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Highlights and Lessons Learned

The Natural Step International Sustainability Leadership Summit, Annual CouncilMeeting and Advanced Training in the Natural Step Framework

18-22 January 2007

By Lisa MacKinnon

Policy Director 1000 Friends of Wisconsin andCo-Founder and Coordinator of the North American Eco-Municipality Network

Background1000 Friends of Wisconsin Policy Director Lisa MacKinnon and Sustain Danes Executive Director BryantMoroder were recently honored to receive an invitation from the Natural Step International to participate asrepresentatives of the North American Eco-Municipality Network in a 5-day series of meetings andtrainings in Sweden from January 18th through 22nd.

The first day of events was a Sustainability Leadership Summit facilitated by the Natural Step Internationaland hosted by the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf. The goal of the Summit was to stimulate cross-sector

partnerships for sustainability leadership among approximately 90 global decision makers from business,the public sector, the non-profit sector, science and academia.

On the second day, Lisa and Bryant presented jointly to the Natural Step Internationals Annual Councilmeeting. Their presentation focused on the progress of the North American Eco-Municipality Network sinceits formation in June 2005, the emerging Wisconsin and U.S. eco-municipalities, and proposals forstrengthening partnerships and collaboration between the North-American Eco-Municipality Network andTNS-International and its many partners.

The weeks events concluded with a three-day advanced training with the Natural Step Internationalorganization. The aim of the trainings was to increase capacity to assist others in applying the Natural Step

sustainability framework and process to their own organizations looking at both business andcommunity applications. Day one of the training focused on the details of the Natural Step framework andplanning method, a primer on the science of the Natural Step and numerous examples and case studiesabout how the Natural Step principles and planning process have been applied in businesses andorganizations. Day two of the training focused on Community Engagement. Lisa presented to the group onthe City of Madisons training in the Natural Step and discussed how the city is implementing the TNSframework in its operations and management. Bryant presented on the use of study circles on the NaturalStep as a tool to engage community members and build capacity. The final day of the training focused onfurther examples of Natural Step application and implementation in businesses and communities, andincluded discussions about evaluation of community implementation efforts and sustainability analyseswithin organizations and businesses.

The 5 days of events offered many inspiring and instructive examples of sustainable development in actionfrom around the world. The speakers from diverse sectors of society provided very strong confirmation thattrue leadership today demands competence in the principles of sustainable development and acommitment to acting on these principles in cooperation with others.


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The following is just a synopsis of the lessons and themes that were emphasized during the meetings. There werenumerous detailed case studies, examples and presentations that addressed these themes in more detail and Iwould be happy to discuss them or refer you to other sources of information.

Highlights fromThe Sustainability Leadership Summit

Speakers: His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf -- Introduction Gran Carstedt, Chairman of the Natural Step International Welcome and Presentation of Program Anders Wijkman, Member European Parliament Sustainability in the International Policy Arena Ken Melamed, Mayor of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada Moving Toward a Sustainable Community Per Carstedt, Chairman, BioFuel Region Sweden, Sustainable EnergyBio Fuel Cross-Sectoral PartnershipJan Sverre Rosstad, Senior Vice President, Hydro Polymers, Sustainable Materials Awareness and RealChange in the Value Chain Carl Lindberg, Member of UNESCOs High-Level Panel on the Decade, The UN Decade 2005-2014 of Educationfor Sustainable Development Karl Henrik-Robrt, Founder of The Natural Step International, The Natural Step Framework

Speakers presented in the morning and then participants broke into groups based on Research, Education, Policy,Energy, Materials, and Community Development to explore opportunities and propose projects for cross-sectorcollaboration on sustainable development.

Themes and examples: The problems of unsustainability are global in nature but global governance is weak Local governments mustbring it to the top (The California climate change legislation was referred to repeatedly as a necessary model)

The Current Economic Model is flawed with respect to sustainable development: We treat the ecosystem andenvironmental issues as if they are outside the economy, externalities are not reflected in prices, pollution anddepletion of resources is seen as a positive for Gross Domestic Product, Natural Capital and Financial Capital are

not substitutable, ecosystem services are given no value.

In the initial steps of sustainable development there are no organizations, just individuals. Get the individual andyou get the organization.

Leadership and leaders are not always the same thing. Leadership in sustainable development is coming fromall sectors and levels of society.

The Natural Step has made Whistler, B.C. a successful municipality They have made the Natural Step (through their Whistler 2020 Plan) the filter for everything we do. The TNS framework engenders political stability, transparency, accountability, creativity and aligns the community

Whistlers Early Adopters Program was an effective first step. The program was comprised of local businesses,government and organizations that participated in Natural Step trainings and other learning events and then sharedthe information with the larger community. The next Winter Olympics will be held in Whistler and they community has insisted that the Olympic Committeerun the games with sustainability principles (ex. carbon neutral Olympic games)

Centre for International Sustainable Development Did a study on how sustainability is communicated. 70% had low recognition but when recognition increasedthrough communication, willingness to act increased substantially


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Common Themes from the Community Development Groups Sustainable Development is about building community resilience and strength National goals were recognized as important but in their absence local action is even more critical Successful cross-sector collaboration on the community level will involve engaging a parallel groundswell amongmunicipal leaders and business leaders

Highlights fromThe Natural Step International Annual Council Meeting

Representatives from Canada, Brazil, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, New Zealand, SouthAfrica, Japan and the United States gave updates about how the Natural Step framework is being appliedin projects across businesses, communities and organizations in their countries.

The Natural Step International discussed a pending proposal for an International, Trans-disciplinary,Cross-sectoral and Cross-cultural Research Program Connecting Scientific Theory, Methods, and

Applications for Strategic Sustainable Development.

Our presentation on the North American Eco-Municipality Network and the emerging first generation ofeco-municipalities based on the Natural Step in Wisconsin and the U.S. was received with great interestand enthusiasm by the Natural Step International. They indicated a strong interest in exploring ways forTNS-International to support the efforts of communities in North America through stronger partnershipswith and support of this Network and its partners, and better dissemination of resources and materials thatcommunities might find useful.


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Highlights fromThe Natural Step Advanced Training

This isnt all about valuesits about developing basic competence in order to avoid destroying thesystem (system = our communities, our economies, our resourcesthe planet)

The Natural Step is more than just a set of sustainability principles (the systems conditions) it is a modelfor planning in complex systems.

Graphic Concept: The Natural Step International

The principles are the constraints of the system, they define sustainability (success).

The principles are the ideal caseA musician can know the rules of harmony and still make a mistakefrom time to time.

Feedback is a constant throughout this process the different stages of planning will interplay with eachotherdont be rigid about going back and forth between the different stages.

Dont get bogged down in intellectual exercisesidentify the gaps and the opportunities and get going!

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. ~ Will Rogers

Ex: TheCommunitySystem

SuccessThe

SustainabilityPrinci les

Strategy BackcastingRight Direction?

Flexible Platform?Good Investment?

ActionProjects --

What you Do

Tools Life CycleAnalysis,

Eco-Footprint

Success

Strategy

Action

Tools

System


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What is different about the Natural Step framework and principles? The TNS systems conditionsare not better than any other set of sustainability principles, but they are the only ones that are designed tobe used to backcast to get to sustainability

The importance of this becomes clear if you think about the famous quote by Ben Franklin on thedefinition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. In

essence, that is what we have been doing. We recognize that a lot of what weve been doing is notsustainable for the long term and we say: Weve got to change things, improve things, etc. Andyet when we get down to work we use the same old toolsforecasting using the same trends andassumptions that got us into this predicament in the first place.

What is the difference between the Natural Step framework and all the other sustainability toolsout there: There are many good concepts and tools (ecological footprint, Life Cycle Analysis, ISO 14001,triple bottom line, carbon footprint, etc.) and each has its strengths (useful for auditing and measuringsuccess, for example) but none can replace a full systems perspective.

The TNS framework can guide you to the best tools to use for various actions and, in doing so,

allows you to use the available tools more effectively. The systems perspective increases the valueof the many available sustainability concepts and tools.

Why are the sustainability principles negative? The negatively shaped constraints of the NaturalStep sustainability principles recognize the non-negotiable limits of the system but they actually give you alot more freedom to improvise. In other words, as long as you dont do these things, you are free to dowhatever you like.

Some Common Objections to Making Sustainable Development the Priority:

1) We cannot afford sustainable development -- Invalid

The cost of continuing in an unsustainable manner is much higher

2) We cannot afford sustainable development now InvalidNobody is saying become poor nowtheyre saying become rich in a way that doesnt violatethe principles and that will put you in a better position for the future.

3) We cannot afford going all the way! InvalidRemember the funnel: Well never have a better opportunity than now. At this point in the funnelwe have a choice. Later on it may not be a matter of choice.

4) We cannot afford going all the way on our own fast enough! Valid

People who say this understand the conceptwe cant do this alone, that is why we need to workacross departments, across sectors, across jurisdictions cooperatively (and why having a commonlanguage helps)


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There are Opportunities for Partnerships and Resource Sharing:

People around the world are interested in and excited about whats happening in Wisconsinscommunities and beyond. They see this emerging first generation of eco-municipalities using theNatural Step as a very hopeful development in the U.S. and as an opportunity to lead and inspireother communities throughout the U.S. and the world through our stories and early successes. Wemust make sure we find ways to tell those stories!

Many of the participantsour Canadian neighbors, in particularexpressed a genuine desire toform partnerships with communities here and exchange ideas and resources on sustainable

development and application of the Natural Step framework.

Every community and organization that is doing this right now needs ways to fund continuedprogress toward sustainable development. We need to work to get commitments from funders andpartner with those who recognize the need to act now and are willing to support sustainabledevelopment financially.

For more information about the examples and case studies presented during the Leadership Summit, or to learnmore about the North American Eco-Municipality Network, eco-municipalities or the upcoming 2007 SustainableSweden Study Tour contact Lisa MacKinnon at [email protected] or 608/259-1000 ext 107 or visit the Eco-Municipalities section on 1000 Friends of Wisconsins website: http://www.1kfriends.org/Eco-Municipalities.htm.

For information about the Natural Step E-Learning course, how to join or start a Natural Step for Communities StudyCircle or about the North American Eco-Municipality Network contact Bryant Moroder at [email protected] or608/819-0689 or visit http://www.sustaindane.org/Pages/ecomunicipality.htm.
http://www.sustaindane.org/Pages/ecomunicipality.htmmailto:[email protected]://www.1kfriends.org/Eco-Municipalities.htmmailto:[email protected]

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