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AUGUST 2011                                                                            VOLUME 4 NO. 8 

 

In This Issue
Sustainability: A European Point of View
ISSP Conference 2011 Early Bird Discounts Available Through August 21st
Sustainability Lexicon Project (TM) Ready for Next Steps
Managing A Green Event
Sustainability Planning Workshop
Sustainability 101
Climate Change Toolkit
Greenbiz.com Professional Salary Survey
Read A Good Book
 
 
Featured Article

 

  Alan Atkssion  lives in Stockholm, Sweden and is on the core faculty of ISSP. In a video interview, he talks about sustainability efforts in Europe, and more.

 

 

topREGISTER NOW FOR ISSP CONFERENCE 2001

Early-Bird Discounts Expire August 21

 

DoubleTree Portland
Site of ISSP Conference 2011
DoubleTree Portland
The deadline for early-bird discounts on registrations forThe International Society of Sustainability Professional's first ever face-to-face summit is fast approaching. The discounted member rate is just $325 and the discounted rate for non-members is just $400 until August 21. Space is limited, so reserve your place now.

 

Network, learn and co-create at the ISSP Conference 2011 this  

 September 22-23 in Portland, Oregon. In addition to a high quality agenda and a gathering of sustainability leaders from around the globe, the program will play host to some of these showcase activities: 

  • ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame. At the conference, five pioneers in the field of sustainability will be inducted into the ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame. The five founding members are Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface, Inc. Gil Friend, president and CEO of Natural Logic. Amory B, Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute. Karl Henrick Robert, founder of The Natural Step. Bob Willard, sustainability teacher, speaker and author.
  • Lexicon Project. Conference participants will come together to help build consensus on common sustainability terminology used across various disciplines.
  • Vendor Expo. Suppliers of software, educational materials and more will be on hand to showcase the latest tools being used today in the sustainability profession.
  • Networking Time. Over morning coffee and at evening receptions, conference attendees will have a chance to connect with their peers from around the globe to brainstorm and share best practices. 

For more information about ISSP Conference 2011, click here.  

 

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SUSTAINABILITY LEXICON PROJECT (TM)
READY FOR NEXT STEPS

 

With an initial scoping and baseline phase nearing completion, ISSP's Sustainability Lexicon Project (tm) will reach a significant milepost at the ISSP Conference 2011 in Portland, Oregon this September.  

 

lexicon quote bubbleOne of the key components of the conference will be an interactive session for attendees to contribute to the development of a more consistent lexicon for sustainability professionals. At that session, currently scheduled for Friday, September 23, project director Ira Feldman will brief the attendees on the results of the initial survey. Ira will then facilitate a discussion to explore open issues and help frame the subsequent phases of the project.

 

ISSP as a professional society is positioning itself as the "voice of sustainability professionals," but one of the many challenges facing the profession is the loose and inconsistent use of terminology. "How can the profession speak with one voice when we are speaking in many tongues?" asks Feldman, who serves on ISSP's management team and its board, and is spearheading the Lexicon Project.

 

Read more aboutThe Lexicon Project here.   

 

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alan1VOICES FROM AROUND THE WORLD - EUROPE  A Video Interview with Alan AtKisson

 

As a lead-up to our conference, we wanted to take the pulse of sustainability in different regions of the world.  

  • What are the biggest challenges?  
  • What are their best practices that other regions can implement?
alan_b&w
Alan AtKisson 

Last month, we heard from Chris Bongars regarding Asia. This month, we interview author of Believing Cassandra, one of the classic books on sustainability. Alan is on the core faculty for ISSP and lives in Stockholm. He works all over the world and has been actively working with the United Nations. Hear what Alan has to say about the state of sustainability in Europe and what we all can learn from their experience.   

 

 Watch the video of the interview with Alan here.

 

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WEBCHAT: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A
SUSTAINABILITY PROFESSIONAL
With Megan Jones, Greenshoot Pacific


PDT Time: Wednesday August 17, 2011 @ 4:00pm - 5:00pm (UTC-7 hours)

 Australia Time: Thursday 8/18 @9:00am Australia (UTC+10 hours)   

Note that the webinar will be offered only once.

Please register for the event and if you are unable to attend live, you will receive the recording link to view/listen to later.    

 

HARNESSING THE POWER OF MASS EVENTS:  SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION 

 
Events, by their very nature, are single serve, but their creation consumes huge amounts resources, produces mountain ranges of waste, and sends up plumes of emissions - and all for a moment in time. It could be said the most sustainable event is none at all. But mass gatherings of people for a purpose always have been, and always will be part of the glue that binds communities together. With increasing urgency to address sustainability, how is the event industry facing the need for sustainable production practices while continuing to be a single-serve product?  

 

Meegan is an event professional (20 years) who provides sustainable solutions for live events and productions.  She is a Director of GreenShoot Pacific, training and consulting on sustainability for the events, screen and music touring industries. Meegan is author of Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide, published by Earthscan/Stylus in 2012.   

  

Meegan Jones photo2Meegan Jones, an events sustainability expert, will share her frontline experiences and where the industry is headed in tackling sustainability issues and how it is leveraging the power of mass gatherings to demonstrate innovations in sustainability.

  

Free to ISSP Members and $10 to non-members.

For more information and to register click HERE.  

  

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SUSTAINABILITY PLANNING WORKSHOP
AT ISSP CONFERENCE 2011

f2f learning  

As part of ISSP's Pre-Conference Events, a one-day Sustainability Planning workshop is being offered September 21, 2011 in Portland, Oregon. The workshop will be held at the Portland DoubleTree Hotel, the site of ISSP Conference 2011.

 

Instructor: Marsha Willard, executive director of ISSP and a co-founder of Axis Performance Advisors. 

   

 This workshop, taught by ISSP Executive Director Marsha Willard, is one of the core courses in the Sustainability Professional Certificate program.  Take advantage of this opportunity to work with Marsha Willard face-to-face and fulfill a requirement for the certificate.  Enrollment is limited to 30 people.

 

For more information and to register click HERE.     

 

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VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: SUSTAINABILITY 101

Instructor: Darcy Hitchcock, vice president of ISSP and co-founder of Axis Performance Advisors. on-line learning

   

After taking ISSP's foundation course, you'll know  the concepts, frameworks and tools used by sustainability professionals.

 

Dates: Open Enrollment. Register at any time.  Take up to 8 weeks to complete.  

Register HERE.   

 

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RESOURCES

Join the On-Line Treasure Hunt:
CLIMATE CHANGE TOOLKIT - UPSTREAM MATERIALS MANAGEMENT FOCUS


 

This month we are doing something a little different.  This is a treasure hunt.  We've posted a new climate change tool on the ISSP site that looks at the calculation of climate change impacts in a different way.  It takes a hard look at the embedded energy in stuff:  the compounded climate impacts of extracting resources, processing materials, manufacturing and transportation. 

 

In the words of the toolkit creators, West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum:

 

"This new toolkit provides resources to integrate material conservation into your community's GHG inventory and climate action planning

 

The Toolkit includes:

�  New approaches to GHG inventories that quantifies impacts from materials

�   Model Climate Action Plans that include materials conservation practices

�    Innovative policies that can reduce material consumption and increase recycling and composting

�    Example ordinances, standards, and policies to drive GHG reductions from material management"

 

Intrigued?  Go to the ISSP website and see if you can find it.  There are a couple ways to look.  After you log in:

>  Click on the Resources section in the left column

>  Then Click on Resource Library Search.

>  Type in a couple key words you think might work and look for the toolkit link.

 

--OR-- 

 

>  Click on Recent Posts in the right column.

>  Scan through the list or do a search in the center section above the Recent Post

 

After you have checked out the tool kit, post your own comment on it.  Just click on "Add new comment" below the post or choose "Subscribe to this post". 

 

Dorothy Atwood is our Resources Program Manager.  Contact her if you have ideas of things you want other members to post or ideas of ways we can use this feature to pull together information @ [email protected]     

 

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PARTICIPATE IN GREENBIZ.COM PROFESSIONAL SALARY SURVEY

 

An increased number of companies are placing a senior executive in charge of environmental sustainability. The field is continually changing, and the market is forever on the move. GreenBiz.com has created its Second Annual GreenBiz Professional Salary Survey to assess these changes and provide an insightful and highly valuable study on this expanding field.

We would like to ask you to help us by participating in this survey. The survey is very brief and will probably take only five minutes (a little more if you add comments).

GreenBiz has offered to share the results with ISSP, so chime in and then stay tuned! 

Click here for the survey  

 

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BOOK REVIEWS

Engaging the Public with Climate Change

 

Engage_BookWhitmarsh, Lorraine, Sarffron O'Neill and Irene Lorenzoni (eds.) (2011) Engaging the Public with Climate Change. London, England: Earthscan.

  

This book pulls together a number of academic studies on what works and doesn't for getting the public to care about and act on climate change. While each chapter was written by a different author, the style was consistent (although unfortunately for my tastes, consistently academic). The table on page 7 gives a nice run-down of the authors, topics and disciplines represented. Topics range from changing habits, new forms of democracy, usefulness of mindfulness to combat consumption, eco-teams, low-carbon communities, and media. What I really want now is the article pulling together the lessons learned. This book is UK centric but the lessons are widely applicable. More...   

 

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Don't Be Such A Scientist:  

Talking Substance In An Age of Style 

  

 Don't Be Sci BookOlson, Randy (2009) Don't be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style. Washington, DC: Island Press.

 

Randy will be one of the keynote speakers at our conference!  

 

Randy Olson is a scientist who then went to Hollywood to make movies about scientific issues. His theory is that scientists tend to communicate with the head, but most of the public first is motivated by libido (sex sells), then the gut (intuition, humor) then the heart and finally the head. You lose parts of the audience as you move up the body parts. Pretty much everyone is motivated by the lower organs to some extent but fewer are clearly motivated by the heart and fewer yet the head.

More...  

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SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

 

See details about these events on the Partner Events page of the ISSP Website.

 

ICLEI European Membership Convention, September 12-14, Brussels

Sustainability Executive Forum for Process Industries and Utilities, September 18-20, Nashville, TN

NAHMMA Conference, September 26-30, 2011, Portland, Oregon

Green Initiatives Conference, September 29-30, Atlanta, GA

SRI in the Rockies, October 2 - 5, 2011, New Orleans

Manufacturing Process Optimization, October 10-11, Bangkok

Gaining Ground, Vancouver BC, October 17-20

Healthcare Development Conference, October 26-28, Chicago

BSR Conference 2011, November 1-4, San Francisco

Sustainability Program, December 27, 2011 - January 8,2012, Vienna

GRI Certification Training, various workshops around the US, see listing for dates and locations

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