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Programs & |
| Rain Barrel Project |
| NWEI Discussion Courses |
| Eco-Municipalities |
Where Are They? |
| Sustainability e-learning |
| Green Pages |
| Neighbornation |
| Green Visitor's Guide |
| Sustainability Resource Collection |
Eco-municipalities: Where Are They?
Communities ranging from small villages of 300 people to urban centers of over 700,000 have officially become eco-municipalities, adopting a common set of sustainability objectives as official municipal guiding policy and implementing these widely throughout their governments and larger communities. Over sixty municipalities in Sweden are official eco-municipalities and have formed a national association of eco-municipalities that assist each other and work to influence national policy. They have educated thousands of employees and citizens about what sustainability means and why it is important, so that every employee has the opportunity to contribute to the process.
A similar systems approach has also been developed in Canada. Over the past three years, The Natural Step team in Canada has pioneered award-winning work in sustainable communities with world class results. The resort municipality of Whistler, BC, was recently awarded first place in a United Nations-endorsed international competition for its long-term comprehensive sustainability plan, Whistler 2020. The Natural Step Canada has also conducted community sustainability training and capacity building programs with a variety of other communities including Canmore, Wolfville, Halifax, and Yukon, and with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The team has developed a range of tools and materials to build capacity in communities committed to long-term sustainability.
As of summer, 2006, several on-the-ground initiatives are taking places with what may be the first generation of eco-municipalities in the United States emerging.
Chequamegon Bay Region
The Cities of Washburn, Ashland, Bayfield and the Town of Bayfield each adopted resolutions declaring to be eco-municipalities based on the Swedish model using the Natural Step Framework.
The planning committee of the Sustainable Chequamegon Initiative, a Project of the Alliance for Sustainability, has drafted a “Sustainable Chequamegon Initiative Strategic Plan for 2006-2011” that incorporates the Natural Step Framework.
Initial funding for the community office of sustainability will support a full-time staff member, to begin December 2006 and initial funding also will support four components, including a DVD project addressing solar energy and energy savings and a “Green Team Early Adopters Network”: the Cities of Ashland, Washburn and Bayfield, Northland College and the Bad River Band of the Chippewa Nation.
Over 110 people have participated in Natural Step study circles in the Chequamegon Bay area to-date.
A delegation of eight community members attended the June 2006 Sustainable Sweden Eco-Municipality Study Tour.
Jefferson County
The first study circle was inaugurated in the Spring of 2005 using materials provided by Sustain Dane from the book “The Natural Step for Communities”. From this effort came several projects, including a stand selling rain barrels and other sustainable goods that sets up at the Fort Atkinson Farmers’ Market.
A delegation of two community members attended the June 2006 Sustainable Sweden Eco-Municipality Study Tour and one community member attended the June 2004 tour.
The Village of Johnson Creek adopted the Natural Step framework in August 2006 to guide its decisions, operations and management.
Residents, businesses and organizations in the Jefferson County municipalities of Watertown, Whitewater, and Fort Atkinson are forming Natural Step study circles to learn more about sustainability and the eco-municipality model.
City of Madison
Since 2005, over 180 people in the Madison area have participated in The Natural Step study circles developed and offered by Sustain Dane.
A delegation of six Madison/Dane County community members participated in the June 2006 http://www.1kfriends.org/Eco-Municipalities.htm Sustainable Sweden Study tour and two in the June 2004 Sustainable Sweden Study tour.
A 5-week course has been offered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Urban and Regional Planning called "Planning the Sustainable Community", in which the eco-municipality model, TNS, and Canadian, European, U.S. and other case studies are figured prominently.
Since the Madison City Council approved the Green Blueprint unanimously on February 1, 2005, the Sustainable Design and Energy Committee made tremendous progress. To view the City's One Year Report towards becoming a Green Capital City see Madison BluePrint Progress .
Six months since the end of its TNS training for 24 department staff, the City of Madison continues to implement its adoption of the Natural Step framework for internal city operations by applying the framework, along with a still-evolving "Fast Cycle Change Process" (project charters, etc.) to the 10 Pilot Projects chosen at the end of the City TNS training. For more info please see TNSCityofMadison .
"Imagine Green Madison" was a three day future search conference sponsored by the UW Madison Nelson Institute, Sustain Dane and the City of Madison. Seventy representatives from a cross-section of the community with a stake in sustainability-social justice, health, water, transportation, arts and culture, development, businesses, agriculture, local government, non-profits and academia gathered to explore and commit to ideas and actions to make the capital region a healthier, more sustainable place for the long-term. For more info visit http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/outreach/imagine/index.htm
City of Marshfield
The Marshfield city council in central Wisconsin has formed a committee to explore the eco-municipality concept and the possibility of becoming an eco-municipality.
Other Wisconsin communities currently studying the eco-municipality model, Natural Step principles or participating in study circles: counties of : Dunn and Douglas; the cities of :, Fort Atkinson, Grellton, Jefferson, Palmyra, Port Washington, Viroqua, Waterloo, Watertown, Whitewater, Monona, and Oregon.
Duluth MN
In April 2006, the Duluth City Council endorsed guidelines for sustainable community development, including the four Natural Step conditions (referred to as guidelines in the resolution and as objectives by the American Planning Association) and agreed to apply those guidelines whenever possible in its city planning, policy making, and municipal practices.
The city provided an initial allocation of funding to train city staff on sustainability practices using The Natural Step.
Lawrence Township, NJ
With the support of Sustainable Lawrence, a partnerships with large local corporations, municipal government, the school system, a university (Rider) and local farmers has been developed.
A long-range agenda has been developed to move towards action steps through a commitment of 13 task forces. The agenda and the inspiration are grounded in the Natural Step approach.
The community has started a contract with Rutgers University to develop formal sustainability indicators and data-collection methodologies so we can track our progress in concrete terms. All indicators will be linked directly to one or more of the Natural Step system conditions;
Portsmouth, NH
Completed the first round of TNS for Communities study circles and creating a rewrite of the study circle guide.
Several presentations about TNS have been given to a downtown commerce group in an effort to kickoff a Buy Local campaign.
Looking into integrating TNS into land-use plans
Pittsburg / Vandergrift, PA
Partnering with Sustainable Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh to work on several initiatives related to sustainability grounded in the Natural Step. These initiatives include:
- Training with several communities surrounding Vandergrift as part of a multi-community redevelopment initiative
- Working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Pittsburgh on a “Greening Historic Properties” summit with the intention of making it easier to “green” these properties.
- Development of a Downtown Green Master Plan
Canadian Communities using The Natural Step