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JULY 2012                                                                     VOLUME 6 NO. 7          

In This Issue
Rio+20 Shrouded in Disappointment
Tiered ISSP Membership Rates Favor People In Developing Countries
Review or Suggest A Good Book
Member News from Texas and Michigan
August Webinar: Thermodynamics and the Economy
September Webinar: Frances Moore Lappe and the EcoMind
September Workshop: Biomimicry: Pathway to Innovation
October Webinar: Employee Engagement the Key to Sustainability Implementation
October Workshop: Organizational Assessments and Systems
November Workshop: Leadership Skills for Change Agents
Self-Paced Workshop: Sustainability 101
2013 Workshops: A Preview
Featured Job Posting: Sustainable Business Sector Specialist
Read A Good Book
Sustainability Conferences and Events
 
 

MarketingWkshop
FEATURED NEWS

Chicago to Be Site of Next ISSP Member Conference in May 2013

Planning has begun for the next ISSP Member Conference, to be held in early May, 2013 in Chicago. More details will be posted soon on the ISSP Website. The ISSP management team welcomes your suggestions regarding themes and topics to be explored when we all come together next spring in The Windy City. Send your ideas to [email protected].  

Rio +20 Environmental Summit:
Outcomes of World Conference Fall Short


The long anticipated Rio+20 conference
came and went last month and very few people are happy with the results. While many grassroots organizations seized the opportunity to create meaningful dialogue, the world's governments generally failed to make any major commitments that could truly help future generations. Read a summary of opinions about the results of Rio+20 in the following article.

 

 
 RIO+20: WHAT DID IT ACCOMPLISH?
ResolveDisappointment Hangs Over Conference Results As Governments Exhibit Lack of Resolve

 

"Yet another UN mega-conference ends in disappointment, the low expectations fully justified. Once again, our governments have failed to demonstrate leadership, have lacked courage to make the compromises necessary to ensure a fairer, more stable world. Once again they have kept their eyes riveted on short-term electoral deadlines and sold out future generations. We have come to a sorry pass." So concludes Mark Halles in his post mortem of the Rio+20 conference for IISD, the International Institute for Sustainable Development.  

The New York Times summarized the outcome with similar disappointment: "Burdened by low expectations, snarled by endless traffic congestion and shunned by President Obama, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development ended here as it began, under a shroud of withering criticism. The antipoverty organization CARE called the meeting 'nothing more than a political charade,' and Greenpeace said the gathering was 'a failure of epic proportions." The Pew Environment Group was slightly more charitable. 'It would be a mistake to call Rio a failure,' the group said, 'but for a once-in-a-decade meeting with so much at stake, it was a far cry from a success.'
To continue reading, click here

     

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MEMBER INVOLVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

New Tiered Rates Designed to Make ISSP Membership More Affordable to People in Developing Economies

In our effort to remove potential barriers to becoming a member of ISSP, we have recently updated our membership management system to accommodate multi-tiered membership rates. There are now four categories of countries based on World Bank designations each with its own regular and student/NGO rates.

These rates are designed for people living in those countries where exchange rates and local economies make a developed world membership rate prohibitively high. Our hope is that expats or people working for large multi-national corporations in those countries will still honor the regular membership. We're hoping this helps us increase our international presence.

Visit our membership page to view the rates and sign up today!
Join here!

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Book Review Update:
Send Us Your Suggestions for Books To Review

We had a great response to our call for book reviewers last month. We continue to receive books from publishers.  We will be contacting all those members that have expressed an interest in doing a book review in the order in which they contacted us.  If you would like to be added to our list of member book reviewers please send your name to Dorothy Atwood at [email protected].

We are also soliciting ideas of book publishers and recent authors that we can contact to for a book review copy.  If you have any suggestions, please send them to Dorothy Atwood at the e-mail address above.

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NEWS FROM ISSP MEMBERSStanley

Green Grove Group Becomes First Texas Sustainability Consultants to Earn
Certified B Corporation Designation


Last month, Green Grove Group, a sustainability solutions company offering resource efficiency, sustainability operations, and employee engagement consulting announced they are the first sustainability consultants in Texas to earn a Certified B Corporation designation.

 

Tajana Mesic
Tajana Mesic

ISSP member Tajana Mesic is Green Grove Group's president and founder. She pointed out that Certified B Corps must meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stake holders interests, and build a collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. Green Grove Group underwent a thorough impact assessment, assessment review, as well as demonstrated the required social and environmental practices required to become a Certified B Corp. Measurement is based on the company's impact on its employees, suppliers, community and the environment.

 

Green Grove Group is a full-service sustainability and resource efficiency consulting firm operating in Houston and Dallas, Texas, providing clients with professional services and guidance on integrating sustainability strategy into operations in a financially viable way. Client work includes development of implementation tools and procedures, training, and sustainability principles integration into existing core business systems.

 

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ISSP Member Eric Harrington Founds
Green Advantage Consultants

 

ISSP member Eric Harrington has started his own independen
Eric Harrington
t consultancy, Green Advantage Consultants, focusing on strategic planning for sustainability, pollution prevention, life cycle management, and green materials.  Green Advantage is headquartered in Chelsea, Michigan.

Earlier this year, Green Advantage Consultants was selected to provide audit services for the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute in San Francisco.
 

  


Members, Send Us Your News !!! 

Have you or your company done something interesting lately? Did you recently publish an article, win an award or make a presentation to a large group?  Let us know what you've been up to so we may share it with your fellow members here in our newsletter.NewsLogo
Send your news items to [email protected] 
with the phrase Newsletter Item in the subject line. 

See you on-line! 
   


NEXT ISSP WEBINAR -- AUGUST 23 
Insight from Ecological Economics:
What Thermodynamic Limits Tell Us
About the Economy
with Maggie Winslow, PhD

 

Thursday August 23, 2012 at 11am PDT

Maggie Winslow PhD will present the basics of an alternative, transdisciplinary field called ecological economic

 

Maggie Winslow, PhD
Maggie Winslow
 REGISTER NOW>>   

 

 

Using thermodynamic limits as the backdrop, Maggie Winslow will focus on the relationship between the state of ecological sustainability and the economic drivers that can propel our global marketplace, and local businesses, either toward or away from sustainable business operations. She will challenge some of the traditional economic assumptions and models that put us at risk of missing transformative opportunities in our businesses and economy, and will present an alternative model based on ecological economics.  She will conclude by discussing where we can go from here at the macroeconomic level and at the enterprise level.

 

Dr. Maggie Winslow has been a professor of economics at Presidio Graduate School for the past nine years where she has taught Managerial Economics, Macroeconomics  and Ecological Economics.  Starting in the fall of 2012, she will be teaching in the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of San Francisco. Previously she taught at UC Berkeley, Antioch University, the Central European University, and for the Conservation Strategy Fund.  Her dissertation work examined the relationship between economic growth, environmental quality and democracy.  Her current research is on labor productivity, wages, and environmental quality.

 

ISSP Webinars provide convenient and affordable continuous learning for busy sustainability professionals. Register for the live, interactive, online educational event and if you are unable to attend we'll send you the recording link.  

 

Free to ISSP Members.  $10 for ISSP non-member site visitors. 

 REGISTER NOW>>                      

 

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SEPTEMBER 19 WEBINAR
Frances Moore Lapp�
author of EcoMind, Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want

 

Wednesday September 19, 2012 at 11am PDT

ISSP welcomes Frances Moore Lapp�, author of -- EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want. Frances will present from her book, EcoMind.

 

Frances Moore Lappe
Frances Moore Lappe
REGISTER NOW>> 

 

 

In EcoMind, Frances Moore Lapp� - a giant of the environmental movement - confronts accepted wisdom of environmentalism. Drawing on the latest research from anthropology to neuroscience and her own field experience, she argues that the biggest challenge to human survival isn't our fossil fuel dependency, melting glaciers, or other calamities. Rather, it's our faulty way of thinking about these environmental crises that robs us of power. Lapp� dismantles seven common thought traps - from limits to growth to the failings of democracy - that belie what we now know about nature, including our own, and offers contrasting thought leaps that reveal our hidden power.

 

Like her Diet for a Small Planet classic, EcoMind is challenging, controversial and empowering.  EcoMind was just awarded a silver medal from Independent Publisher Book Awards, Environment/Ecology/Nature category.  Jane Goodall called the book "powerful and inspiring. "Ecomind will open your eyes and change your thinking. I want everyone to read it," she said.  

 

She is the cofounder of three organizations, including Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute, a collaborative network for research and popular education seeking to bring democracy to life, which she leads with her daughter Anna Lapp�. Frances and her daughter have also cofounded the Small Planet Fund, which channels resources to democratic social movements worldwide.

 

About the Author

Frances Moore Lapp� is the author of 17 books and cofounder of Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy, the Small Planet Institute, and the Small Planet Fund. She works in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

ISSP Webinars provide convenient and affordable continuous learning for busy sustainability professionals. Register for the live, interactive, online educational event and if you are unable to attend we'll send you the recording link.  

 

Free to ISSP Members.  $10 for ISSP non-member site visitors. 

REGISTER NOW>>                     

 

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September 2012 Virtual Workshop Biomimicry: Pathway to Innovation...
Learning from Nature

with Mary Hansel, Certified Biomimicry Professional

> Early Bird Discount - $50 off - ends 08/30/12
 
> ISSP Members save $75 anytime  
 

Participants enjoy ISSP's dynamic, interactive eLearning experience: meeting online once a week for a live webinar AND online 24/7 over the 4 weeks at the ISSP Learning Center.  

 

Dates for Live Webinars: 

Thursdays September 2012 (6, 13, 20, 26) at   

1pm PDT/ 2pm MDT/ 3pm CDT/ 4pm EDT

 

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Biomimicry is an old practice and new discipline that emulates nature's time-tested strategies for surviving and thriving sustainably on Earth. Formaldehyde-free building materials modeled after mussels, networks that emulate slime mold, and self-cleaning paint inspired by lotus leaves, are a few examples. A growing number of people are applying lessons from nature's treasure trove of tried-and-true solutions to spur innovation toward creating healthier, more resilient societies.  

Through a series of interactive, online presentations, exercises, and a final deliverable, this workshop is designed to meet the following learning objectives: 

  • Ability to describe the concept of biomimicry and various ways (innovation tool, ethical gauge for sustainability, reconnection between humans and the planet) it is being used to advance sustainability.
  • Learn to translate challenges into functions that can be used to ask "How does nature...?"
  • Explore a system's perspective on Earth's operating conditions and learn deep patterns of biological design (Life's Principles) that have evolved in response to those operating conditions.
  • Practice using Life's Principles to both evaluate, and inspire strategies to improve, sustainability performance.
  • Identify biomimicry tools and resources.     

INSTRUCTOR
Join Mary Hansel, Certified Biomimicry Professional, in September for ISSP's new workshop. Mary was among the first fifteen
Mary Hanselgraduates of the Biomimicry Institute's two-year professional program with a concentration in biomimicry and business innovation. Mary specializes in organizational sustainability and intrapreneurial coaching. She has included biomimicry as a core piece in her work for the past ten years, and has designed and presented sustainability and biomimicry educational sessions for professional conferences, graduate courses as a guest lecturer, and internal workshops.  Read more here...  

 

 REGISTER NOW>>   

        

 

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OCTOBER 18 WEBINAR   
Employee Engagement - The Key for Successful Sustainability Implementation   
with Kevin Wilhelm     

Thursday October 18, 2012 at 11am PDT

 

REGISTER NOW>>                 

 

Increasingly companies are realizing that the key to overcoming the "Implementation Hurdle" and truly integrating Sustainability into their company's operations, culture, and DNA, is employee engagement.

 

Kevin Wilhelm
Kevin Wilhelm

Kevin Wilhelm, CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting and author of Return on Sustainability, will discuss the barriers to implementation and the how, why, nuts and bolts of employee engagement. He will highlight not only the latest research and trends, but speak from his experience with having worked with over 60 firms on implementing sustainability. He will bring knowledge and stories (both hilarious and frustratingly sad) of both successes and failures around employee engagement for sustainability.

 

Kevin is the pre-eminent business consultant in the field of sustainability and climate change. He is the CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting, a Seattle based consulting firm focused on practical solutions that deliver profit improvement through the use of sustainable business practices. Kevin brings over sixteen years of experience working with businesses ranging from Fortune 500 multinationals to government agencies to renewable energy start-ups. Some of his clients include Nordstrom, REI, The North Face, Coinstar/Redbox, Drugstore.com and Brooks Sports.    

 

ISSP Webinars provide convenient and affordable continuous learning for busy sustainability professionals. Register for the live, interactive, online educational event and if you are unable to attend we'll send you the recording link.  

 

Free to ISSP Members.  $10 for ISSP non-member site visitors. 

REGISTER NOW>>                     

 

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October 2012 Virtual Workshop
Sustaining Sustainability
Organizational Assessments & Systems
with  Dorothy Fisher Atwood

> Early Bird Discount - $50 off - ends 09/23/12 
> ISSP Members save $75 -- Anytime
 

Participants report appreciating the provided tools of templates and resources, that the workshop was more practical than theoretical and it's based on the system approach.

They also enjoy ISSP's dynamic, interactive eLearning experience by meeting online once a week for a live webinar AND over 4 weeks meeting 24/7 at the Learning Center.  Dates for Live Webinars:   

 

Mondays October 2012 (1, 8, 15, 22) at 10am PDT/11am MDT/ 12pm CDT/ 1pm EDT 

 

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
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 workshop 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 workshop 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?

INSTRUCTOR 

Dorothy AtwoodDorothy Fisher Atwood has over 25 years of environmental consulting experience with the last ten years focused management systems implementation for private and public organizations. She is the Management Systems program manager for Zero Waste Alliance (ZWA), a Portland-based non-profit organization.  ZWA is one of the eleven US Environmental Protection Agency-designated Local Resource Centers in their PEER center of management system excellence. Her work includes development of implementation tools and procedures, training, and sustainability and environmental management system (including ISO 14001) integration into core business systems.     

                         

 

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November 2012 Virtual Workshop
Leadership Skills for Change Agents
with Bob Willard
   
> Early Bird Discount - $50 off - ends 11/01/12.
> ISSP Members save $75 anytime.  
    

Participants enjoy ISSP's dynamic, interactive eLearning experience by meeting online once a week for a live webinar AND 24/7 over 4 weeks at the Learning Center.   Dates for Live Webinars:  

Mondays November 2012 (5, 12, 19, 26) at 4pm PDT/5pm MDT/ 6pm CDT/ 7pm EDT

 

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

This workshop 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.

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.

INSTRUCTOR

Bob WillardBob Willard is a leading expert on quantifying and selling the business value of corporate sustainability strategies.  He is a teacher, speaker and author whose books include The Sustainability Advantage, The Next Sustainability Wave and The Sustainability Champion's Guidebook. He worked 34 years with IBM Canada, is on the faculty of the Sustainable Enterprise Academy, and serves on the advisory board of the Natural Step Canada. He has a PhD in sustainability from the University of Toronto. See www.sustainabilityadvantage.com for more information about him and his resources for sustainability champions.   

 

Bob is also an inaugural member of the  ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame(tm), which was established in 2011 as a way to formally recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of sustainability and to the professionals that serve it.

 

REGISTER NOW>>                        

 

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WORKSHOP:  SUSTAINABILITY 101
Instructor:  Darcy Hitchcock, co-founder of ISSP and co-founder of Axis Performance Advisors

   

on-line learningDistinguish yourself in knowing the concepts, frameworks and tools used by sustainability professionals.  Complete four online Modules in ISSP's foundation course in eight weeks, studying at your own pace.

This is your opportunity to go beyond an understanding of the problems.  Darcy's four Modules will help you begin to see how the solutions can weave together to create a better life for us all.  You'll end the course with an exploration about where you fit in the picture and what your role might be in creating a sustainable world.   

 

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

REGISTER NOW>>                        

 

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2013 WORKSHOPS
Looking forward to the
first half of 2013...

 

JAN  Ecosystem Evaluations - James Pittman 

FEB  Stakeholder Engagement Strategies - Susanne Croft

MAR Sustainability Planning - Marsha Willard

APR Sustainability Management Systems Dorothy Atwood

MAY Practical Tools and Methods - Alan AtKisson  

JUN Life-Cycle Assessment - Tom Gloria  

 

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FEATURED JOB POSTING

Director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition

GreenBlue (greenblue.org) seeks a visionary leader to direct and expand its flagship project, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). The SPC (sustainablepackaging.org) is a working group of companies from across the packaging supply chain that has grown from nine to nearly 200 members since 2004 and now is recognized as the leading voice on packaging sustainability. The job is located in Charlottesville VA.   

  

To See the Full Job Posting, Click Here .

 

To See More Jobs Featured on the ISSP Website, Click Here.  

 

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BOOK REVIEWS

Building the Business Case for Sustainabiliy

Willard, Bob (2012). The New Sustainability Advantage (10th Anniversary Edition). Gabriola Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers.

Reviewed by Marsha Willard, ISSP Executive Director

 

It's been a while since I read the first edition of this book, but just comparing the look of the two, this edition is cleaner, simpler, and easier to both read and use. The format of the book makes it useful as a reference document in aid to building a justifiable and financially defensible business case for sustainability. The reader can easily scan the table of contents for areas to dig into to build a case most relevant to his or her own organization. The areas addressed include:

  • Increased revenue and/or market share
  • Reduced expenses from reductions in energy, water and materials consumption as well as reductions in waste production
  • Gains from employe productivity and retention
  • Avoided costs from reduced risks

 Each section includes instructions and examples for how to attribute costs, savings and earnings from each of these considerations enabling the reader to prepare a solid financial case for their sustainability vision. While the first edition did this as well, this addition makes it easier and, as Bob told me, the new edition has recalculated the figures because he became convinced that the numbers used in the first edition were way to conservative! Also, he reminded me, that the calculations and considerations are NOT just about convincing leaders that they should attend to sustainability. It is also the basis for a) responses to stakeholder questions and concerns, b) the creation of meaningful metrics and c) intelligent and defensible deployment decisions. The "convincing" part is just the beginning of the uses of the calculations. After reading this you will come to Bob's conclusion - that not only can the business case be easily made, but that the numbers are almost too good to be believed!

 

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SeptEventsSUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

 

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

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