We are not alone

When considering the challenge of undertaking a project to identify sustainability indicators for a community, the task can seem formidable. We are not alone in our quest to build better communities for tomorrow. Nationally and worldwide, communities are embracing the concepts of sustainability. The old political catch-phrase "Jobs vs. the Environment" is proving one of the biggest lies of all time, as each day a new story emerges that links environmental degradation to poverty and sustainability to wealth.

Energized communities are creating inspiring models for others to learn from and emulate. Citizens are involved, invigorated and working towards a future that meets basic human needs within their communities and assures a vibrant and well-planned future. On this page we feature a sample of models, both national and local, that give us hope and support in our efforts to chart our course for a sustainable future.

Cities like Willapa Bay, Oregon; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Seattle, Washington, have developed sustain-ability indicators that help ready their communities for the challenges of the 21st century. Locally, several key organizations have created strong community partnerships to get us all thinking about the future of our area.

American Visions
Athens County has joined more than 3,000 counties and 1,100 cities across the U.S. that have embraced President Clinton s initiative the President s Council on Sustainable Development to develop long-term policies and programs promoting job growth, environmental stewardship and social equity the three pillars of sustainable communities. 

The National Association of Counties (NACO) has joined with the U.S. Confer-ence of Mayors to establish a Joint Center for Sustainable Communities in Washing-ton, DC. Four federal agencies support the joint center: the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The ten principles NACO adopted for sustainability are: interdependence, collaboration, stewardship of resources, diversity, preventing community instabil-ity, effectiveness, equity, education, flexibility and responsibility. You can get information from the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities by calling toll-free 800-696-1667, or by checking web page www.naco.org/sustain/index.htm.

The nationwide conference on community sustainability, organized by the President s Council on Sustainable Development, is scheduled for May 1999 in Detroit, Michigan.

Sustainable Seattle
The problems in Seattle were like those of many cities, but they were made worse by the fact that the economy was highly dependent on a few large, defense-related companies. With the winding down of the Cold War and the subsequent loss of business for major employers, there was concern in Seattle about the future economic health of the community. There were also concerns about pollution and the overall quality of life.

After the 1990 Global Tomorrow Coalition, a small group of Seattle citizens started a community process to define the problems and address the concerns the coalition had identified. Six months of meetings resulted in the publication of Indicators of Sustainable Community, which detailed how well Seattle was meeting the long-term economic, environmental and social needs of the community. The indicators included the number of wild salmon returning to local streams, the hours of work at the median income level required to support a person s basic needs, the percentage of children living in poverty, and the number of registered voters. The Seattle report has been the inspiration for other communities working to strengthen the links between their economic, environmental and social components.

In addition to developing indicators, Sustainable Seattle s projects have included community forums and workshops on sustainability, a workbook in sustainable living, outreach to specific communities within Seattle, and a framework for assessing the value of individual projects in a sustainable community.

Cleaning Up Chattanooga
In 1969, Chattanooga was designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as "the dirtiest city in America." Belching smokestacks reduced the view from nearby Lookout Mountain from seven states to barely two.

But now, the city is as "green as Peter Pan s tights." The Clean Air Act forced city manufacturers to invest in $40 million worth of pollution control equipment, and by 1988 the city s air was "in attainment." That was only the beginning. 

Today Chattanooga can boast of a leaf-lined river walk along its redevel-oped downtown, a freshwater aquarium where conservation is the byword, a free and well used electric bus shuttle, the world s longest pedestrian bridge, and plans for a zero-emissions eco-industrial park and grass-roofed convention center. Vice President Al Gore said in 1995 that Chattanooga "has undergone the kind of transformation that needs to happen in our country as a whole."

Sustainable development works for Chattanooga because it is not a top-down imposition, or a marginalized protester s demand. The scaffolding visible through-out the city symbolizes a democratic process that reaches into every city neighborhood, including the poorest housing projects. 

"There was a sense of doom in the air, and the future seemed foreclosed," says Jack Murrah, executive director of the Chattanooga-based Lyndhurst foundation, about the period in the early 1980s when the city hit rock-bottom. By 1984, Lyndhurst and the new Chattanooga Venture were collaborating in the "Vision 2000" program, which called on all city residents to imagine a future for their city. A remarkably progressive agenda emerged, calling for downtown and riverfront development and improved inner-city housing a list of 233 sustain-able projects in all.

The Riverwalk, construction of which began in 1989, was the first tangible sign that the city could be reinvented. The Tennessee River, potentially a great asset to the city, had been lost to pollution from the industrial sites that lined its banks. If residents experienced the river at all, it was a view of filthy water through a chain link fence. The Riverwalk cuts through the city s heart with play-grounds, performance spaces, fishing piers and leaf-shaded walkways. Today you can see blue heron along the banks or do some fishing yourself from one of five piers. You can even eat the fish.

The $45-million Tennessee Aquarium, which focuses on freshwater ecosystems and features a kid-focused environmental research center, opened in 1992 and serves as a downtown magnet and anchor. Around the aquarium warehouses have been reclaimed as smart shopping malls, apartment buildings have been renovated, and old factories house new restaurants. Through the newly enfranchised Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, 3,460 units of inner-city housing have been built or renovated.

To get around downtown, in 1993 Chattanooga created a unique and free 17-vehicle electric bus service. Advance Vehicle Systems makes and exports the 22-passenger models internationally. AVS Operations manager Alan Clark says the company is a thriving private company, not a heavily subsidized nonprofit. Commuters are encouraged to leave their cars in fringe parking lots and take the shuttle in. City officials say the shuttle moves a third of the ridership at tenth the cost of their own larger diesel service; the streets are unclogged and parking is not a problem.

Transforming Chattanooga from the designated dirtiest city to a model 
for the world happened because ordinary Chattanoogans got involved. (Summarized from E, The Environmental Magazine, March/April 1998, pgs. 14-16.)

Planning in Willapa Bay
Charting its own destiny was the intent of the Willapa Bay, Washington, citizens group called the Willapa Alliance. For three years numerous individuals re-searched issues in that Pacific Northwest area to take stock of the environmental, economic and social conditions in the Willapa watershed. With information detailing present conditions and past trends, the community hopes to understand where it has been and where 
it is now so that citizens may, as a community, influence the direction in which it is going.

The people who live around Willapa Bay share a conviction: "Our home should remain beautiful, healthy and productive from an environmental, economic and social point of view. For years, outside influences government, industry and environmental groups did not always take the time to understand, or even to consult citizens in such communities."

The Willapa Alliance identified 11 indicators of concerns and challenges in the Willapa Bay area that they use to understand the health of a place. The ability to cope with change without sacrificing either ecological or cultural integrity is the hallmark of health. 

The Alliance has turned its research into action. A Willapa Fisheries Recovery Team was organized to address the prob-lem of declining salmon population, an important element in local economic well-being. A Willapa Science Library and data base is being developed which will make scientific data accessible to local educators, businesses and environmental organizations. New public education programs were implemented to help highlight local issues. 

To provide the context for supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs, a new non-profit economic development organization was formed. Its mission is to find ways to capitalize on both the richness of Willapa s ecosystem and the entrepreneurial strengths of the community.

Local Connections

Sustainability happens at the global, the national and, most importantly, the local level. Rural Action has worked with several groups that strongly support integrated development practices and help foster collaboration for sustainability.

ACEnet brings together groups of small businesses to access high-value niche markets in sectors including specialty food products and Internet services. ACEnet also operates a small-business incubator, where entrepreneurs can rent space during their startup years and have access to business equipment including computers, fax machines and copiers.

Entrepreneurs in the specialty food industry can use ACEnet s Kitchen Incubator facility, which includes a licensed kitchen, to develop and  test-market new products. ACEnet is developing a product development fund, a buy-local campaign, and a regional brand, and is engaged in efforts that will lead to local specialty food firms placing their products in the second-largest natural food retail chain in the nation.

The Center for Community Service at Ohio University supports student and community efforts to improve the community and to prepare for responsible citizenship and community leadership by facilitating meaningful community service involvement. The Center for Community Service works with faculty to help them incorporate community service into the curriculum. Students are encouraged to volunteer with area organizations as part of their class credit.

ReUse Industries is a community-owned non-profit organization that saves recyclables from the landfill to support the economy in southeastern Ohio. Items donated to ReUse Industries are cleaned, stored, repaired, and sold to businesses, agencies, and the public for reuse. In doing this, ReUse Industries helps protect our environment and creates jobs in the community.

ILGARD (the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development) coordinates extensive research on issues related to this rural region. Currently ILGARD is working on the Environmental Priorities, Athens County project, which identified ground-water quality, acid mine drainage, envi-ron-mental justice, the absence of county planning, and forest disturbance as important areas to address.

About Us

Rural Action is a member-based organization located in Trimble, Ohio, with field offices and personnel working in Athens, Vinton, Pike, Perry, and Hocking counties. Our project areas include arts, agriculture, housing, health care, environmental restoration, heritage preservation, service-learning and leadership development. Principles of sustainability and rural renewal are the heart and soul of Rural Action s community development goals and mission. For information, contact Rural Action at 740-767-4938, or visit the rest of our web site.

Below, we highlight just a few of our programs and the people who make them happen.

CommUNITY Pride

For the past four years, Rural Action organizer Marilyn Knisley has assisted CommUNITY Pride (With God s Help) in its long-term development. This group of low-income, multi-racial women from Jackson Township in Pike County currently is laying the groundwork for the construction of a much-desired community building. Other projects include drug abuse prevention and GED assistance. The group serves as a model for development of Rural Action s leadership development action teams.

Integrated Pest Management

Rural Action s Integrated Pest Management Program began in 1995 when Heather Cantino conducted training for Athens City School personnel that led to the district s adoption of the pest management approach to minimize harmful pesticides in the city s schools. In 1996 Rural Action volunteers (pictured) assembled bat boxes to help attract more bats to mosquito-infested areas. In March 1998, Rural Action received a two-year grant from the Ohio EPA Environmental Education Fund to implement integrated pest management in up to 12 school districts in southeastern Ohio.

Housing Program 

This program is ready to spin off into the Rural Action Development Corporation. In addition to continued emergency home repair services, the corporation will renovate five homes recently purchased for rental to low-income residents of Glouster. In 1998, four new homes will be constructed for sale to low- and moderate-income families. Pictured here are housing crew workers preparing to replace windows at Midge Coe s home in Albany.

The Monday Creek Restoration Project

Rural Action coordinates the Monday Creek Restoration Project, which has succeeded in attracting over a million dollars in funding for reclamation projects to divert and treat acid mine drainage and for public education to increase involvement of area citizens. Pictured here are Monday Creek Project Director Mary Ann Borch and VISTA Matt McElroy planting trees at Spencer Hollow, reclaimed stripmine land in southern Perry County in the Monday Creek watershed.

Mural Corridor 

The Mural Corridor Project began with one mural and one artist leading hundreds of schoolchildren. Geoff Schenkel, pictured here in front of the Harmar Mural in Marietta, returned to his hometown five years ago with a dream of creating a community mural. He realized his dream by joining Rural Action through the VISTA*AmeriCorps program. Since then, other community murals in Shawnee, Trimble, and Wilkesville have enlisted Geoff and other area artists and children to form the "Mural Corridor," a concept for low-impact historical tourism in southeastern Ohio. Proposals for murals in Pomeroy and New Straitsville have been submitted to the Ohio Arts Council.

Sustainable Forestry

The Forestry Committee is working with area land owners, agencies, small businesses, and entrepreneurs to explore sustainable options for development of wood products and non-timber forest products such as gourmet mushrooms, medicinal herbs, wild fruits, nut trees, and ornamental plants valued by craftspeople. George Vaughn, pictured, spreads wood chips to demonstrate inoculation with gourmet mushroom spores in one of several workshops sponsored by Rural Action.

A Call to Action

Building Healthy Communities is a model of community research, but by no means a final product. Even though we ve come far enough to publish Building Healthy Communities, the indicators are not complete. In a way, they never will be, since as communities change and develop plans, indicators change too. 

To be comprehensive, sustainability indicators cover many more topics than we have covered here and involve many more people than we have reached so far. We are publishing this in local newspapers as an invita-tion to you. Bring your knowledge and ideas to this project and it will grow.

The important work of gathering data and getting involved in commu-nity planning is something that everyone can do. If you re interested in contributing your ideas and skills to the indicators, you ll find possible research topics for each indicator we ve covered under the heading, Suggestions for Additional Research. Many partners collecting data to complete the research we have begun will make this project a success. 

There are many opportunities for classroom-based research. If you are a high school or university faculty member, you may be interested in working with your students to advance the indicators project.

Those of you who work with agencies that collect related data could help move the project forward. We are eager to find out who you are and develop a partner project that brings together students, agency personnel and community groups to keep the indicators project moving towards 
a sustainable future for our region. 

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