With this Synapse, we begin a series of articles that will continue throughout the coming year. They will identify and describe valuable resources informing readers about work being done to create sustainable local communities and the rationales for undertaking these ambitious and visionary endeavors. Such work gets scant attention in major media. If you know about resources on this topic we hope you will write to us and describe them and tell us why you recommend them to other readers. We will pass on your recommendations as part of this series.

In this article we are emphasizing resources to be found on the Internet. Since the focus on achieving "sustainability" is relatively recent, involves many countries and multiple sectors of society; the so-called 'electronic super highway' has become a valuable means of communicating about this topic. In later articles we expect to be provide information on resources of this kind as well as books and articles and relevant conferences and workshops.

As we have begun to become familiar with Internet-based resources on sustainable local communities, we have been amazed at their extent, diversity, and high value. We hope you will be able to take advantage of the following:

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
( http://iisd1.iisd.ca/ )
This Canadian based web site is large, filled with valuable information which is regularly updated, and continues to develop new sections in cooperation with other organizations. This is a particularly important information source because Canada has worked on sustainability at both the provincial and federal levels more intensely and for a much longer time than the United States.

One section of this site is "Resources for Sustainable Development." One part of this section contains a lengthy and diverse collection of statements describing principles for sustainable development which are being used by many different Canadian organizations and the United Nations along with groups in the U.S. and elsewhere. This rich data base of different statements of principles of sustainable development can be selectively accessed, based on a user's selection from a robust list of relevant keywords, or by sector (Business, Civil Society, Government-International, Government-Local, and Government, State or Province), or by the organization providing the principles.

The "Information Centre" section of this site is one I have found very useful. Look particularly for the Hot Topic part, which contains IISD's in-depth information reports which are prepared every other month on an important topic for people working for sustainability, e.g. sustainable livelihoods, rights and responsibilities, and women, environment and development.

Other interesting sections of this web site currently are being developed: they are "Instruments for Change," and "Moving Business Ahead." The first focuses on how to change production and consumption patterns and is being jointly developed by the United Nations Department of Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development and IISD. The second focuses on case studies of businesses pursuing sustainable development and is a joint project of IISD and Canadian Business Schools offering the Masters of Business Administration Degree under the leadership of Dalhousie University.

Ecovillage Network of the Americas (http://www.gaia.org/ena/indes.html#join )
This site is located at the Farm, an intentional community, in Summertown, Tennessee where the Ecovillage Training Center is also located. This is the North American Regional Office of the Global Ecovillage Network. The Network supports the development of sustainable human settlements, assists these settlements to exchange information and to make information widely available about ecovillage concepts and demonstration sites.

At this site, I strongly recommend accessing the information about the Ecovillage Training Center and about The Design Exchange, which is the network's newsletter. The current issue of the newsletter which is online is very interesting and contains information I have not found available elsewhere. Also, I suggest accessing the Archives of The Design Exchange, particularly the subsection titled "Resources and Opportunities." which is filled with relevant annotated listings of resources.

 

Center for Sustainable Communities
( http://weber.u.washington.edu/~common/ )Based in the Pacific Northwest, this site contains an interesting ten part tutorial on sustainable communities which includes many relevant examples. Another part of this site is a valuable list of active internet links to resources on Northwest regional sustainable development, comprehensive sustainable development directories, and educational resources.

There are also valuable books and articles on the topic of sustainable communities. Here are two quite different books which we think you will find interesting and will be of help if you are pursuing a local project on sustainability.

The Ecology of Hope:

Communities Collaborate for Sustainability by Ted Bernard and Jora Young. Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers, 1997, (cost U.S. $16.95).

The heart of this book is chapters 3-10, titled by the authors as "A Collection of New Stories," each being a case study of a region or community which pursued intentional planning and action to achieve greater sustainability. Examples of the cases include Monhegan Island, Maine; The Eastern Shore of Virginia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and the Mattole Watershed, California. The first two chapters provide an interesting historical analysis to establish the context within which "sustainable communities" has become an important topic and a working goal for some innovative communities and regions. In Ch. 11 the authors describe 8 characteristics "which, if practiced, we believe would lead inexorably to a more sustainable relationship with the earth" (p. 183). Based on their analysis of the case studies, the authors in Ch. 15 describe what they term "mileposts along the path to sustainable resource management" (p. 194).

The Economic Renewal Guide, 3rd edition by Michael Kinsley. Snowmass, CO: Rocky Mountain Institute, 1997, (cost $5.00).

This manual has been field tested and contains many tools to achieve community economic development. In this resource "sustainable development":

• redefines prosperity, weighing community values, quality of life and the environment alongside economic considerations . . .
• seeks true development, in the sense of getting better, instead of expansion . . .
• advocates the long-term stewardship of community resources . . .
• pursues self-reliance and a more democratic approach to decision-making
• represents community wide interests over those of an elite few. . .
• stresses diversity, resilience and a conviction that many small efforts work better than a single one-size-fits-all solution. (from Chapter 1)

Return to the Index of Synapse 41, Fall 1997