Sustainable Duluth Surfaces By Jan Karon, DPPA steering committee member Quiet work on sustainable projects and practices has been going on for decades here at the Head of the Lakes - by many nonprofits, individuals, businesses, and at all levels of government. In March 2005, a new group surfaced in Duluth to join these organizations. Sustainable Duluth evolved last spring from an Ashland workshop presented by the co-authors of The Natural Step for Communities, Torbjorn Lahti (www.esam.se/eng/) and Sarah James. The workshop focused on the four principles of The Natural Step: #1 Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels #2 Reduce dependence upon synthetic chemicals and other unnatural substances #3 Reduce encroachment upon nature (land, water, wildlife, forests, soils, etc.) #4 Better meet human needs fairly and efficiently These principles were created in the early 1990s by a large group of Swedish scientists and environmentalists who were concerned that communities and their governments often did not cooperate to meet social, environmental and economic goals. For example, one community adopted a policy to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of chemical pesticides in public parks and school recreation fields. But before long, another branch of the government sprayed most of the city out of fear of West Nile virus carried by mosquitoes. It was this lack of any overall guiding principles that led the professional community in Sweden to develop the four principles of The Natural Step. To date over 80 communities in Sweden as well as communities in other northern European countries have adopted these principles, communities ranging from small rural towns to cities the size of Stockholm. These communities receive the designation "eco-municipality," uniting financial development and ecological balance in a common development strategy based on an area's natural resources and environmental values, its local commercial and industrial structure, and local lifestyles. It is both possible and beneficial for communities to work towards satisfying, simultaneously, environmental, economic and human needs. Eco-municipalities illustrate how economic and environmental choices can work together to benefit the entire community. For example, a wide variety of measures were taken to support the four principles of the Natural Step in Umea, a city north of Stockholm. One of the most notable was the replacement of the municipal oil-burning heating plant to one that burns solid waste. The municipality reduced fossil fuel consumption by about 90%, and became a world model for this type of heating plant. It is important to note that these same four principles of the Natural Step have been adopted in the United States by the American Planning Association (APA -www.planning.org.), which represents 37,000 practicing planners, officials, and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues. The objective of the APA is to encourage planning that will meet the needs of people and communities more effectively. This fall, 2005, Ashland and Washburn, WI became the first two cities in the United States to adopt these four principles as guidelines for decision-making, thus becoming the first two eco-municipalities in the U.S. Adopting these principles does not necessarily mean a large number of instant, radical, or costly changes for these communities, since the principles encourage the reduction of certain kinds of practices, not necessarily their instant elimination. What would it take for Duluth to become the third eco-municipality in the U.S? There are a number of factors pointing favorably in this direction. Duluth's Mayor Herb Bergson has met several times with Torbjorn Lahti and visited Duluth's Sister City in Sweden this past summer, learning more about eco-municipalities. The head of the Duluth-Superior Eco-Industrial Committee, Ralph Loomis, also participated in the Sister City trip and extended his trip to Sweden to visit a model municipal heating system and other projects guided by the four principles. On the local scene, City of Duluth and St. Louis County facilities managers are engaged in a wide variety of energy reduction activities, including the consideration of alternative fuels for Duluth's worst polluter, the steam plant. Duluth participates in the International Cities for Climate Protection project (www.iclei.org ), which "enlists cities to adopt policies and implement measures to achieve quantifiable reductions in local greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and enhance urban livability and sustainability." Duluthians are also actively engaged with the Northeast Region of the state's Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT, www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/northeast.) Educational projects in the schools across northeastern Minnesota are the primary objective of this group. In addition, the Duluth Green Party recently called for the establishment of a Sustainable Energy Committee. A local chapter of the international group Green Drinks is meeting monthly (www.greendrinks.org). The unique mission of Sustainable Duluth (www.sustainableduluth.zoomshare.com) is to further economic, environmental and social sustainability in Duluth and Western Lake Superior communities. The organization is sponsoring monthly forums highlighting ongoing sustainable practices in the community, such as Cities for Climate Protection, WLSSD, and Louisiana Pacific of Two Harbors. Education and networking are current activities, as the organization develops and creates goals and strategies for action. Using the Sustainable Duluth listserve, the 5 members of sustainability organizations who are already on the list will be reporting monthly on their group's activities. A longer-term goal of the organization is to have the Duluth City Council pass a resolution adopting the four principles of sustainability as priorities for city decision-making, thus making Duluth the third eco-municipality in the U.S. For more information or to be added to Sustainable Duluth listserve, email jskaron@chartermi.net. These articles are retained on the web for historical interest and do not necessarily reflect the views or goals of DPPA today.

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