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Our Challenge

As Stewart Brand said in the introduction to the Whole Earth Catalogs,

"If we are going to act like gods, we might as well get good at it."

And Biomimicry is one key, and in a sense, one of the legacy's of the Whole Earth movement. Like Buckminster Fuller's comprehensive antipatory design science, Biomimicry is (1) the exploration and understanding of nature, i.e., the environment, as the technology and economy of an exquisitely evolved and designed regenerative life support system (living machine) that has been tested and developed over 3.8 billion years of evolution (see-the time line of evolution) and then (2) applying those battle-hardened principles to all aspects of human activity--designing, creating, and managing of society, from industrial products, to urban and regional systems, to public policy, business, the economy, etc., i.e., Sustainability 2030 and the leading edge of the sustainability response.

Key Questions

Sustainability 2030's (S2030) research/practice program addresses the following key questions:

1. How can you/we become effective, powerful, even transformational forces for sustainability?

2. What is the program required for ultimate sustainability success--the end game?

3. Who has part of the answer now (current sustainability champions), how far do they take us, and how can we harness the state-of-the-art leading edge sustainability to an innovative research/practice program that gets us to ultimate success in the limited time remaining?  (more)

Mission

Advance, accelerate, and amplify an accurate understanding of the sustainability challenge and how to harness the power and potential of sustainability for an effective response before time runs out. The Strategic Sustainability2030 Institute  (S2030I) is a web-based think/do tank (more).

Affiliations
International Society of Sustainability Professionals
Announcements

UPCOMING:

April 2013, Chicago, APA National Conference.

May 13-15, 2013, Seattle, Living Future unConference.

PAST (2012):

October 23-26, Portland, EcoDistrict Summit 2012.

July 31-Aug. 4, Portland, Ecosystem Services Conference.

May 2-4, Portland, The Living Future Unconference for deep green professionals.

June 15-18, Brazil, Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

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Our Challenge

as Buckminster Fuller observed, is

"to make the world work for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone."

This goal is the essence of sustainable development! The Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) provides access to Bucky's legacy, including his comprehensive anticipatory design science revolution. Check out their website, their programs, and engage.

Problem & Way Out

  

Caption: "Sadly, the only proven way to achieve global GHG reductions so far has been economic recession." Comment: Fortunately, shifting to 100% renewables would catalyze the global transition to durable prosperity and community well-being in a way that would eliminate GHG production AND grow the economy <<continued>>. (See also: strategic sustainabilitynatural capitalismits four strategies, and RMI's Reinventing Fire [energy] Program.) 

APA Links
FEATURES1

Green Urbanism - Formulating a series of holistic principles

Green Growth - Recent Developments (OECD)

Foundation Earth - Rethinking Society from the Ground Up

Reinventing Fire - A key transformational initiative of RMI worth knowing/watching.

A Quick-Start Guide to Strategic Sustainability Planning

NEW Report: Embedding sustainability into government culture.

New STARS LEED-like sustainable transportation tool for plans, projects, cities, corridors, regions.

Strategic Community Sustainability Planning workshop resources.

Leveraging Leading-Edge Sustainability report.

Winning or losing the future is our choice NOW!

How Possible is Sustainable Development, by Edward Jepson, PhD.

Legacy sustainability articles -- the Naphtali Knox collection.

FEATURES2

TNS Transition to Global Sustainability Network

EcoDistricts -- NextGen Urban Sustainability

Darin Dinsmore: Community & Regional Sustainability Strategies and Planning

Sustainable Infrastructure: The Guide to Green Engineering and Design

APA-SCP (Sustainable Community Planning) Interest Group

Sustainability Learning Center

New path breaking Solutions Journal

Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

Strategic Sustainability -- distance learning at BHT

Q4 Consulting - Mindfulness, Sustainability, and Leadership

RealClimate--Climate Science by Real Scientists

World Cafe--Designed Conversation for Group Intelligence

Real Change--Research Program for Global Sustainability Decision Making

RMI Conference, SF, 10-1/3-2009

Real Time Carbon Counter

Global Climate Change - Implications for US

Agenda for a Sustainable America 2009

ALIA Institute Sustainability Leadership

Frontiers in Ecological Economics

Herman Daly -- Failed Growth to Sustainable Steady State?

EOF - Macroeconomics and Ecological Sustainability

Gil Friend - Truth About Green Business

Sustainable Transpo SF

Google Earth-Day KMLs

AIA Sustainability 2030 Toolkit

Donella Meadows - Which Future?

Urban Mobility System wins Bucky Challenge 2009

Renewable Economy Cheaper than Systems Collapse

Population Growth-Earth Forum

Breakthrough Ideas-Bucky Challenge

Urban & Regional Planning-Cities at a Turning Point

John P. Holdren-Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

Stephen Cohen's Weekly Column in the New York Observer

ABOUT S2030

The Strategic Sustainability 2030 Institute

S2030 is an independent research and practice organization dedicated to advancing the emerging integrative approach of strategic sustainability and promoting it and applying it in a contribution to humanity's larger bid to secure sustainability success before accelerating trends foreclose the opportunity forever.

In forging this strategic approach, S2030 builds on the powerful set of existing and evolving theories, approaches, tools, and applications. S2030 develops innovative and practical understanding and solutions that accelerate the biologically-based economic and community changes required for--and that contribute to--humanity's accelerating effort to avoid catastrophic climate change with a transition to the durable and higher levels of economic and community prosperity and security of the transition to a rengernative economy and society in the limited time remaining for an effective response.

S2030 addresses your needs for the useful information, skills, and tools of your best next step in the context of a larger strategy and on-going innovation requried to reach ultimate sustainability for your organization and global society.

S2030 is part of, and contributes to, an expanding international network of sustainability practitioners and initiatives with its strategic sustainability research, understanding, resources, training, advising, and initiatives. S2030 also serves a virtual community (the S2030 Network) of strategic sustainability learners and practitioners who find S2030's work particularly useful.

S2030 has found strategic sustainability to be inclusive and the most powerful way to sharpen sustainability planning and initiatives for success. We emphasize and specialize in strategic sustainability, and use The Natural Step's Framework for Strategic Sustainability (the FSSD) as a starting point for organizing understanding developing a common language among stakeholders, cultivating productive sustainability dialogue, framing a strategic approach for individual initiatives, integrating other sustainability frameworks and tools, and "getting on" with it.

More specifically, S2030's approach to strategic sustainability begins with the Brown-Friedmann-Senge synthesis to set the historic stage, the context, and the content of the unsustainability challenge and the sustainability opportunity for durable prosperity. It proceeds to The Natural Step (framework, success principles, backcasting, ABCD method, strategic prioritizing questions and action plan) as the powerful, inclusive starting point for strategic sustainability planning methodology. It then adds Natural Capitalism's four key implementation strategies. Finally, it adds the transformational potential and power of organizational learning as the foundational energy to activate the capacity and accelerate the innovation process.

We provide a variety of resources available free at this website to help improve sustainability policy analysis and planning for individuals, businesses, and communities at any scale of socio-spatial organization.We also provide some premium information, research, and advising services for a fee.

We are funded primarily through low cost premium services that address the common needs of sustainability learners, practitioners, and aspiring practitioners. It provides a core income stream. Other funding is provided through one-time research grants, training, advising, and consulting projects.

Our research and advising is among the most innovative available. It's focus is summary and synthesis, reframing and "connecting the dots" in new ways that illuminate the big-picture understanding that leads to break-through innovation for local and systemic problem resolving and transformation. It can help you:

(forthcoming)

Visit the the bio page for staff experience and expertise.