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What Is It?Sustainable Lansing is a coalition of citizens, businesses, local government, and community and environmental groups concerned to shape a sustainable future for the greater Lansing area. A sustainable community lives off the community’s income not its capital and maintains and balances its natural, social, and economic capital. Thus it aims at long term cultural, economic and environmental health and vitality by striving to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. More on what "sustainable" means. Sustainable Lansing aims to become an enduring, long-term participant in local affairs. It will encourage dialogue and stress links between traditionally separate sectors, such as economy, community, and the environment. With wide participation from the community it will support diverse community voices over the coming decades, articulate a vision of a sustainable future, and maintain an integrated focus on sustainability. Meetings and OriginsThe Sustainable Lansing Project grew from the discussions and efforts of the Green Team, a group of some 40 concerned citizens in the greater Lansing area. With help from across the community, the Green Team hosted the first Sustainable Lansing Community Forum at Lansing Community College, May 15, 1999. Regular meetings of the Green Team are open and are usually held on the first Saturday of each month, 10 a.m. at Urban Options. Your participation is welcome at any time. (Regular meetings will resume on Sept. 11, 1999. Call ahead to confirm or subscribe to the listserv.) More history. PrinciplesAs one of our first activities, the Green Team developed a set of principles of sustainability to help guide local efforts. The principles illustrate ways of thinking about the problems we face and balanced responses that can work for the whole community in the coming decades. They evolved from considerable discussion and will continue to be refined and amended through on-going interactions throughout the Lansing region. PartnersSustainable Lansing seeks to work with all who share its broad concern for a sustainable future in the greater Lansing area. The partners for the first forum illustrate a wide range of local groups, agencies, and individuals who already share this concern. Outreach to additional partners continues. For example, see the Indicator Workshop Report. IndicatorsAmong many different activities that beckon, one key is to identify indicators of local sustainability that are understandable to people who live here and speak to our concerns. Such indicators could form the basis for yearly progress reports that reflect community values and help us to focus on becoming more sustainable. On June 22 and 26, 1999, Sustainable Lansing and the Green Team sponsored Indicator Workshops with people from the area to begin developing indicators that will be clear and useful over many decades. Additional workshops could be held. They are one way that people can work together to define the progress we want to see and shape a framework for measuring it - one that will be balanced and meaningful far into the future. ListservIf you would like to stay in touch with the on-going efforts to build more sustainable communities in the greater Lansing area,
Send e-mail to: Information@UrbanOptions.org or shepard@msu.edu Home/History/Principles/Forum/Partners/Posters/Indicators/Links © 2004 Urban Options, Inc. All rights reserved |