Sarah James, "The Natural Step: How Cities and Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices"

Sarah James, City Planner, Sarah James & Associates, Cambridge Massachusetts

Summary: Ms. James introduced the concept of “Eco-Municipality”. An eco-municipality has officially adopted a particular set of sustainability principles and a “bottom-up” approach in implementing them. It can be done in any community whether it is a remote rural village or an urban city. There are 70 out of 284 diverse communities in Sweden that are considered to be eco-municipalities. This represents 25% of all the municipalities in the country. So this has become a real movement.

Why should communities think about sustainability? Ms. James stated that two trends are occurring on a global level and are colliding or converging with each other: 1) Natural systems (land, forests, wildlife and water) are deteriorating, and 2) Population – world consumption continually is increasing and disproportionately larger in the developed world compared to the developing world. The ecological footprint is the amount of resource consumption and waste generation patterns associated with the average citizen. The global citizen’s “footprint” averages 7 acres but in the United States it is about 26 acres a year – the highest in the world! Swedish scientists studying these two trends in the early 1990’s developed the “Natural Step” process, a common framework for sustainability based upon science and natural law. The 70 eco-municipalities in Sweden have all adopted the Natural Step framework.

In the United States, the American Planning Association (APA) has formally adopted the slogan “Making Great Communities Happen”. APA's Planning for Sustainability guide presents comprehensive sustainability objectives and planning policies for sustainable communities based upon the Swedish Natural Step framework. The Natural Step process uses four sustainability objectives in a “systems based” approach to achieve complex community change:

Use planning and design approaches that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, underground metals and minerals. Falkenberg, Sweden, a coastal windy town with a population of 39,000 adopted a sustainability plan in 1995. They built the largest solar array in the world (at that time) for electricity and hot water, later adding a wind turbine farm and switching to electric cars. They provide sustainability education for all 2,000 of their municipal workers.
Use planning and design approaches that reduce dependence upon synthetic chemicals and other unnatural substances (like PCB’s that pollute our bodies). Eskilstuna, Sweden, an older community comprised of 20% refugees and population 90,000, adopted a sustainability plan in 1997. They built a “non-toxic” school using all natural materials – wood, brick, stone and glass. Measurements of administrative staff and teachers’ health increased tremendously. The Word Health Organization has estimated that 30% of buildings constructed since 1970 have some form of “Sick Building Syndrome” (mold, dust, volatile organic compounds or VOC’s) that cause ill health. Eskilstuna uses sustainability practices to bring about an eco-economic revitalization and have reduced their fossil fuel consumption by about 40%. Ms. James promoted straw bale homes as the healthiest homes to build – great for people with multiple chemical sensitivities. They also have high R-Values (50 – 54 R-Value), breathable walls and plus it’s a renewable resource and natural material.
Use planning and design approaches that reduce encroachment upon nature (land, water, animals, vegetation, etc.) Nature is our support system. The green plants of the earth absorb carbon dioxide and give us oxygen. Umea, Sweden, is a university town with a population of 100,000. At one time Umea had the worst environmental reputations in the entire country and adopted a sustainability plan in 1990 and provided training for all its municipal workers. They established the Green Zone Business Park, a 5-acre commercial zone that is almost 100% sustainable. The Park reduced 70% of its energy demand to begin with, utilizes 100% renewable energy, achieved 60% reduction in water usage through green roofs and storm water retention where the water is filtered and re-used for a car wash business. It isn’t attached to city storm water or city water and sewer, so it is almost a zero-waste facility. The city center of Umea abolished cars so it is now pedestrian and bike friendly. Ms. James also referenced Stockholm, Sweden’s Prramiden Affordable Housing project, a development using renewable energy, community gardens and shared spaces. They found the social problems and vacancy rates went way down. Also mentioned was Juneau, Alaska’s Herbert River Wetlands project, a land trust of 150 acres to protect special wetland areas, a good example of meeting this third goal.
Use planning and design approaches that meet human needs fairly and efficiently. Don’t expect people to participate in eco-municipality planning if their own needs aren’t being met, so if you can’t meet this one, don’t expect to meet the first three. People cannot be subjected to conditions that undermine their needs. Ms. James mentioned the 59 Degrees North Co-Housing project in Homer, Alaska. Co-Housing is a type of collaborative housing in which residents actively participate in the design and operation of their own neighborhoods and typically have clustered homes surrounding a courtyard or open pedestrian space with a community center or “common house” for gatherings and eating together. She also mentioned Fairbanks, Alaska’s use of Community Supported Agriculture, citing Rosie Creek Farms as great examples of how to meet our food needs in a sustainable way.
There are 12-13 cities in Wisconsin as well as Duluth, MN, Portsmouth, NH, Lawrence Township NJ, Ashland, WA and others in the United States that have adopted official sustainability plans or are in the process of forming them. So if all this is going on, why pay attention to Sweden? Why not just “get on with it?” The reason is these projects are happening on a project-by-project basis. Eco-Municipality planning can incorporate things like: ecological education in schools, getting people out of their cars, recycling, neighborhood revitalization, green building, green purchasing, eco-business areas, organic agriculture, community revitalization, renewable energy, eco-education, compact development, treating sewage by plants instead of chemicals, using waste as a resource, and river restoration among other projects.

First, the Swedish cities use a systematic holistic approach to change rather than a piecemeal approach. She used the picture of a “municipal tree” – each “branch” (housing, transportation, public facilities, recreation, land use, etc.) is a part of the living tree – that is, the community. A town is a complex system like a tree. If a tree is thirsty or ill, how do you treat it? Do you water the branch? No. You apply treatment to the root where it spreads out, and so it is with taking a systems approach to community change. The four objectives are the “roots” that guides all the changes throughout all the different systems that otherwise would take forever to change.

The second thing Sweden has to teach us is that while the cities adopted this process at the highest level through a resolution; they used a democratic “bottom up” planning process for implementation that:
Involves the “implementers” (local government officials and city staff)
Involves citizens (stakeholders in the process with different ranges of interest)

In conclusion, she wanted the audience to be aware that they conduct five day trainings every year in June for municipalities wanting to implement the Natural Step process in their community. She also recommended seeing this concept in person by going on an Eco-Tour of Sweden. Or, you can read their book, “The Natural Step.”