Recycling success story
San Francisco sets an example for other cities to follow.
I hope through viewing the slideshow below you will be encouraged on you road to sustainability.

Wilder Foundation
You may have heard of it.  You may have benefited from it.  You may have no clue what it is.
Let's take a look.

About the Wilder Foundation

The Wilder foundation is a nonprofit organization that works to help vulnerable people in the east metro area of the Twin Cities ( Minneapolis/ St. Paul MN.) What they do is first research the needs of the targeted population and then look for the best practices to meet peoples needs.

The programs aren’t meant to be a band aide to cove up the problem but a solution which allows their clients to “ Thrive”.

The Programs that the Wilder Foundation offers are designed to work with three specific groups.

First : children and families.  The unique needs of individuals are met by designing culturally- specific that help children and families with health needs, school success, housing, mental health, and even jobs support.

The child guidance clinic is nationally recognized as providing a safety net for children who would otherwise fall through the cracks.  Children who are uninsured ,low income, unavailable to get the services they need.

My life is touched by Kofi services.  This is a part of the organization that reaches out to African-American Students in the school where I work, and helps to meet their needs in a personal way.  They never force themselves on a family.  I can talk with a family that might benefit from the services they provide, and only if they agree, will someone contact the family to offer services.  The primary purpose of the program is to increase and/or support the positive functioning of young African-American youth in the home, school, and community. The services are designed to help a family thrive with in a culturally sensitive setting.

Second: older adults.  As with all of their services, the services provided to older adults ,are those underserviced.  Low-income and disabled adults are provided with the services that they need to live a healthy independent life.  The services for older adults actually were the first services that Wilder provided.  They date back to the 1906 visiting nurses program.  They address everything from heath care to mental health to housing. They even have an arts program called Life long learning in the arts. According to their surveys this has allowed seniors to feel more confident, less lonely ,and even more physically fit. 

 Thirdly:  Community, Research, and Leadership.  They bring together nonprofits, business, foundations and government to work on finding solutions to the communities critical social issues.  They work together to help the create the governmental changes needed to meet the needs of the communities on the east side of St. Paul.

The Wilder is a long-standing, trusted, service organization, that is here to meet the communities needs ,now and in the future.  This is possible by donations from individuals, corporations and an endowment.

Wilder Reaches beyond the east metro area that it services.   Through an agency called Minnesota Compass Wilder does research throughout the state to provide information on issues that impact the quality of life through out the state.  It provides people with the information they need to improve the economy and quality of life within their own community’s

The services, research, information and education provided by Wilder help people to feel safe, understood, and appreciated for who they are.  They allow people to have  positive identity within their community.  They allow them to create a life with meaning.

Leadership Revisited 

What are some of the most valuable characteristics leaders(hip) must have to take on 21st century challenges?

These are the characteristics listed by Joseph Jaworski in the article Leadership-Six Essentials:
 1  Clarity of purpose.
2  Commitment
3  Listening
4  Yielding
5  Acting in a field of others
6  Opening doors


Listening to the people who want to work on sustainability and understanding the world around them is where the leadership needs to start.  It is realizing one person does not have "THE" answer.
What we can derive from all of the frameworks that we have been looking at is that none of them is "Just right".  Most of the frameworks need to include some aspects of a different framework to achieve what will be optimum. 
In order to get started and  make a viable plan  for change you must start out with clarity of purpose.
You cannot lead others or set a direction or goal if you do not know what you are aiming for. 
What is the goal of your team or project.  Which of the framework, most clearly,  meets your needs.
The leader most not work in isolation but draw in the people that have the expertise to get the job done.

Margaret
Wheatley
 with 
Debbie
Frieze

.
 Gave us the example of going from hero to host  embodying the idea of not being the hero and going it alone.  Instead of being the hero with all of the answers ,become the host that welcomes all to the table and encourages and enables everyone to contribute what they do best. Use the experienced people you have to provide the background that others need.



What examples can you identify that have already embodied this type of leadership? Is there a person, project, or movement that is particularly inspiring to you?

I only know this person from the reading we were assigned .  Again I will have to keep reading to get better understanding .  From Guardian Qualities for 21st century leadership.

Baptiste Raymond, climate change initiatives manager, Lafarge

To me, 21st century sustainability leadership is about courage, creativity and faith in people. It is a values-based leadership.
Sustainability opportunities and challenges are so complex, both of global scale and yet deeply rooted in people's cultures and beliefs, that tomorrow's leaders will need four core qualities to achieve success:
• systems thinking to identify paradigms driving change
• mediation skills to facilitate knowledge sharing, ensure stakeholders' ownership and foster innovation
• vision rooted in community service and ethical behaviour
• decisiveness in ever changing environments with blurred boundaries
To me, 21st century leadership is about leading with the heart and to serve rather than rule.

How can these characteristics be accelerated to catalyze sustainable development?

The thing that I see over and over again is systems thinking.  What I would love to see is ethical behavior.  I think the catalyst  that will work is collaboration and the evidence that those who are leaders are actually working towards a change and not just throwing orders which others have to follow.  It is a team approach where there is a director but not a dictator. 
The work I have seen about IDEO seems to be this type of work  though I don't know how sustainable their work is. Found this kink after I posted this bloghttp://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/ideos-steve-bishop-on-the-future-of-sustainable-design-thinking/249225/
Again the journey.  Taking what we know and looking for something that's new with better results. The ripple effect is what happens.  People are getting listened to.  Ideas are getting exchanged.  New ideas are emerging.  Old thinking is transformed.  Innovation and progress catalyze each other.  People enjoy where they work and who they are with .  They want to do more because they see results and rewards.

Defining Sustainability........
Isn't it lovely?       The deep blue sea and terra firma.  None can compare.
Though there are countless stars  similar  in size and shape to our sun and companion planets similar in size.  None, within reach, during  our life span, can compare.

I think everyone stepped into this class with some idea of sustainability.  I did.  It was vague. Now it seems to be ever expanding and this assignment is forcing me to put constraints on my definition.   I didn't have any idea how much information there would be to digest.
 What I think is great is that "sustainability" isn't a bunch of people saying  "Something needs to be done!"and doing nothing.  "Sustainability" is people living in a real world running businesses and deigning products and building structures who are thinking about the impact of what they do. What they do Right now,in a complex system, effecting more than just there current project.  What people do ripples out in all directions and into the future.
While trying to read and digest and clarify my thoughts I also had the TV on and what is there but ,http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/objectified/, Independent Lens and it just happens to be a show about how designers effect the way people live there lives.  Watching this show, and listening to well known designers,lets me see what is going on in the design process that I never contemplated.
 Sustainability, has to be a key word in all design, or the economic bottom line can take over completely.
 I think in the world of design ,beauty, is an essential element.  When people think of sustainability, beauty, is not really what comes to mind. People may think of   Life-cycle assessment and
consider  many of  the resources involved, but whether or not something has enduring beauty ,is on the sidelines.  Whole system design can not leave out what makes things aesthetically enduring. 
Looking back to the assignment on GNH, we need to look at how things effect the ability of people to have a happy and fulfilling life.  The definition  of sustainability  needs to be  broad enough to be resilient and enduring.
So I started to think of a list of words that might help me to come up with a definition. Survival,enduring,evaluative,replicable, discernment,beauty, happiness, equitable,measurable, environment,economy,policy makers,people,systems.

Definition:

Sustainability involves evaluating things, in a systematic  and discerning manner to determine solutions that are measurable,replicable and enduring.  Sustainable solutions must  be: environmentally sound, economically feasible, socially equitable, consumer friendly, aesthetically appealing and enduring.

Now ,looking at this definition in a practical way, each of these elements cannot be weighted equally for each situation.  A medical device does not need to be aesthetically appealing if it will hardly ever be seen.   A device which someone will out grow and cannot be used by another consumer does not need to have  50 year longevity.  Things that will be outdated could be made so that they were modular.  While the exterior could be durable the internal components need only be designed to last until they upgraded.  It will take a lot of input and evaluation to make sustainability happen.  Looking at all of the frameworks that are out there it can happen.  It takes people looking at the best ideas ,and those that are successful ,and combining them into the newer, better framework.  Cooperation and collaboration,  using the integrated systems, can lead to the results this Big Blue Marble needs.

New Look

I've changed the look . The map background reflects  my background in cartography and the importance of a global perspective .  I kept the green to emphasize a sustainable world.

Living Building Challenge/ Living Future

https://ilbi.org/lbc