48. One Planet Councils

Today, I attended a presentation and discussion on One Planet Councils, which is based on the One Planet Living framework developed by BioRegional and WWF. It sets out 10 principles for sustainability and provides a very understandable metric - we have one planet, so we need to live within its capacity. If everyone in the world consumed as many natural resources as the average person in Australia we would need four planets to support us. This is clearly unsustainable! One Planet Councils allows Australian local governments to assess their sustainability programs against this simple concept - do we consume more or less than our share of one planet's worth of resources? Ironbark Sustainability has teamed up with  One Planet Living, BioRegional, and the Victorian Local Governance Association to introduce One Planet Councils within Australia. The session highlighted three rather interesting points for me. First, applying One Planet Living to neighbourhoods has significant positive health impacts for residents, predominantly related to using cars less and walking more as well as healthy eating and lifestyles. With health problems and assocaited costs rising in many industrialised countries, the planning of our cities may well become a key approach to tackling this issue. Second, major property developers are now seriously looking at applying One Planet Living across their developments as the benefits associated with lower energy and transport costs as well as a better quality of life are highly valued by customers. Third, some retail stores are applying One Planet Living in their product lines, including what is called "choice editing" when a company removes certain products from its stores, which are identified as not being consistent with One Planet Living. These are all exciting developments!

47. Cities, Sustainability and Solutions!

After many months of work the Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production on Advancing Sustainable Urban Transformation is now published!!! It's been a great experience to be a guest editor working with researchers and practitioners from all around the world. Over 50 authors have contributed to 20 articles based on 35 cases and 130 surveyed examples of urban initiatives on sustainability in many countries. The abstract to the lead article reads "Despite increased awareness of the urgency to respond to climate change and to promote sustainable development, there are few powerful initiatives that are decisively shifting urban development in a sustainable, resilient and low-carbon direction. This Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production explores sustainable urban transformation focusing on structural transformation processes – multi-dimensional and radical change – that can effectively direct urban development towards ambitious sustainability goals. The 20 articles are based on 35 cases and over 130 surveyed examples of urban initiatives on sustainability in many countries. While cities in Europe dominate, there are also examples from North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The combined articles in this Special Volume contribute to knowledge and understanding on sustainable urban transformation across a range of areas, including governance and planning, innovation and competitiveness, lifestyle and consumption, resource management and climate mitigation and adaptation, transport and accessibility, buildings, and the spatial environment and public space. Overall, this Special Volume documents and analyses real-life action in cities and communities around the world to respond to sustainability challenges and it provides critical insights into how to catalyse, intensify and accelerate sustainable urban transformation globally. A main finding of the articles is that governance and planning are the key leverage points for transformative change."

Read the lead article and see the entire Special Volume.

46. 100 Resilient Cities

To enable 100 cities to better address major 21st century challenges, the Rockefeller Foundation is inviting cities from around the world to apply for the:

100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge

In August, cities can be nominated through a formal application process.
Winning cities will be announced in three rounds over the next three years, with the final round of winners named in 2015.
Each winning city will receive:

1. Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network which will provide support to member cities and share new knowledge and resilience best practices.
2. Support to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to oversee the development of a resilience strategy for the city and be part of a learning network of other CROs.
3. Support to create a resilience plan, along with tools and resources for implementation.

Now is the time for action to ensure our cities remain places of opportunity for the next 100 years.
- See more at: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/100-resilient-cities#sthash.atfkTk7y.dpuf

The Rockefeller Foundation has launched a program called "100 Resilient Cities" with the aim to enable 100 cities to better address major 21st century challenges and become more resilient. Cities can be nominated through a formal application process. Winning cities will be announced in three rounds over three years. Each winning city will receive the following:

1. Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network which will provide support to member cities and share new knowledge and resilience best practices.
2. Support to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to oversee the development of a resilience strategy for the city and be part of a learning network of other CROs.
3. Support to create a resilience plan, along with tools and resources for implementation.

I could imagine Stockholm is a likely candidate. Stockholm has been ranked very highly in sustainability and environmental awards, and the city is home to the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC). This is an international centre that advances transdisciplinary research for governance of social-ecological systems and resilience.

Melbourne must also be a chance to join such a network. Both Stockholm and Melbourne are members of the C40 Cities Climate Leadship Group. Based in Melbourne, the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL) works extensively with resilience. It seems to me that the presence of research-innovation collaborations like the SRC and VEIL are critical to cities becoming more resilient making programs and activities likes "100 Resilient Cities" a success.

45. A world you like

I just checked out the ‘A World You Like. With a Climate You Like.’ It is worth a look! The EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, puts it pretty nicely in a short film and the following text.

"Building a climate-friendly society is without doubt a big challenge, but it is also a huge opportunity. Making our society low-carbon will create new, green jobs and cutting-edge technologies. It will give us lower energy bills, comfortable and modern homes, cleaner air and more mobility. The low-carbon economy is about a smarter kind of growth. About getting more out of less. And if we start now we can make a smooth and cost-effective transition whereas the bill will rise if we postpone action.

A low-carbon society is not a distant Utopian vision. We already have many of the necessary technologies. The real challenge is to apply them and bring them to scale. And all of us can help with that. Fighting climate change is about creating a world we want to live in, a world we're proud to present to our kids. If we continue with business as usual, climate change can reach dangerous levels in the coming years and its consequences are already being felt around globe. But we can prevent that by taking action now." 

44. Beyond Growth Domestic Product?

I recently read an article entitled "Beyond Growth Domestic Product: Social Progress Index versus Happy Planet Index". As we all know, GDP is the global measure of progress. But there are increasing attempts to develop a replacement for GDP that better measures progress, quality of life, and environmental sustainability. A couple of initiates worth a look are the Social Progress Index and the Happy Planet Index.

The Social Progress Index is based on three dimensions:

1. Basic Human Needs: Does a country provide for its people’s most essential needs?
2. Foundations of Well-being: Are the building blocks in place for individuals and communities to enhance and sustain well-being?
3. Opportunity: Is there opportunity for all individuals to reach their full potential?

The Happy Planet Index also has three dimensions:
1. Experienced well-being
2. Life expectancy
3. Ecological footprint

The scores of both Costa Rica and Sweden illustrate the difference between these initiatives. In the Happy Planet Index, Costa Rica is rated the “happiest country in the world”. But in the Social Progress Index, Costa Rica ranks only #12 among the sample of 50 countries, due to poverty and lack of other "basic human needs". In the Social Progress Index, Sweden ranks #1 but only #52 in the Happy Planet Index due to a heavy ecological footprint.

Interestingly, this news article was posted on the Rebuild21 website, which is an annual international conference for "leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs who want to build alliances and drive change". The tagline for the Rebuilds21 conference is "the new Nordic way". It will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark on 22-23 May 2013. Looks pretty interesting!