable development point of view. In this case, economy, society, and environment are seen as linked or interconnected. While this implies that all three need to be considered for development decisions in light of these links, note that large portions of each circle remain outside of the interconnected areas. This is representative of both the cost competition and regional competitiveness waves of community economic development; the former gained strength from the early 1980s through the early 1990s and the latter dates from the early 1990s and continues today. Economic concerns were no longer viewed as fully independent of and primary to social and environmental considerations. This depiction, however, does not reflect in a meaningful way the environmental impacts of the human enterprise that have become increasingly apparent over the past few decades. The final figureis fundamentally different than the other two. It shifts attention to a central aspect of the sustainability revolution and what can be termed the fourth wave of community and economic development. With its nested and interdependent circles, the emphasis is on a systems view of the community and the interrelationships between its parts. The economy exists and functions within society, which exists and functions within a finite environment. A system-based definition of sustainability emphasizes relationships among economy, society, and the environment. The systems view provides a simple way of thinking about the implications of scale, in this case scale of the human enterprise relative to a finite global ecosystem. These sustainability constraints can be viewed as system boundaries or boundary conditions. In this sense, the science of sustainability has become a systems thinking conversation.
By way of background, it was decided early on to host a series of regional roundtables prior to the March forum. The purpose of these roundtables is to get a clearer and statewide sense of what is helping and what is hindering sustainability efforts at the community level and to gather ideas and suggestions on how to enhance such efforts. The five areas of community engagement for sustainability that we will be using to frame the roundtable discussions are: modeling sustainability through physical design cultivating community connections localizing economic production mobilizing community funds mobilizing society using community members’ energy and resources for broader sustainability effortsA key element of the roundtables and forum is to get broad-based input for a post-forum document. This document will capture the current status of community sustainability efforts and outline public policy options and recommendations that can help the state—and its communities—build on this foundation and continue to move sustainability efforts forward. Participants at the roundtables and forum will be tapped to shape this document and agenda.
