Newsletter masthead
October 2010                                                  Vol. 3 No. 10
In This Issue
Member Meeting
Orientation
Featured Article
Award Program
Board Nominations
Workshop: Zero Waste
Workshop: Leadership Skills
Workshop: Supply Chain
Webinar Oct 7
Webinar Oct 21
Certificate Graduates
Book Reviews
Partner Conference Listing
ISSP Member Meeting & Discussion Forum:
Eco-Psychology
Member

November 18 at noon Pacific Time


Special guest Thomas Joseph Doherty, Psy.D. of the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling will initiate this discussion with an over view of what "eco-psychology" is.

To participate in this free conference call, send an email to Marsha Willard
ISSP New Member Orientations
Member


Dates (pacific time):
October 6 at 4:00pm
November 9 at 9:00am
December 8 at 4:00pm

New (and even old) members are welcome to join this free orientation conference call. Learn about the benefits of ISSP, the contents of our web site, and meet other new members. If you'd like to participate, send an email to Marsha Willard and indicate which session you'd like.
Bainbridge Graduate Institute becomes new ISSP sponsor!

We are pleased to announce that the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (one of the leading providers of a sustainable MBA degree) is allowing ISSP to share their virtual learning platform - Elluminate.

More powerful, more elegant and just more fun to use, Elluminate will bring a new level of quality to our distance learning program.

Thank you BGI!

News

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Twitter

Twitter account: sustainableprof.

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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.

Maintaining Our Email List Reminder
ISSP Logo
Please note that 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.
Greetings!

This month, we kick off our ISSP Professional Award Program. This is an opportunity to acknowledge an extraordinary contribution of one of your peers (famous or not). See how to nominate people below.

This month, we also release a sequel to the ISSP Competency Study. The first competency study showed how important change management skills are for sustainability professionals but certainly we should be knowledgeable about sustainability too. Test your own knowledge. Use this study to identify your strengths and your blind spots.

This is traditionally a period to think about schooling. So if you identify any blind spots, check out the wonderful line-up of workshops coming up.

Sincerely,
The ISSP Management Team
  Executive Director: Marsha Willard
  Managing Editor: Darcy Hitchcock
  Education Director: Christy Nordstrom
  Marketing Director: Jessica Vreeswijk
  Board Liaison: Dorothy Atwood
Featured Article

Competency Study Part 2: What Should a Sustainability Professional Know?

by Darcy Hitchcock
Early in 2010, we published a competency study that showed what the most important skills were for a sustainability professional. Mostly they were generic skills like communication and project management. But certainly we should know something about sustainability too!

The Sustainability Knowledge Competency Study is a follow-on report that shows the most important terms/concepts etc. that a sustainability professional should know. Find out where your blind spots are. And professors, use this study to determine the most important topics and concepts to teach.

Click here for more information.

Member Involvement

Introducing
ISSP's Professional Award Program


Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
ISSP is inaugurating a professional award program to recognize individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement of the profession of sustainability. This is to be an award granted to professionals by their peers - you the members of ISSP.

ISSP will accept nominations from the membership through December of 2010. Members will have an opportunity to participate in the selection of the winner.  The winner will be invited to the Sept 21-23 ISSP conference next fall in Portland, Oregon to receive the award.

This announcement opens the nomination process. We would like you to submit names of people who you feel have contributed to the profession through service, research, contribution of tools or materials, advancement of the case for sustainability, participation in the adoption of sustainability in sectors or regions, or contribution to the definition to the profession. You may nominate anyone you choose - someone you know personally or someone you know by reputation.  The staff and sitting board members of ISSP are ineligible.*

To nominate someone simply send the following information to Marsha Willard before December 31, 2010.
  • Name of honoree:
  • Contact information for the honoree (if available) and affiliation:
  • Two to three sentences about why you think this person deserves the award and/or what he/she has contributed to the field. Please include a specific contribution, for example service rendered, research conducted, tools created, policy written, publications authored, etc.
  • Your name and contact information so that we can contact you for more information should your nominee be selected as a finalist.
* ISSP management team includes: Marsha Willard, Darcy Hitchcock, Dorothy Atwood, Jessica Vreeswijk, and Christy Nordstrom. ISSP board members include: Ira Feldman, Rick Woodward, Fabio Vancini, Julian Crawford, James Miles, Cate Gable, Michele Crim, Warren Flint, KJ McCorry, Bud McGrath and Hector Rodriguez.
Accepting nominations for ISSP board seats

The ISSP board is accepting nominations for new members. Serving on the ISSP board is an opportunity with many benefits:
  • public recognition for your contribution to the profession
  • opportunity to shape the future of this organization and the profession it serves
  • affiliation with other movers-and-shakers in the field
Board commitment involves serving a two-year term, attending quarterly conference call meetings, and generally promoting and supporting ISSP.

If you know of someone who would make a good candidate, please send your suggestion along with contact information to
Marsha Willard

If you would like to be considered, submit letter of interest, a letter of recommendation from a colleague, and bio to
Marsha Willard.

The board will be considering all nominations and making decisions at its December board meeting.
Upcoming ISSP Events

NewLogo_small
Fall classes
Sign up now for early registration price!
For a full list of the ISSP educational offerings, click HERE.


OCTOBER WORKSHOP
Zero Waste Strategies

Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net
garbage bag
ZERO WASTE STRATEGIES

DATES:
Tuesdays (Oct 5, 12, 19, 26) at 12:00PM Pacific Time-USA 
Follow this link to the registration page.  Register here.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Sustainability is a powerful tool for improving business foresight. It helps people foresee emerging threats and take advantage of new opportunities. In the solid waste field, sustainability is often framed as zero waste. Examine what this trend means for your organization.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  • Engage in four interactive webinar discussions oriented to stimulate creative thinking and solutions.
  • Survey of how the whole waste issue has evolved.
  • Gain an understanding of the major waste trends in the current system.
  • Gain an understanding of product stewardship.
  • Explore a new set of initiatives that can challenge our basic mental models of our thinking.
  • Grasp waste challenges: waste-to-energy and when to recycle / when to landfill.
  • Discover the best strategies for sustainability, going forward.
For more information on Wayne Rifer please click HERE.

NOVEMBER WORKSHOP
LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR CHANGE AGENTS

Bob Willard
LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR CHANGE AGENTS
 
DATES:
This course meets on-line on Mondays (November 1, 8, 15, 22) at 5:00PM Pacific Time for 60 to 90 minutes. 
Follow this link to the registration page. Register here.
 
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
This course prepares sustainability professionals at any level in the organizational hierarchy to lead an organizational change to a sustainable enterprise. It connects the dots between timeless leadership practices and how to transform an organization to a sustainability culture.  Bob teaches how to quantify the business case for sustainability strategies.
 
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Lead the integration of sustainability into their organization, using a seven-step sustainability change process.
  • Build an effective, relevant business case to support their company's transformation to being a sustainable enterprise.
  • Be able to apply effective change leadership practices during the sustainability change process, capitalize on change paradoxes, and avoid potential derailers of their initiatives.
  • Help others be more effective sustainability champions.
For more information on Bob Willard please click HERE.

NOVEMBER WORKSHOP
Sustainability and Supply Chain Management

Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net
Truck
SUSTAINABILITY AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

DATES:
This course meets on-line on (November 2, 9, 16, 23) at 12:00PM Pacific Time for 60-90 minutes.  
Follow this link to the registration page.  Register here.
 
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Sustainability professionals have a new opportunity to create long-term business value while enhancing supply chain performance.  Learn how the supply chain is an integrated system.  Understand relationship building and aligning values.  Identify key levers within supply chain network.  Discover strengths and limitations of 3rd party certification.  Explore vendor qualification and selection tools. Survey a few formalized tools. Gain practical knowledge of internal and external reporting.
 
As supply chain management (SCM) evolves from a traditional focus on purchasing and logistics to a broader emphasis on value creation, supply chain managers seek new approaches to increasing profitability and efficiency. Applying sustainability principles within SCM processes represents the next stage in this evolution.  
 
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
The workshop will be divided into two sections over four weeks.
Section 1) A macro examination of the core business processes and stakeholders within SCM, identifying strategic opportunities for the application of sustainability principles and discussion of the unique and largely untapped role that sustainability professionals can play in helping to improve supply chain performance.
 
Section 2) Focus is on specific application of tools at a tactical level to achieve sustainability objectives. This will include discussions related to measurement and metrics, supply chain partner identification, third-party certification programs and sustainability reporting.

For more information on Rick Woodward please click HERE.

FREE WEBINAR October 7, 2010
Connecting Corporate Sustainability and the Financial Services Sector
Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net
Money
FREE ISSP WEBINAR: Connecting Corporate Sustainability and the Financial Services Sector

Thursday Oct 7 at 12:00PM Pacific Time-USA

Follow this link to the registration page. Register here.

Join Peter Soyka, President of Soyka & Company, LLC and Ira Feldman, president and senior counsel of greentrack strategies.
 
Their remarks will offer a close look at the relevance, trends, and implications of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) information to both sustainability practitioners and financial sector participants.
 
- Sustainability professionals will better understand how ESG information is used.
 
- Investment, insurance, and lending professionals will better understand how ESG issues affect the value of their investments and portfolios.

Specifically, this webinar will address:
  • How ESG performance influences security risk and opportunity
  • Changing stakeholder expectations for corporate social responsibility
  • The importance of and dramatic growth in socially responsible investing (SRI)
  • How corporate ESG data are used in the financial services sector
  • Advances in investor (SRI and other) sophistication concerning ESG issues
  • The entry of large mainstream financial sector institutions into the ESG space
  • Activist investors, and
  • Emerging trends and growing expertise in other markets, particularly Europe.
For more information on Peter Soyka and Ira Feldman please click here.

FREE WEBINAR October 21, 2010
Navigating to Energy Management
Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhoto.net
Bulb
FREE ISSP WEBINAR:
Navigating to Energy Management

Thursday Oct 21 at 12:00PM Pacific Time-USA
Follow this link to the registration page:
Register here.

Join Stan Price with a summary presentation of the Roadmap to Energy Management webinar that links energy efficiency to sustainability planning.  In today's challenging economy, it's easy to appreciate the financial benefits of making energy efficiency a key component of the sustainability planning process.  But it's not necessarily easy to determine how to bring about the desired savings, especially over the long run. 

This webinar will help you to think strategically about energy management for your company/facility to ensure long-term energy savings.   Stan will touch on Energy Benchmarking using ENERGY STAR's Portfolio Manager, Setting Energy Targets, Financial Analysis and Continuous Energy Improvement.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?:
Sustainability Director, Sustainability Coordinator, Sustainability Consultant, Climate Officer,  Renewable Energy Program Manager, Sustainable Development Manager, CIO, CEO, Head of Sustainability, Energy Manager, Environmental Manager, Director-Worldwide Corporate Responsibility, VP CSR, President.

PRESENTER:
Stan has over two decades of experience in the design and management of resource efficiency programs. With the Putnam Price Group he provides a full range of professional services in education, event marketing, and executive management tailored to clients in the fields of energy and resource efficiency. He works with public, private, and not-for-profit clients helping them achieve their efficiency goals. He serves as the executive manager of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council, a trade association representing businesses that provide energy efficient products and services to the Northwest marketplace.
What's New @ ISSP

Sustainability Professional Certificate Graduates

A number of people have completed ISSP's Sustainability Professionals Certificate (ISSP SPC). They are able to display this image on their emails and websites. (This seemed more eco-friendly than printing certificates!)

SPC badge

Please congratulate the following people who have completed the program:

Kim Hedberg
KJ McCorry
Leslie Laney
Roberta Fernandez
Eric Harrington
Eric Johnson Wildbear
Book Reviews

coverDarcy Hitchcock has new book reviews in the member resource section.

Lipton, Bruce H and Steve Bhaerman (2009) Spontaneous Evolution: Our positive future (and a way to get there from here). Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.


coverLehrer, Jonah (2009) How We Decide. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Sustainability Conference Listing