Duluth Mayor Don Ness today announced details of the new Early Adopter Project, a regional sustainability effort led by the grassroots group Sustainable Twin Ports.
Fifteen project participants will be announced during the news conference.
Fifteen organizations representing the Twin Ports community have been selected to receive comprehensive training and professional coaching in sustainability over the next year.
The “Early Adopter Project”, led by the regional grassroots group Sustainable Twin Ports, will use a science and systems-based sustainability action planning framework known as The Natural Step. The formal training and consulting services will be provided by The Natural Step Canada.
The Early Adopter Project Participants are:
1. Challenge Center
2. City of Duluth
3. Inn on Lake Superior, ZMC Hotels
4. Duluth Grill (Embers)
5. Superior Public Schools
6. London Road Car Wash
7. Superior Housing and Redevelopment Authority
8. Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
9. Douglas County
10. Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce
11. Glenwood Signs and Awards
12. Duluth Transit Authority
13. Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation
14. Twin Ports Testing
15. University of Wisconsin–Superior
This sustainability framework has been successfully used around the world by well-known companies, cities and countries including Nike, IKEA, Stockholm and Japan. By implementing new practices using The Natural Step framework, they have significantly improved their competitive edge in the realms of financial, environmental and community sustainability — the “triple bottom line”.
“Sustainability is the fastest growing movement in the world as we face the reality of limited fossil fuels, growing demand for energy consumption and undeniable climate change,” Project Coordinator Tracy Meisterheim said in a press release. “The Natural Step framework allows any size entity from a single family to an entire community to create custom-designed strategies for increasing its
sustainability.”
Said steering committee member and UW-Superior representative Jerry Hembd: “Participants will have access to a worldwide resource base of case studies and best practices in all areas of sustainability. This will allow them to identify and implement ‘green’ practices that make sense for their own organizations. By doing so, they will also be contributing Twin Ports success stories to an international network of sustainable businesses, local governments, and nonprofit organizations.”
In addition to learning The Natural Step framework and applying it to their own unique operations, these Early Adopter participants will also be passing on lessons learned to the broader Twin Ports community to ensure that this sustainability initiative continues to grow.
“In a place like the Twin Ports,” said Meisterheim, “The Natural Step’s holistic approach to strengthening our economy, protecting our natural resources and maintaining a healthy community provides an opportunity for business and government to be the forwardthinking,
responsible community leaders we can rally behind. Everyone can agree that the Twin Ports, headwaters of the Great Lakes and our shared home, is worthy of our best efforts.”
This initiative grew out of the work of a team of volunteers who came together from two separate grassroots initiatives and the broader community to form a regional organization known as “Sustainable Twin Ports”. Key Early Adopter Project support comes from the A.H. Zeppa Family Foundation, the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation’s Fund for the Environment and Wildey H. Mitchell Family Fund, and the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
