Accelerator: Accelerator A Toolbox for
Sustainable Development
Based on the ISIS Method
ISIS: ISIS A Sequence of Strategic Reflection Processes
Indicators Systems Innovation Strategy
What are organizations doing when they say they do “sustainable development”?: What are organizations doing when they say they do “sustainable development”? Source: Stuart Hart,
with thanks to Marty LaGod,
with additions by AtKisson
What are organizations doing when they say they do “sustainable development”?: What are organizations doing when they say they do “sustainable development”? Environmental Management
Corporate Social Responsibility
Greening
Industrial Ecology
Stakeholder Management
Life-Cycle Management
Pollution Prevention (P2)
Sustainable Development
Design for Environment (DfE)
Green Design
Urban Reinvestment
Brownfield Redevelopment
ISO 14001
Waste Reduction
Closed Loops
Resource Productivity
Sustainable Technology
Radical Transactiveness
Systems Thinking
Corporate Governance Clean Technology
Eco-Efficiency
Eco-Effectiveness
Biomimicry
Triple Bottom Line
Inclusive Capitalism
Base of the Pyramid
Community Capitalism
Corporate Citizenship
Voluntary Regulation
Civic Entrepreneurship
Full Cost Accounting
EMS
Risk Management
Leapfrog Technology
Cradle to Cradle
Restorative Technology
Balanced Scorecard
Take-Back
Transparency Source: Stuart Hart,
with thanks to Marty LaGod,
with additions by AtKisson Digital Divide
Cultural Diversity
Natural Capitalism
Ecological Footprint
Product-to-Service
Integrated Product Mgmt
Natural Step
Building the Pyramid
Compass Index
SROI
Blended Value
GRI
Precautionary Principle
Green Procurement
Green Building
SMS
ISIS
CDM
EUAs
B24B
Slide5: Let’s simplify
Sustainability is ...: Sustainability is ...
A set of conditions and trends in a given system that can continue indefinitely
Sustainable Development is ...: Sustainable Development is ... A strategic process of continuous change in the direction of sustainability
9 Steps for Sustainable Development: 9 Steps for Sustainable Development 1. Understand systems in general
2. Understand sustainability in general
3. Distinguish between "development" and "growth” in goal-setting
4. Have adequate information on current developments and trends for the system in question (“Indicators”)
5. Under the dynamics of the specific system in question (“Systems Analysis”) 6. Identify what specific changes to make in the system (“Innovation”)
7. Understand how to make change in that system (“Strategy”)
8. Successfully implement change (“Agreements and Actions”)
9 Continuous monitoring and adaptation (“Strategic Evaluation”) 1 2 4 6 7 5 9 3 8
Compass: Compass Framing
Orienting
Convening
Assessing
& Measuring
Sustainability
Slide10: A tool for orienting to sustainability
Slide11: A tool for orienting to sustainability
The Compass of Sustainability: The Compass of Sustainability N - Nature
Ecosystems, Species, Impacts, Resource Use
E - Economy
Production, Consumption, Technology, Money, Work
S - Society
Government, Culture, Social Systems
W - Well-Being
Health, Happiness, Quality of Life
ACCELERATOR TOOL Framing Sustainbility
Developing Indicators
Doing Assessments
Managing Stakeholder Input
The ISIS Iceberg: The ISIS Iceberg Foundation (At the Bottom):
Your belief & value system about how the world should be (Principles and Visions) Level 1:
Your information about how the world is, what’s happening in it (Indicators & Trends) Level 2:
Your model of how the world works, and why that change is necessary (Systems) Level 3:
The specific change you are trying to make (Innovation) Level 4:
Your plan for success (Strategy) Tip (Visible to Others):
What you're doing now (Actions)
The ISIS Iceberg: The ISIS Iceberg Foundation (At the Bottom):
Your belief & value system about how the world should be (Principles and Visions) Level 1:
Your information about how the world is, what’s happening in it (Indicators & Trends) Level 2:
Your model of how the world works, and why that change is necessary (Systems) Level 3:
The specific change you are trying to make (Innovation) Level 4:
Your plan for success (Strategy) Tip (Visible to Others):
What you're doing now (Actions)
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability ACCELERATOR TOOL What is “sustainability” for us? What is our vision for the future? PREPARE
THE
GROUND
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability INDICATORS ACCELERATOR TOOL What is happening? What are the trends? Where are we headed?
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability INDICATORS SYSTEMS ACCELERATOR TOOL Why is it happening? What causes what? Where can change be made?
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability INDICATORS SYSTEMS INNOVATIONS ACCELERATOR TOOL What kind of change would be most effective ... for the whole system?
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability INDICATORS SYSTEMS INNOVATIONS STRATEGIES ACCELERATOR TOOL How do we effectively implement? What will it take to succeed? STEP 1: Analyze
STEP 2: Plan
STEP 3: Execute
RESULT:
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability INDICATORS SYSTEMS INNOVATIONS STRATEGIES AGREEMENTS & ACTIONS ACCELERATOR TOOL
Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability: Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action for Sustainability INDICATORS SYSTEMS INNOVATIONS STRATEGIES AGREEMENTS & ACTIONS Trust, Commitment, and Discipline ACCELERATOR TOOL
Pyramid Training and Planning Process : Pyramid Training and Planning Process Baltic 21
Northern Europe UNEP
SE Asia Townsville, Australia ACCELERATOR TOOL
Level 1: INDICATORS: Level 1: INDICATORS Information about critical & long-term trends
The purpose of indicators : The purpose of indicators Make system conditions and trends
visible
so that we can understand them ...
... and respond to them ...
... in time to make a difference.
Indicators tell us …: Indicators tell us … How many?
How fast?
How much?
How often?
And they answer the question:
What’s the trend?
A Few Famous Indicators: A Few Famous Indicators The Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The Stock Market
Your Temperature When You Get Sick
Medal Counts at the Olympic Games
Good Indicators …: Good Indicators … Build clarity and accountability
Build a sense of common purpose
Build relationships
Have their strongest impacts over years and decades
Sustainability Indicators …: Sustainability Indicators … Cover the Whole Compass
Tell us about the Whole System
Help guide us in the long term
Anatomy of an Indicator: Anatomy of an Indicator
Good indicators are …: Good indicators are … Relevant
directly connected to the issues you are concerned with
Measurable
objective or subjective, qualitative or quantitative
Reliable
you can trust the data
Good indicators are …: Good indicators are … Understandable
the average person can "get it"
Clear in Direction
it is obvious which direction is “good”
Responsive
they react when you make change)
Why Care About Sustainability? A Few Relevant Indicators: Why Care About Sustainability? A Few Relevant Indicators Global Trend Graphs From BBC Website, “Planet Under Pressure”, 2004 Pattern: Exponential growth... against system limits
Making the invisible visible: Making the invisible visible Source: “Limits to Growth—the 30-Year Update” (citing other international data sources), Chelsea Green Publishing, USA, 2004 Global Population, 1650-2002 YOU ARE HERE
What this eco-footprint data means:: What this eco-footprint data means:
Understanding Exponential Growth: Understanding Exponential Growth
... and disproportionality: Source: Global Challenge, Global Opportunity: Trends in Sustainable Development,
United Nations, August 2002 ... and disproportionality WHERE ARE YOU?
Understanding momentum: Source: “Limits to Growth—the 30-Year Update” (citing other international data sources), Chelsea Green Publishing, USA, 2004 WE ARE PROBABLY HERE Understanding momentum
Reflecting on human needs, desires, and aspirations: Source: Global Challenge, Global Opportunity: Trends in Sustainable Development, United Nations, August 2002 Reflecting on human needs, desires, and aspirations
Understanding widening gaps and tensions: WE ARE HERE . . . BUT A LOT OF
PEOPLE ARE HERE Source: Global Challenge, Global Opportunity: Trends in Sustainable Development, United Nations, August 2002 Understanding widening gaps and tensions
Helping us think about what’s really important: Helping us think about what’s really important The UK government’s Commission on Sustainable Development has released a report assessing life satisfaction and GDP. United
Kingdom
Can we possibly change trends like these?: Can we possibly change trends like these?
Yes ... because we’ve done it.: YOU MIGHT
HAVE BEEN
HERE } … with very serious consequences for humanity.
(Global population projection for the year 2000 in 1970:
7 billion.
Actual population in 2000:
6 billion.)
If the world had not responded to the demographic projections
of the
1970s … Yes ... because we’ve done it.
Compass: Compass Framework and Methodology for
Integrated
Sustainability
Reporting Examples from
Sustainable Pittsburgh
www.sustainablepittsburgh.org
An AtKisson client since 1998 ACCELERATOR TOOL
Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA: Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA Strategic advisors to
Sustainable Pittsburgh
since 1998
www.sustainablepittsburgh.org www.sustainablepittsburgh.org
Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA: Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA Strategic advisors to
Sustainable Pittsburgh
since 1998
www.sustainablepittsburgh.org www.sustainablepittsburgh.org
Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA: Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA Strategic advisors to
Sustainable Pittsburgh
since 1998
www.sustainablepittsburgh.org www.sustainablepittsburgh.org
Slide48: www.sustainablepittsburgh.org
Indicator Development Process: Indicator Development Process Identify “Assets & Concerns”
Develop “Candidate Indicators”
Refine the Candidates with technical input
Select a final set based on criteria that determine priority and meaningfulness
Research and document
Publish and promote the result
Level 2: SYSTEMS: Level 2: SYSTEMS Understanding why things are happening, and where you can make change
System Maps: System Maps Start with your top indicator and its strongest linkages
Make a “map” showing the cause-and-effect relationships
Add other indicators from other compass points
Add other indicators/trends you might find that are important elements of this system
Report
The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good: The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good Indicators: “More information is better than less”
Systems: “Some systems thinking is better than none”
Sustainability: “Pretty good sustainability is better than systems collapse”
Slide53: EMPLOYER BANK
ACCOUNT THE
MALL BANK FEEDBACK FAMILY FRIENDS POLICE Sample System Map Source Flow Sink Stock
Slide54: Example of one Planetary System The Carbon Cycle
Slide55: Global atmospheric concentration of CO2
Slide56: Example System: Global Climate change A System of inter-related elements that includes:
Source: Carbon locked up in wood and fossil-fuel
Flow: Human activities: fossil-fuel burning and deforestation
Sink: The Ocean, the forest and the atmosphere
… or where carbon dioxide is absorbed
Feedback: melting ice cap, changing climate pattern, rising sea level, rising temperature
Slide57: source source Balanced Systems vs. Unbalanced Systems
The Key Elements of Systems Thinking: Stocks, Flows ... and Feedback Loops: The Key Elements of Systems Thinking: Stocks, Flows ... and Feedback Loops Population: Births add, Deaths subtract
But the rates create feedback loop
Same thing for capital and infrastructure Source: “Limits to Growth—the 30-Year Update” , Chelsea Green Publishing, USA, 2004 SOURCE SOURCE FEEDBACK SINK FLOW
Key to Systems Thinking: Links and Loops Cause and Effect ... and Cause ... and Effect ... and Cause ... and Effect ... and: Key to Systems Thinking: Links and Loops Cause and Effect ... and Cause ... and Effect ... and Cause ... and Effect ... and FOR EXAMPLE:
More people means more demand for food ...
But also means faster learning about how to grow food
More food means births start to slow down ... but food production keeps growing ...
Until we hit a limit -- like polluted water, or no more land to cultivate Source: “Limits to Growth—the 30-Year Update” , Chelsea Green Publishing, USA, 2004
Basic ISIS Systems Analysis: Basic ISIS Systems Analysis Gladstone Region
Sketch out how trends,
decision-making, and
information flows are
linked together in mulitple
cause-effect relationships Use that analysis to
identify the best leverage
points for introducing
change Step 1: Step 2: Trend Decision
Point Information
Flow
Linkages: Linkages Learning from linkages
Select a “top indicator”
Show the strongest links between that indicator and indicators in other compass points
Report
Level 3: INNOVATION: Level 3: INNOVATION
Slide64: © AtKisson
Slide65: © AtKisson
Slide66: What Sustainability Innovation Means Adapted from “Leverage Points: Ways to Intervene in a System,” by Donella H. Meadows. Available from www.sustainer.org
Sustainability is creating the Sixth Great Wave of Innovation: Sustainability is creating the Sixth Great Wave of Innovation
Critical Characteristics of Innovations: Critical Characteristics of Innovations (1) RELATIVE ADVANTAGE
(2) COMPLEXITY
(3) OBSERVABILITY
(4) TRIALABILITY
(5) COMPATIBILITY
Source: Everett Rogers, “Diffusion of Innovations,” 1962, Revised 1995, Free Press
Innovation: What we do at the leverage points: Innovation: What we do at the leverage points Gladstone Region
Leverage Points: Leverage Points Look at the system map
Consider this question: Where can you make a powerful change -- a change that will send positive benefits throughout the system?
Mark those places with a small “Delta” (triangle shape)
Strategy: Strategy
The “Gilman Equation”: A Strategic Change-Planning Tool: The “Gilman Equation”: A Strategic Change-Planning Tool Perceived Value of the NEW Idea Perceived Value of the OLD Way Perceived COST of the CHANGE
N - O > CC, or ... This assesses the strategic
conditions for adoption of a
given innovation.
See “Believing Cassandra,”
Ch. 9, for more information. ACCELERATOR TOOL - AMOEBA Source: Robert Gilman, cited in AtKisson, Believing Cassandra
The Three “Avenues for Action” Derived from the Gilman Equation: The Three “Avenues for Action” Derived from the Gilman Equation 1. Increase the Perceived Value of the New Idea (Marketing and Promotion) Perceived Value of the NEW Idea Perceived Value of the OLD Way Perceived COST of the CHANGE ACCELERATOR TOOL - AMOEBA Source: Robert Gilman, cited in AtKisson, Believing Cassandra
The Three “Avenues for Action” Derived from the Gilman Equation: The Three “Avenues for Action” Derived from the Gilman Equation 2. Decrease the Perceived Value of the Old Way (Protest and Criticism) Perceived Value of the NEW Idea Perceived Value of the OLD Way Perceived COST of the CHANGE ACCELERATOR TOOL - AMOEBA Source: Robert Gilman, cited in AtKisson, Believing Cassandra
The Three “Avenues for Action” Derived from the Gilman Equation: The Three “Avenues for Action” Derived from the Gilman Equation 3. Decrease the Perceived Cost of Change (Facilitation, Assistance, Subsidies, etc.) Perceived Value of the NEW Idea Perceived Value of the OLD Way Perceived COST of the CHANGE ACCELERATOR TOOL - AMOEBA Source: Robert Gilman, cited in AtKisson, Believing Cassandra
Slide76: You can analyze Innovations … .. with the Gilman Equation:
N — O > CC
N = "The Perceived Value of the New Way”
O = "The Perceived Value of the Old Way”
CC = "The Perceived Cost of Making the Change"
In other words, for change to occur, the new way has to be so much better than the old way that it overcomes the perceived cost of making the switch.
Slide77: Three “Avenues for Action”: N — O > CC
Increase N:
PROMOTE THE NEW
Decrease O:
DEMOTE THE OLD
Decrease CC:
FACILITATE THE CHANGE
Pursue All 3 Simultaneously!
StrateSphere: StrateSphere Implementation
Analysis and Evaluation
for Increasing Strategic Impact Example from regional
air and water program
The Hope Graph::
The
Time
of
Our
Lives The Hope Graph: Unsustainable
Technologies
& Practices
Sustainable
Technologies
& Practices
2000 2040 Source: AtKisson
Slide80: Making the Connection to the Real World The Capstone Agreement
Slide81: Pyramid Level 5: AGREEMENTS From Workshop to Real World