A STRATEGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RECOVERY


The conditions for making sustainability our goal as a society can be effectively furnished through existing networks of citizens organizations.

The first step is to suggest the following:

Activities are sustainable when they:

Activities are not sustainable when they: These "Guideposts for a Sustainable Future" provide a reference. By distributing them and encouraging discussion around the topics they introduce, we can nurture understanding, stimulate vision, and generate other conditions needed to resolve the environmental crisis.

An explanation of how this process works follows.

A MEDIUM WITH A MESSAGE

The strategy outlined here is based on two observations about understanding. One is the role of words, by which we identify parts of our world so we can think and talk about them; the other is how a frame of reference enables us to organize our experience and bits of information into recognizable patterns.

The following analogies explain:

THE ROLE OF WORDS

To the European explorers the Americas were unknown. An expedition could spend an entire season exploring the coast. If, late in the season, they discovered a large river pouring into the ocean, they could take a reading on the stars, record where the mouth of that river was and for their records, give it a name. The next year they could return directly to that place and spend the entire season exploring the river.

With points along the river similarly located and named, any navigator with the charts could set out and travel directly to a chosen place.

So it is with words. When objects, phenomena and ideas are identified, we mark them with words. When someone else wants to learn about the same things, they start by learning the words that identify the subject matter and go on from there.

Sustainability is one of these words. Its definition marks the territory, so anyone who learns the term can recognize the basic consideration. Having the territory symbolized by a single word makes it easier to draw attention to the particular matters we want to discuss.

FRAME OF REFERENCE

The other idea central to this project has to do with how recognizing a pattern can lead to understanding events and circumstances as they unfold around us. A frame of reference is a pattern which indicates the relationship between the elements involved. If the experiences and information we come across in our lives fit within the frame of reference, the overview is reinforced. We start to understand the basic situation and recognize how a wide range of other details fit into the picture.

The value of a frame of reference struck the originator of the Sustainability Project in the incident described here:

"I'd never heard of a roller der by until someone gave me a free ticket. As I watched I was unable to make sense of what I saw. Two teams roller-skated around a heavily banked track as fast as they could. Every now and then they would all stop skating and a score would be recorded. I couldn't figure out how the points were being made.

During intermission I asked a cameraman what was happening. He explained the rules of the game. When the action started again, the formation made sense; I could identify the strategies, see when a point was coming and for whom it would be recorded.

The rules of the game provided a frame of reference which I could use the assess what I was seeing."

Our environmental situation is a good deal more complex than a roller derby, but it is not beyond the comprehension of people with moderate interest. The Guideposts provide a frame of reference.

RESULTS:

For some years we've circulated the Guideposts and asked people to consider how society would be different if sustainability was our goal. We invite reflection and discussion; we put the concept of sustainability on the table with guidelines to identify the topic. In turn, the process:

A) Nurtures Understanding

With a frame of reference for considering news items, personal experience and concerns, people can more easily see the pattern of human ecology. As the pattern becomes familiar it is easier to recognize and appreciate which choices contribute to sustainable living and which create problems.

B) Stimulates Vision

It is much more productive to work towards something positive than to expend effort avoiding negative things. As pattern recognition develops, so does the ability to project the pattern into plans for action. Each person who starts projecting sustainability into his or her hopes for the future, inclines the whole of society a little more in that direction.

C) Outlines Areas for Debate and Investigation

The Guideposts are subject to scrutiny. People are encouraged to look at them critically and to call attention to errors or omissions. The Guideposts provide a framework for locating the fine lines and determining where they fall between activities that deepen the environmental crisis and those that allow the Earth to heal. When activities are found to be part of the problem, the same criteria can be used to look for safer ways to accomplish similar ends.

D) Clarifies Values

As more and more people and organizations acknowledge the need for sustainability it will be increasingly recognized as a value: sustainable activities are good, non- sustainable activities are to be avoided. Recognizing how far out on the limb we have all climbed, it would be a waste to dwell on any guilt this value generates. Nevertheless, when something is recognized as good, it influences almost everyone.

E) Builds the Political Will to Tackle the Crisis

There is enormous strength in our institutions. One need only look at war to see how effectively a nation can act once a priority is set. Addressing environmental deterioration requires a much friendlier application of strength but success will require as much determination. The environmental crisis is enormous in scope. To address it with anything less than social commitment is a gamble with the lives of all our children.

F) Manifests Courage

When the population has observed world events for a few years in the context of sustainability, the direction we should take will become obvious. Morale will improve. Knowing that others share our concern can make the difference between frustration and action. Mutual support generates strength. People are willing to take greater risks when they know the human family is behind them and that their efforts are not in vain.

ESTABLISHING A REFERENCE FOR DEBATE

The eight points at the beginning of this document are meant to be questioned. Ask yourself or someone you know: Is this what we mean by sustainability? If it is not, upon wh at point or points do we disagree? For what reasons? Is there anything missing?

We distribute the eight points to provide a reference. Without a statement to refer to, the words "this" and "it" could not be used in the questions and, although greatly simplified, the basic statement is too long to include in a sentence. With the reference, however, discussion can be easily initiated.

The more broadly the reference is distributed, the easier it will be to approach public forums to ask: "Is thisthe direction in which our societies must head?" Introducing this question to the democratic process could lead to the mandate needed to redirect the collective power of society. At least, wide spread consideration of the question and the guidelines it refers to would advance the educational process described earlier.

SUSTAINABILITY: A CHOICE TO CONSIDER:

A WWW site in the making.

Voluntary and non-profit work is the natural immune system of society. Wherever there are problems, people notice and work to solve them. It was from a four year study of the aspirations and concerns of citizens' groups that the guidelines presented in this document were derived. We can look to these independently motivated efforts for more detail. The Sustainability Project is in the early stages of building a WWW home page to provide access to this wealth of understanding and experience. The Guideposts, presented as index headings, will link directly to the component issues and from there to the information offered by people and groups working on those issues.

Much of the related material is found in the book "Planning for Seven Generations" and the "Guideposts for a Sustainable Future" workshop kit (see end of document.) However, the information available in support of this view of sustainability is vast and grows daily. The enormous linking capabilities of the Internet provides the voluntary/non-profit sector with an opportunity to present their vision, understanding and techniques in their own words.

Send a note to: sustain@web.apc.org if you would like to be notified when this web site is presentable. "Let's Talk About Sustainability", an introductory document, is already available through e-mail on request.

DEBATE

Information about sustainability is not without controversy. Particular to the service envisioned would be the opportunity to debate details. Any points on which opinions differ would be highlighted and the differing views listed side by side. Those interested could easily locate the discussions and lend their minds to resolving the differences.

A venerable philosopher once said: "It is through the clash of differing opinions that the light of truth shines." Much truth could be clarified and many smoke screens dissipated by providing a publicly accessible forum for collecting relevant points of view and for discussing areas that need resolution to act decisively as a society.

PLANNING FOR SEVEN GENERATIONS

This 144 page book by Mike Nickerson, the Sustainability Project Coordinator, looks at: