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ISSP Insight
August 2009                                                       Vol. 2 No. 8
In This Issue
LinkedIn
The Natural Step Webinar
New Members
News You May Have Missed
Europe's Eco-Cities
Sustaining Sustainability Workshop
Member Involvement
Book Reviews
Conference Listing
Join Our Mailing List
Find ISSP on

ISSP LinkedIn Group

Don't forget to link to the ISSP LinkedIn group.This is a great networking site for sustainability professionals. Click on the graphic to go to our group.

Last Chance
Register for
The Natural Step: A Powerful Tool  for Strategic Sustainability in Your Organization

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ISSP Webinar August 19 @
8am PT


Our volatile economy can limit the effectiveness of our decisions. Real success includes balancing the needs of economy, environment and people.


The Natural Step Framework provides a foundation for creating and implementing a sustainable vision. It can help you define the path that accommodates diverse agendas. It can also help you maintain focus through a landscape of shifting needs.

Learn the fundamentals of The Natural Step Framework. See how leading organizations are using it to thrive in uncertain times and to transform their visions of what it means to be successful.

Senior Advisors of The Natural Step will present an overview and address questions from participants.

Register.
New Member Orientation
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August 13
9:00 am PT

ISSP offers regular new member orientations to show people how to get the most out of their membership and the ISSP site.  Any member of ISSP may join these free orientation sessions. The orientations are conducted via conference call and last about an hour. To register, send a request email to Marsha.
News You May Have Missed
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We have now moved the news headlines of interest to our members to the right sidebar of the ISSP News page. Here are this month's quick links:

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yahoo

canada
Canada to reward pulp and paper mills for efficiency improvements (GreenBiz) 

Greetings!

Our website upgrade is progressing relatively smoothly. Some messy pages still need to be cleaned up, but most of the site survived a massive migration and is functioning as it should. Please let Marsha know if you find anything amiss.

Please note also that with the move to using Constant Contact for our emails, members will be updated every month to ensure we have an accurate list. When a member joins, they will be automatically subscribed. If a member does not renew, they will be automatically unsubscribed. All non-members will be responsible for maintaining their contact info. This is done by clicking on the Update Profile/Email address link found at the bottom of every email. It is best for everyone to save our emails as a "safe sender" to ensure your emails get into your inbox.

sincerely,
The ISSP Management Team
Learning from Europe's Eco-Cities:
Big Yet Little Ideas
eco-cities
Darcy Hitchcock, one of ISSP's co-founders, visited several Europeon Eco-Cities in May 2009. While there, she visited with several leaders actively involved in making their cities more sustainable. Here she reports on her findings in the first part of a two-part series. Find out out how some small and simple ideas have had big results in energy reduction and quality of life.

Download printer-friendly pdf. See what the Europeon leaders had to say when asked: Where is the sustainability industry going?
What's New @ ISSP
LinkedIn
ISSP Road Shows
The management team has been discussing how we can facilitate members networking, and have come up with the idea of doing ISSP "road shows" in lieu of an annual conference for now. The idea is to have ISSP staff and board members periodically organize real world meet-ups in regions around the world. Attaching these to conferences seems to make the most sense, as it would tie any ISSP travel to something you are already doing, and therefore keep our footprint a bit more controlled.

We are hosting an in-person Member Meeting in our own backyard. We'll be organizing an after hours event at the Go Green Conference here in Portland, Oregon. Look for more details in next month's newsletter. There's a great line-up of speakers, including our own, Marsha Willard, along with some of our own members.

Michelle has posted a "What Conferences are you attending?" discussion on our LinkedIn group to generate possible locations, but you can email her suggestions if you're not on LinkedIn. Also remember to email Marsha any info on conferences to add to our list of conferences.
Sustaining Sustainability: Organizational Assessments & Systems Workshop
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ISSP's Dorothy Atwood will teach the next workshop on Organizational Assessments and Systems. Dorothy is at the Zero Waste Alliance and and also serves as the EPA's Local Resource Center representative for environmental management systems in Portland, Oregon. Webinars will be Wednesdays at noon Pacific Time Sept 9, 16, 23, 30. Early bird registration ends August 19.

Course Description:
Once initial sustainability projects have been completed, organizations are often at a loss as to how to maintain newly acquired practices and continue to move their sustainability efforts forward.  Management systems are the key to ongoing progress. A SMS (sustainability management system) allows for systematic internal review, monitoring and corrective actions for continual improvement.

This course will walk you through the creation of such a system to fit your needs.  You don't need a third-party certified ISO 14001 management system to benefit from the Plan-Do-Check-Act framework.  You will learn what level of sophistication works best for you and what elements to add as your system matures.  The course will help you answer the following questions for your own sustainability program:

  • How do we move from ad hoc projects to an integrated program?
  • How do we go from a sustainability plan to a living sustainability system that is part of our core business?
  • How do we assess where we are and set priorities?
  • How often should we review goals, projects and the program as a whole?
  • How many people should be involved?
  • Do we have training, communication, and support systems in place for our program?
  • How can we keep the program alive if a key champion leaves?
You will complete the course having learned practical methods to solidify and advance sustainability efforts by applying proven management system tools and practices.

Register now.
Member Involvement 
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Public Affairs Committee Forming Now

ISSP seeks to keep its members informed about the changes and innovations
in sustainability practice throughout the U.S. and around the world that impact sustainability professionals. To this end, we are launching a new Public Affairs committee.

The committee's mission will be to keep the greater membership informed of current events and innovative sustainability practices and projects, trends, regulations, incentives, and partnerships in the areas and regions in which ISSP members live and work.

The committee will be composed of 10 to 15 ISSP members, each serving a two-year term. We seek geographical diversity from all the places where ISSP members are active. Committee member contributions will be featured on the ISSP web-site and in the quarterly ISSP newsletter.

Membership on the Committee is an excellent way to network with other sustainability professionals and play a central role in keeping your colleagues well informed of developments that enhance our ability to expand the triple bottom line. Committee membership is also a valuable tool for demonstrating to employers your commitment to the profession and professional expertise.

Matt Slavin has agreed to chair this committee for its first two-year term of operation. We encourage all those interested in Committee membership to send an email to Matt notifying him of your interest by September 15. Your email should include contact information, a short (100-120 word) statement describing a project, event, or other item you think of interest to other ISSP sustainability professionals, and a brief (120 word) professional biography. Final decisions on committee appointments will be made by the ISSP Board of Directors.

For additional information on the Public Affairs Committee, please email [email protected].

ISSP LogoISSP Awards Committee Now Forming
An Award Committee is forming to recognize significant contribution to sustainability with ISSP Awards for books, articles, videos, software or training materials.

Objectives of the committee include:
1.    Recognize and reward sustainability contributors.
2.    Create a focused PR event that elevates the status of ISSP.
3.    Create sustainable industry market research from nominations.

ISSP members would nominate authors for the various categories. The Awards Committee would review and select winners. Possible categories will be announced later, but could include:
  • Business and leadership
  • Education and training
  • Construction and real estate
  • Communities, cities and lifestyle
  • Energy and transportation
  • Food, nutrition and health
  • Poverty and hunger avoidance
We are asking for a two year (or two award rounds) commitment.  Member Mark Edwards has agreed to chair this committee. If you are interested in participating send your letter of interest to Mark at [email protected] along with. . .
  • contact information
  • a short (100-120 word) statement describing any experience you have as author, reviewer or commentator,
  • a brief (120 word) professional biography.
Get involved, meet other members and help build awareness of the industry!

Member Forums
Get involved with member discussions. See what members are saying in the forums in the Recent Posts section.

mschick has posted a video and website with a description of vertical farming as a potential solution to harmful practices of our current agricultural system.

JohnSWeedon has posted a topic discussion on accountants going green. And BernieB responded with an article on Accounting for Emissions.

annblake posted a new job listing. GoodGuide is looking for a Chief Science Officer.

Call for Ideas
Is there an issue, idea or person you would like to know more about? Darcy Hitchcock would like proposals for future feature articles for the 2010 newsletter. Please email her your thoughts and/or referrals.
Book Reviews 
Darcy Hitchcock has new book reviews in the member resource section. Please note that with the recent website update we have lost our book review module that allowed members to rate the books. Until we build another similar system, we won't have that option. The new book reviews are now listed in the Resources -- Other Resources section for now and can be more easily found by going to Recent Postings. Previous books reviews are not currently available. We hope to get them back in the resources area in the future.

This month we're highlighting ISSP founding members and their new books.
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Makower, Joel (2009), Strategies for the Green Economy. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Please note that Joel will be hold a webinar entitled Save the Buyosphere! The Potential (and Pitfalls) of Green Marketing for ISSP on December 15.


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Hitchcock, Darcy (2009) Dragonfly's Question. Lulu.com. (No review, but info on her novella about the need for a sustainable world.)


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Willard, Bob (2009) The Sustainability Champion's Guidebook. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers. Note that Bob will be teaching an ISSP workshop on Change Agents in November.

Sustainability Conference Listing
go green conf
Take at look at the upcoming conferences around the world.

Clean Air and Environment Conference, September 9, Perth, Australia

Cleantech Investment and Innovation Conference,  September 24th - 25th, Rendezvous Melbourne

NEXT-GEN FM: EcoCost Efficient Buildings,  September 24th - 25th, Rendezvous Melbourne

GoGreen, October 7, Portland, Oregon

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Strategies, 26-27 October 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa

Sustainability Virtual Summits: Smart ICT , February 9-11, 2010