Aligning Sustainability Action Plans to Community Goals

For decades, sustainability groups have preached the Triple P mantra – People, Planet and Profit. A sustainability action plan must address the needs of people, and look out for their health and welfare. We strive to center plans around People, be outstanding stewards for the Planet for the sake of future generations, and understand that our people will thrive if we improve economic vitality, or Profit.  I HlpSum1 also believes that when sustainability is focused around the people’s welfare, a companionable focus on being green is hard to question. By Creating initiatives that have a transparent and genuine element of compassion and Care for community members, the more likely residents and businesses will Commit.  In communicating ideas about sustainability to communities, we keep the needs of the community members at the forefront. The 3C4P3 Plan is designed to inspire alignment around community engagement. 

What are the most critical needs our community that you are addressing?  How can you build a secondary objective with Sustainability in mind? Though we often think of sustainability measures as green or energy efficient, sustainability marries well to a focus on health and wellness.  Certification programs WELL and Fitwell all draw from environmental science and study of the human body, and their programs overlap with environmental leader programs such as LEED, and the Living Standard. The goal is not to diminish the importance of critical needs of a community, but realistically set the table for sustainability through well-known primary objectives. The intention from the start of this process is to not reinvent the wheel.  Instead, we suggest embedding well-known, highly deployed management principles.  We are also promoting precision.  We know that goals and objectives are more successful if you narrow your focus and build from early success.

By narrowing your focus, you eliminate the temptation to do everything at once and can be inhibit the long-term plan because of poorly laid groundwork.  HlpSum1 believes the best way to help your community and its residents and businesses is to not expect to dream big in a deep slumber but focus on small refreshing catnaps.   This is a journey that begins with a few small steps. A small community seeking to attract more tourism does not try to attract a national event like Sturgis, the week-long motorcycle event in South Dakota. Instead, small to medium sized communities may plan a weekend Home-Days festival to build community spirit and support local businesses.  Consider proportional measures. Overtime, as you write your community sustainability report, the long list of all that you are doing will be incremental yet impactful, and a great example for future officials and lawmakers, and other neighboring communities.