Collaborating
to Make Democracy Work
Final report of the Ninety-Ninth American
Assembly
Preamble:
Building Community by Design
Since long before September 11, Americans have been inspired by countless examples
of how as a nation we are both healed and bound together by our support for
each other. Now more than ever, the time is ripe to expand on the many areas
of collaboration that have brought people together in order to build the social,
human, natural, and economic capital of our nation for all its citizens.
The psychiatrist and noted author Scott Peck has written that we build community
out of crisis and we build community by accident, but we do not know how to
build community by design. The problem with building community out of crisis,
he contends, is that once the crisis is over so is the community.
This
report addresses how we build community by design.
The Significance of Collaboration Among Sectors
This American Assembly report was created by more than fifty representatives
from three sectors of American democracy – government, business and nonprofit.
It describes how some of our country’s more complex problems can yield
to comprehensive solutions when addressed by inclusive groups of people of
good will and competence. Both idealists and pragmatists from each of the three
sectors struggle together and teach each other how to invent new ways to commit
resources to old problems. They persevere long enough to see real changes in
people’s lives and in the health of their communities.
The central message of this report is that through collaborations among the
three sectors creative solutions to intractable problems are possible in our
society. Collaborations have the power to deal with difficult issues while
embodying fairness because they include voices otherwise excluded. The increased
effectiveness of collaborations emerges from their promotion of cooperation
rather than competition. As a result, communities are transformed. Although
this American Assembly project was begun long before the terrorist attacks,
the report should be of special interest to all those who want to build civic
compassion so many Americans now feel as they work together for the common
good.
Profiles
of Collaboration
The observations and recommendations presented in this report emerge from an
examination of profiles of collaboration from across the country and from participants’ own
professional experience. The report specifically looks at:
• The
Need for Collaborations Among Sectors
• Characteristics and Limits of Collaborations
• Encouraging and Enhancing Collaborations
• How Collaborations Build Community
America
has grown strong because each sector – government, business and
nonprofit – has leaders willing to reach beyond the expectations
of their specific sectors and invest in building for the common good.
Our history is replete with examples of how collaboration among the
three sectors has, from our earliest days, contributed to our progress
in establishing justice, providing economic opportunity, and promoting
the general welfare. In a time of rapid change in America and the world,
the need for collaboration is especially critical. Einstein said, “The
world we have created today as a result of our thinking thus far has
problems which cannot be solved by thinking the way we thought when
we created them.” Therefore, the best minds from each sector
must come together to share what they know and learn from one another.
Each sector has a role to play in building the benefits of our democracy
for all citizens. All evidence points to the fact that collaboration
not only maximizes impact, it also offers the best hope of uniting
America.
The Need for Collaboration Among Sectors
In seeking to unite America and make democracy work in the 21st century, we
need to face and solve entrenched and complex problems. The list of our nation’s
specific needs is long and daunting. It includes improving education, workforce
development, affordable housing, health care, family well-being, child and
elder care, environmental preservation, community and cultural development
and all the many aspects of urban and rural poverty. While many enjoy a wealth
of new opportunities, far too many others are being left behind. These pressing
needs call for urgent action and persistent long-term commitment.
Past experience suggests that working alone no single sector can address these
challenges effectively. The failings of the government social safety net offers
clear current evidence of this. Earlier in our history well meaning efforts
by private charity and by business, each working alone, also failed to create
the progress required by families living in poverty.
How do we muster the necessary energy, effectiveness and will to tackle this
agenda? We believe that government, business and nonprofits, working together
with engaged citizens in every community, have the power to design and build
approaches for making dramatic progress on each of the nation’s most
persistent problems. The goals of our democracy require that we mobilize our
collective resources in this participatory way and commit to the task.
In the devastated communities of New York City and Washington, D.C. are examples
of national and local resolve to address the significant challenges using collaboration
among the three sectors. The impacted areas will be rebuilt and renewed by
the leadership and the resources of city, state and federal government, large
and small businesses and nonprofits, including educational, religious and community
organizations, as well as direct service providers and charities – all
working together with determination. These examples, forged in the fire of
a terrible emergency, are prompting America and its communities to develop
a sense of moral urgency about our neighbors’ human needs.
Such collaboration by government, business and nonprofits springs forth in
every major disaster. It is a proven way to the maximum resources of people,
money and contributions in kind, not only for the immediate emergency, but
also for the recovery of families and communities. The most pressing continuing
problems of the nation require no less.
Another reason collaboration is so often the best strategy is that our worst
problems are increasingly intertwined. The three sectors’ unique comparative
advantages when combined have the potential to provide the needed comprehensive
solutions. Moreover, the nonprofit and business sectors are now expected to
play larger roles in collaborations.
The models we use for measuring failure and success are also changing. There
is growing recognition that human and natural, as well as economic, capital
are part of a new conceptual framework. We need measures of progress that not
only count the pace of economic activity, but also measure whether people are
actually better off. We also need new approaches for achieving socially and
environmentally sustainable development. Such efforts would uniquely benefit
from creative, cross-sector collaborations.
We have examined the growing body of knowledge on collaborations to determine
what has worked and what has failed. We have observed that the growing experience
of collaborations and find that in our democracy, citizens are responsible
for civic progress – at the polls where they choose the government, in
the great arena of educational, religious and charitable organizations, and
at places where they work. Additionally, we have concluded that leaders of
nonprofits, government and business organizations need to understand more fully
the great power of collaboration and use it effectively. Most problems demand
leadership from local communities. A national problem, however, calls for national
leadership, whether from the “bully pulpit” of the White House
or from CEOs of the business and nonprofit sectors. Ultimately, it is the responsibility
of government to guarantee that no communities and no Americans are left behind.
As problem by problem, community by community, collaboration succeeds, we demonstrate
that our democracy is indeed capable of uniting the American people and making
the blessings of liberty a reality for all.
Characteristics and Limits of Collaborations
If the importance of collaboration is clear, the means of accomplishing it
are not always evident. Successful collaboration requires hard work, resources
and commitment from all participants. The growing body of experience provides
important lessons about the factors leading to the success or failure of collaborative
enterprises. Successful collaborations exhibit a number of common characteristics:
• They
address demonstrated needs and concrete problems;
• The exhibit clear visions and tangible goals;
• The role played by each organization is well defined;
• Partners have shared values related to the problems, agreement on approaches
to solve them, and mutual respect and trust for each other;
• They benefit from strong leadership by champions who stay the course
and partners who anticipate a long time horizon;
• All partners have the potential to derive clear benefits from the engagement;
• They have core funding from funders willing to take risks;
• They are comprised of partners who are close to the problem;
• They genuinely involve community members; and,
• The
organizations involved act strategically to identify the full range of essential
stakeholders.
Challenges
and Barriers
Collaborations, while a powerful problem-solving tool, often face substantial
challenges, both to their work and to the very process of developing cooperation.
These challenges reflect a variety of built-in differences among the three
sectors. Differences in access to resources, measures of accountability, definitions
of success, and institutional cultures make the process of developing collaborations
among government, business and the private sectors both deeply complex and
seriously challenging. Some of these challenges include:
• Turf
protection and mistrust;
• Organizations that overwhelm partners because of the amount of resources
available or the level of passion about an issue;
• An excess of advocacy and a lack of true dialogue that undermine the
collaborative process;
• Finding ways for business to participate in collaborations consistent
with their focus on profits and competitiveness;
• Leaders who are leery of being lectured about their moral responsibility;
• Blurred roles that lead to unclear lines of accountability;
• Organizations that believe participation in larger collaboration dilutes
their own efforts and resources;
• Government officials who may be reluctant to expose failed efforts to
voters; and
• Fear by nonprofits of actions that might alienate individual donors and
other funders.
Limits
to Collaboration
Collaborations can be extremely productive in many circumstances, but they
are not always appropriate or likely to succeed. Some issues may be best addressed
by organizations from a particular sector. Other issues may be tackled by individuals
long before they are recognized by existing organizations. Factors that limit
collaboration include:
• A
critical lack of continuity from high turnover of both business executives
and political leadership;
• Unresponsive, inflexible and bureaucratic government that can make an
ineffective partner;
• Constraints on small nonprofits, businesses and municipal governments
because of a lack of time, personnel and funding;
• Distortion of nonprofits’ mission by their need to attain measurable
resouts;
• Disagreements based on fundamental values that are only temporarily masked
by collaborative approaches; and
• Difficulty in starting or sustaining collaborative efforts because of
fragmentation and lack of credible leadership.
Lessons
Learned: How to Make Collaborations Work
Innovation is brought into the mainstream by identifying cutting-edge practices,
disseminating information about those practices and encouraging others to adapt
them to their own situations. It is critical to identify key lessons learned
by those engaged in the difficult work of collaboration. By learning from both
the successes and failures of the communities and organizations that have come
before them, others will successfully be able to employ collaboration.
Among the lessons we have learned:
• Collaborations
can begin as either top-down or bottom-up efforts, but must engage
the entire spectrum of stakeholders;
• Local and national collaborations require different strategies and approaches;
• Horizontal collaborations, where participants have shared power, often
have better chances for success;
• It is essential to reach out to a new generation of corporate leadership
and engage them effectively in community life;
• Collaborations benefit by beginning with at least one committed funder;
• Tangible goals, even when only incremental, help move collaborations
forward;
• Effective collaborative efforts should involve individuals from the community
in both development and core work of the project; and
• Participants should enter into collaboration prepared for an appropriately
long time horizon.
Encouraging
and Enhancing Effective Collaboration
Business, government and nonprofits control extensive resources – human,
cultural and economic capital, and natural assets. Together they possess enormous
power to improve and transform the lives of all Americans. When collaborating
to bring their strengths together to bear on community needs, these partners
would enhance success by:
• Examining
the reality of how change actually occurs;
• Investing in research to learn about why collaborations succeed or fail;
and
• Sustaining work over the long term – both when progress is slow
and when results are being achieved.
Partners
must examine their own policies and priorities to change practices
that discourage collaboration and to clear away barriers. Partners
must pass on what they learn from failures and successes and create
an ethos of collaboration among business leaders and workers, nonprofit
board members and employees, and elected officials and government staff.
Both the urgency of the nation’s problems and the existing barriers to
cooperation require some changes in each sector. With more national dialogue,
awareness, training and research, collaboration can be stimulated through creative
incentives provided by each of the three partners.
Recommendations
This Assembly made recommendations for specific policies and practices that
will improve the chances that collaboration will be effective.
Organizational
power
All three sectors should work together to create new structures and institutions
as catalysts and brokers for collaborations – providing information,
resources and guidelines to groups considering such ventures. Intermediaries,
like the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the Enterprise Foundation,
which stimulate local development, are two models for such structures. The
following recommendations apply to all partners in a collaboration.
Each should:
• Review guidelines, programs, applications and reporting requirements
to remove barriers to collaboration;
• Commission research and evaluation, and provide recognition for model
programs; and
• Reward collaboration and use it as a criterion for organization performance.
Leadership
and Training
Leadership
and Training in effective collaboration are needed for people engaged
in all levels of business, government and the nonprofit world.
Each should:
• Dramatically
increase the exposure of local, state and national leader to each
sector;
• Provide additional focus on, and funding for, training for effective
collaboration opportunities; and
• Create structures that develop genuine community participation and broader
civic engagement.
Research
Each should:
• Develop and screen appropriate quality of life indicators to define what
constitutes a health community, including, but not limited to such factors as
percentage of owner-occupied housing units, percentage of low birth weight babies,
teen pregnancy rates, rates of joblessness and homelessness, and the use of cultural
and historic resources by all segments of the community;
• Commission and use research on international and national trends that
affect problems being tackled by collaborations;
• Use research to enable collaborations to set goals and evaluate progress
more reliably, such as applying effective citizen engagement models and concepts
of “human capital” to community building; and
• Define assets of nonprofits so all partners know what the nonprofits
have to offer in collaborations (i.e., credibility, ‘brand name,’ closeness
to key constituencies) and can therefore play a more confident role.
Business
Business should examine the many ways their practices affect their communities.
Business leaders should also examine the ways business as a constituency affects
broader national policy debates.
Business executives should:
• Take
the lead in engaging community issues through collaboration with
leaders of the government and nonprofit sectors;
• Ensure that a culture of collaboration and philanthropy is reinforced
by headquarters and local offices, for example, by using community participation
as a consideration in executive review and reward;
• Mentor rising executives in community leadership, and support opportunities
for them to interact with members of other sectors;
• Recognize the value of healthy communities to business success, and the
role of multi-sector collaborations in developing healthy communities; and
• Work through new groups or existing ones, such as the Committee for Economic
Development (CED) and the Conference Board, to become more effective advocates
for the public interest in national debates – as opposed to engaging in
political issues only where their firm or industry has a direct stake.
Nonprofits
Nonprofits should use their special credibility to convene business, government
and nonprofit partners, including civic, religious, and higher education institutions,
to address community causes.
• Colleges,
universities, and other cultural institutions can and should incorporate
civic engagement throughout, and integral to, every aspect of their
missions, management, institutional practices, and educational or
cultural experiences. A model can be found in the University of Pennsylvania’s West
Philadelphia Initiatives.
• In light of current discussions about the role of faith-based institutions,
we urge them to search for opportunities to collaborate with other sectors, especially
in ways that promote reconciliation between conflicting groups and through providing
leadership for individual and social change.
Foundations
should:
• Increase
support and long-term funding for collaborations;
• Consider increasing annual distributions to a higher level than the minimum
required by law, currently five percent of assets; and
• Encourage emulation of other foundation programs, such as the Annie E.
Casey Neighborhood Program, that provides multi-year commitment to collaborative
economic development.
Government
Government should:
• Create and extend economic incentives, such as tax credits and student
loan forgiveness, to support collaborations that address critical shortages of
teachers, nurses, and healthcare workers in rural and urban areas;
• Expand targeted tax credits and other incentives that support collaborative
ventures to increase affordable housing, child and elder care, historic preservation,
inner city and rural economic development and energy conservation;
• Develop policy and legislative frameworks like the Community Reinvestment
Act (CRA) that enable new collaborations and positively influence the public
good;
• Assure that more federal grants flow directly to municipalities instead
of states to give local government the power to make decisions in collaborations
based on need; and
• Mobilize federal Cabinet departments and independent agencies (as is
being done by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives)
to support the expanded capacity of collaboration to meet the nation’s
needs by offering matching grants and other incentives.
Conclusion:
How Collaborations Build Community
Early in the 20th century, American citizens reshaped institutions in our society
that have contributed to the economic and social progress from which we continue
to benefit today. During that Progressive Era, collaborations like Community
Chest (United Way), American Red Cross, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and community
and family foundations created new “habits of the heart” for the
American people to improve our society and our democracy. Similarly, we owe
future generations the innovative reshaping of our contemporary institutions
to address today’s challenges. The collaboration methods called for in
this report represent important means of advancing communities and our country.
As a cautionary note, we believe it is essential that the language of this
affirmative vision not be permitted to mask the realities of fundamental inequities
that exist today in our society. As participants in these collaborations progress
toward their common goals, they must keep in mind the tension between their
noble visions and the realities faced every day by our least privileged citizens.
Rather than viewing new kinds of collaborations simply as ways of solving problems,
we should see them as ways of creating social capital and a more participatory
democracy which includes healthy communities and ongoing dialogues among sectors
and citizens. We advocate a holistic approach that advances racial equality,
respect for religious differences, healthy families and children, educational
opportunities, and economic self-sufficiency for all. We are passionate in
our belief that collaborations are the best vehicle to accomplish this kind
of comprehensive change. Working together to solve intractable problems in
our society, we are convinced that there is value per se in joint efforts across
sectors to achieve healthy communities and in practicing democracy rather than
just living in one. Collaborative efforts will build community by enhancing
civic engagement and increasing citizen participation.
We have learned through our experiences that when neighbors help neighbors,
and even when strangers help strangers, both those who help and those who are
helped are transformed. We call upon the leaders in the government, business
and nonprofit sectors to rise above their institutional self-interests to work
actively together to meet the nation’s needs and transform the laissez-faire
notion of “live and let live” into the civic imperative of “live
and help live.”
This is the way we build community by design.
Nourishing Health
Looking
inward at nature: Nourishing health; physical, intellectual and spiritual
[Please see the “Nourishing Health section
of this website. There your can download and fill out forms to create
a
"Personal
Medical History" and
a "Medical
Family Tree"
Health
Care Without Harm: Leading the global movement for environmentally
responsible health care, Health
Care Without Harm is an international
coalition of hospitals and health care systems, medical professionals,
community groups, health-affected constituencies, labor unions, environmental
and environmental health organizations and religious groups.
"
First Do No Harm"... Together with their partners around the
world, Health Care Without Harm shares a vision of a health care
sector that
does no harm, and instead promotes the health of people and the
environment. To that end, they are working to implement ecologically
sound and
healthy alternatives to health care practices that pollute the
environment and contribute to disease. This excellent short video
chronicles
the
evolution
of HCWH's work.
Center for Health Environment and Justice (CHEJ)... CHEJ’s overarching
goal has consistently been to prevent harm—particularly among
vulnerable populations such as children. If a safer process, material
or product
exists it should be used. We believe that everyone, regardless
of income, race, religion, or occupation, has a right to live,
work,
learn, play
and pray in a healthy community. CHEJ is a leader in advocating
responsible corporate behavior (located in communities and selling
products to families) in replacing outdated
chemicals with safe, affordable alternatives to build long-term,
safe economic opportunities and community benefits. Our twenty
years of experience
in this arena extends from moving McDonalds away from Styrofoam
in 1986 to moving Microsoft away from PVC plastic in 2006. CHEJ
was instrumental in establishing some of the first national policies
critical to protecting community health like the Superfund Program,
Right-to-Know and others. By pioneering the effort nationwide to
protect communities
from exposures to dangerous environmental chemicals, in the air,
water and soil, CHEJ has become the preeminent national leader
among grassroots
groups reducing the burden of toxic substances on our environment.
The
American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) is the cancer charity
that fosters research on diet and cancer prevention and educates the
public about the results. Weekly Health-e-Recipes are sent from recipes@aicr.org.
Sign up and add this email address to your address book and/or safe list
so that it is not filtered out as spam.
"
Dr.Gourmet"... everything you need to eat great food that's
great for you. Try a healthy recipe. Learn about the hows and
whys of eating
healthy. Get your own customized two-week meal plan for yourself
and your family - it's free.
Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization, provides
aid in
nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by
violence, neglect,
or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition,
exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF provides
independent, impartial assistance to those most in need.
MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics
and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical
care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political
affiliation. MSF reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to
neglected crises, to challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system,
and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols. Responding to natural disasters is the smallest area of MSF's work, representing
just five percent of MSF's overall activities in 2006. This is because,
more often than not, local health authorities are quickly able to garner
support from international agencies and governments for natural disasters.
And the needs are predominantly in the areas of reconstruction and development,
which is outside of MSF's scope of expertise and operational focus. This
was the case for the South Asian Tsunami in 2004. This is less often
the case when it comes to armed conflict, epidemics, and other ongoing
and less visible crises, which is where MSF directs most of its attention.
In 1999, MSF received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Christian
Principles for a Healthy Body and Spirit
These
principles were drafted as a collaborative effort of the National
Council of Churches in consultation with its member denominations,
Earth Ministry, Voices for Earth Justice, Massachusetts Council of
Churches, Maine Council of Churches, and other ecumenical partners.
Please consider endorsing these principles (download a
pdf).
We
are blessed to be created in the image of God and to receive nourishment
from the bounty of God’s Creation (Genesis 1:26-27). As part
of Creation, our bodies are also temples of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians
6:19), and caring for our bodies becomes one way to honor the Creator.
After creating the Earth, God said it was good (Genesis 1:25).
Yet, our modern lifestyles and the choices we make in our daily
lives can muddy the waters
(Ezekiel 34:18), threatening the health of the whole body of Christ. Every
day our bodies are exposed to air pollution from vehicles, pollution from factories
and toxic waste sites, water pollution from industrial wastes or spills, and
from chemicals in household products that leach into our water, release into
the air, or enter our bodies through our skin. Some of the products around
our homes that include chemicals that are known or suspected to be toxic include
household cleaners, children’s clothing, personal care products, plastic
food and drink materials, textiles, and children’s toys. Scientific evidence
raises concern about the link between exposure to toxic chemicals and high
rates of some cancers, learning and development disabilities, infertility,
and other serious health problems.
Exposures to toxic chemicals and toxins can occur in our schools, in
our churches, in our homes, and in our work places. From the creation
stories through the
apostles’ accounts of Christ, the lessons of our faith provide a moral
and spiritual foundation for us to care for our personal health, the health
of our children, the health of our larger community of vulnerable populations,
and the health of God’s entire Creation. The following principles statement,
based on Christian teachings, strive to make God’s Earth a safer place
for all of us to live, work, and play.
Protecting Creation
We
were made in the image of God and placed in the garden to serve and
protect the creation (Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 2:15). We must honor
this responsibility and recognize that all creatures of God are expressions
of God’s presence and glory. Pollution in our water, air, and
land jeopardize the health of God’s Creation. By protecting
these gifts from God, we also recognize our interdependence with
the rest of Creation.
In
order to protect our health and the health of all Creation, we need
government policies that:
- Classify
toxic chemicals that destroy or sicken God’s creatures
- Identify
and work to replace chemicals known to persist in the environment
or increase in severity as they move up the food chain (bioaccumulate).
Healthy
Bodies, Healthy Selves
The
Creator, the Great Physician, cares for the health and well being
of all people (Genesis 15:26; Matthew 8:14-17). God provided us with
air, water, and land free from chemicals that may harm our bodily
temples so that we can strive for healthy and abundant lives (Ezekiel
47:12). Through mindful individual decisions that put human health
and the health of Creation first, and sound government policy that
seeks first to protect, we can treat our bodies as temples to the
Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19).
We
encourage government policies that:
- Require
companies and government regulatory agencies to inform people about
the chemicals that are in consumer products through “right
to know” clauses and a published chemical database so that
individuals and state regulatory agencies can make sound decisions
for their families, their congregations, and their communities.
- Replace
known toxic chemicals, especially chemicals with high production
volume, when safer alternatives exist.
- Invest
in research to find safer alternatives when an option is not available.
Justice
for Vulnerable Populations
Our
faith leads us to walk with and seek justice for the poor and the
vulnerable from the prophets Moses and Isaiah to the teachings of
Jesus (Leviticus 19: 9-10; Isaiah 58: 6-12; Matthew 8:1-3; Matthew
18:1-14; Luke 14:15-24). We are all children of God (John 1:11-13)
and share the suffering and the joys with all of Earth’s members
and make them our own.
Each newborn baby now carries a body burden of chemicals that increases over
a lifetime. Children, women, the elderly, low-income communities, communities
of color, and people with weakened immune systems are also disproportionately
vulnerable to these chemicals. Jesus has a special love for children (Matthew
19:14), and we need to ensure that our children can grow in healthy, toxic-free
environments. Parents should be able buy products with the ease of mind that
they are not exposing their children to unwanted chemicals.
Likewise, communities of color bear a double burden. In addition to
products with contaminants marketed to us all, there are also products
specifically
marketed to racial and ethnic groups that increase their exposure to chemicals
of concern. Industrial manufacturing plants and toxic waste sites are also
more likely to locate in or near communities of color and low-income communities,
contributing a greater burden of toxic trespass. This can lead to higher incidences
of cancer rates, heart disease, and developmental disorders among people of
color. To “love our neighbor as ourselves” (Leviticus 19:17) we
cannot allow any of God’s children to carry an unequal burden of contaminants
in their bodily temples.
We
call on government officials to:
- Create
a classification system that eliminates exposure to known toxic
chemicals in umbilical cord blood, and children at levels recommended
by scientific review. These chemicals should be replaced with safer
alternatives when possible or designate funds to research safer
alternatives. This system should also identify less toxic and non-toxic
options, particularly for pregnant women, children, communities
of color, the elderly, and low-income communities.
- Ensure
US government agencies and manufacturers test new chemicals before
they are released into the market, and to test current chemicals
that are suspected to be toxic already on the market as soon as
possible.
Incorporate biomonitoring programs that are conducted with community participation
and consultation in order to evaluate exposure to chemicals by vulnerable
populations.
Sustainability
As
Christians, we hold out promise of a hope-filled world for our children
to inherit. This world includes healthy, sustainable ecosystems and
communities. God gave us many gifts to ensure the survival for all
of Creation. With mindful living that includes healthy choices and
sound government policies, future generations and all of God’s
creation can thrive.
To accomplish this we call for governmental policies that
Promote
incentives for the development of a green economy that will allow
all of God’s Creation to flourish, and bring jobs and justice
for communities that currently suffer from polluting industries
located in their vicinity.
Promote
the development of a green chemistry industry that produces alternatives
for the most hazardous chemicals in our homes, our congregations,
our schools, and our work places.
By
committing ourselves to these principles we can work to heal our
broken relationships with Creation and with each other, strengthening
and renewing the entire body of Christ.
Green and Ethical Economy
Interfaith
Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
- a leader of the corporate social responsibility movement, an association
of 275 faith- based institutional investors, including national denominations,
religious communities,
pension funds, foundations, hospital corporations, asset management
companies, colleges, and unions.
United
States Society of Ecological Economics The USSEE is
one of ten regional professional organizations with the International
Society
for Ecological Economics (ISEE) … advancing practical solutions
toward an ecologically sustainable and economically viable future. The
society is particularly interested in advancing work that seeks to identify
concrete solutions and actions to bring about a more just and sustainable
future.
The
United Nations declared 2010 to be the International
Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the
value of biodiversity for our lives.
The
United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference
of the Parties (COP10) will be held in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan,
from 18 to 29 October 2010.
United
Nations Environment Programme World
Environment Day (June 5,
2010) - This
year's theme is 'Many Species. One Planet. One Future.' - a message
focusing on the central importance to humanity of the globe's
wealth of species and ecosystems. The WED theme also supports this year's
UN International Year of Biodiversity.
United
Nations Environment Programme on ecosystem
management-
ecosystems are under unprecedented pressure, threatening prospects for
sustainable
development.
United
Nations Environment Programme -
Carbon Benefits Project
UN
REDD Program - The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+)
United
Nations Environment Programme - The
Natural Fix? - The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Mitigation (pdf
download)
United
Nations Environment Programme -
Blue carbon and marine ecosystems
The
Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity -
an international initiative to draw attention to the global economic
benefits of biodiversity,
to highlight the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation,
and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics
and policy to enable practical actions moving forward. (click here
for pdf file
announcing UNEP initiative)
For
more information please contact Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head
of Media, on Tel +254 20 7623084, Mobile: +254 733
632755, Email: nick.nuttall@unep.org
Anne-France White, UNEP Information Officer, +254 (0) 728 600 494, Email:
anne-france.white@unep.org
The Virginia
Energy Savers Handbook, a guide to saving energy, money,
and the environment
(pdf
download)
The
story of cosmetics - you may be surprised at what can be found
in commonly used products.
Mountains
to the Sea
Learn
more about the water
cycle. Except for the annual addition of meteors and
meteoric dust, everything on the Earth is recycled.
Taken together the cycles are called biogeochemical
cycles and they have been fine tuned over the 4.5
billion years of earth history.
Diagram
of the carbon
cycle
Diagram of the nitrogen cycle
Diagram
of the water
cycle. And here is another water cycle resource: "The
Water Cycle: A Guide For Students."
Virginia
Department of Forestry: how to make a rain garden
A
comprehensive satellite map
of soil moisture covering most land areas
of the world,
produced from data gathered by the European
Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission.
2010
study finds oceans
under climate change stress. Since 1950, phytoplankton
in the world's oceans have declined by 40%.
Phytoplankton are the basis of the marine food chain, and
have an important
role in the global carbon cycle. Through photosynthesis, they produce
around half of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere.
"The
most terrifying video you will ever see" by Greg Craven,
author of What's the Worst That Could Happen?: A Rational Response to
the Climate Change Debate (2009, Perigee Trade), posits our
options as a society in terms of responding to scientists' warnings
about
global
climate change and makes a logical argument for taking action now.
Playpumps
International: a creative way to provide clean water utilizing the
power of play. Watch the National Geographic video.
(more
to be added...)
Impact+Amplify 
