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Creating sustainable communities is the ultimate challenge facing the developed world. Bryan Baker observes how this challenge is being met in several communities. Community members frustrated with uncertain employment, troubled social and political systems and environmental degradation are developing their own resources and growing local solutions. Their approach, which some call sustainability, considers the interwoven relationships among community, economy, the environment and time. Sustainability recognizes that a vibrant culture is sustained by a healthy environment. This framework of sustainability is being used to reflect upon complex issues from multiple perspectives, to focus on the quality of life and generate innovative local action. A framework of sustainability helps communities in many ways. It is inclusive and encourages thinking across boundaries of time, culture and politics. This framework draws on local knowledge and resources -- for residents are the experts regarding their own communities. In Wallowa County, Oregon an extraction economy had already damaged forest and river resources. The degraded environment left many residents unemployed. Debate over the potential listing of Chinook salmon as an endangered species stirred fears of further economic distress. Frustrated by conflict among local interests, the Wallowa County Court and the Nez Perce tribe initiated a process of community collaboration. Volunteers representing conflicting interests came together over 18 months, listened to one another, and discovered that a healthy environment is the basis for a healthy livelihood. Participants included the community, conservationists, agencies and industry. Together they developed a plan to enhance and maintain watershed conditions that provide for spawning, rearing and migration habitat within Wallowa County. The Salmon Habitat Recovery Plan has been adopted and, since 1993, is being implemented by a natural resources advisory committee appointed by the Nez Perce and Wallowa County Court. Implementation of watershed conservation projects has already generated $1.5 million for the county's economy. Expenses to develop the plan were covered with $5,000 raised from the local community.
SLUG A framework of sustainability identifies what people are passionate about and plants seeds of change in this common ground. Neighbors recognize that a better future begins now, and are taking action using their own resources. The seed is planted in a single action and, if nourished, will take on a life of its own. Instead of expecting the city to clean up a dangerous lot, one woman in San Francisco asked a few of her young neighbors to help clear out some rocks and clean up the trash. She then spoke with elders and others, who didn't have space to garden and then simply planted a garden. This garden and others like it were the beginning of the nonprofit organization SLUG, the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners. Formed in 1983, SLUG has since developed 100 community gardens, generating tons of fresh organic produce within the city. In addition to public access gardens, SLUG has created 60 special use gardens in partnership with schools, senior centers, public housing, people with disabilities and others. A new line of products called Urban Herbals is the result of a job training program SLUG has initiated for low-income youth. Herbal vinegars and jams are available now at local stores and additional products are in development. Urban Herbals uses ingredients from local gardens and organic farmers within the greater San Francisco area. This job training program promises to generate employment opportunities and become self-sustaining. A framework of sustainability can also break through gridlock and polarization. As people come together over common concerns, they have discovered community vision. Sustainability is a hands-on, community-based approach that respects our local and global neighbors, the environment and future generations. This framework uses resources efficiently, creating multiple, long-term benefits. Salmon Corps Salmon Corps, now in its fourth year, provides employment and life skills training to Native American youth while restoring salmon habitat throughout the Columbia River Basin. Youth work in the field with scientists to learn the technology and science of salmon care. They also work closely with elders to learn tribal values, language, ethnobotany and the traditional role of salmon in their culture. In this way, native youth learn restoration techniques that ground Western science in traditional cultural wisdom. Participants receive a living stipend and, upon completing the training, a college educational award to further expand their opportunities. Habitat restoration projects are completed according to the needs of participating tribes and take place on reservation, federal, state and private land. Restoring the environment has also restored civic relationships. Tribes, agencies and industry working together on large projects have moved beyond polarization to establish collaborative working relationships. Investing in a common future nourishes the ground in which seeds of change will flourish, conserving ecological and cultural resources. Good Neighbors Sustainable community initiatives generate wealth rather than consuming it. Instead of fostering competition for limited resources, Seattle's Neighborhood Matching Fund encourages cooperation among community groups. Neighbors are required to match city funding with local donations of time, materials or money. In all, matching grants have funded over 700 community initiated projects such as interactive art, oral history, and environmental conservation. The city has received a $20 million return of in-kind contributions from an $8 million investment. The long-term investment in community relationships is immeasurable. When people are united in common concern, agendas and politics fall by the wayside. In my experience, a sustainable culture is grounded in collaborative human relationships, cooperation for efficient use of resources, and investing in a common future. This most readily happens in the face of natural disasters such as floods, storms, fires and earthquakes. Our deteriorating environment is a more subtle disaster, more difficult for many to see. Increased competition for resources creates conflict among us and with the places we live. This conflict arises in our most personal relationships and in frightening global proportions. As a culture we are generally blind to these disastrous consequences. A single person with vision influenced each of these projects. Tens of thousands of others are doing the same throughout the world. What opportunities do you see around you? Listen to your neighbor's concerns to identify common ground. Plant the seed of change in action. Start small and nourish growth as others join you. Like a healthy ecosystem, embrace diversity. Bryan Baker facilitates community action using a framework of sustainability. He is an author of the Sustainable Community Checklist, a workbook for rural communities, available from the Northwest Policy Center: 206-543-7900. He is currently earning a Master of Arts from Antioch University, Seattle with a focus on community innovation.
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