Raising the Stakes: Vision and Practice for More Accelerated Sustainable Development in the Baltic Sea Region

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Raising the Stakes Vision and Practice for
More Accelerated Sustainable Development in the
Baltic Sea Region

• Alan AtKisson
• President, AtKisson Group
• Stockholm, Sweden

www.AtKisson.com
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ASSOCIATES INCLUDE ...
Supporting Leaders and Innovators in
Sustainability Since 1992
SELECTED CLIENTS (Past Current) ANTAM, SB,
Indonesia - via LEAD Indonesia Asian Productivity
Organization AwA (Risk Capital Fund, Seattle
USA) Baltic 21 (The 11 nations of Northern
Europe) Brother, Inc. (Japan) - via Change
Agent, Inc. City of Edinburgh (and many other
cities) Earth Charter International (Global
NGO) Government of Latvia Government of
Singapore - via Systainability Asia Greater New
Orleans Imperial College London Levi Strauss
Europe Nantucket Sustainable Development
Corp. Nike, Inc. Port of Brisbane
Corporation Randwick City Council (Sydney,
Australia) - via UNSW SEIYU (Japan) - via Change
Agent, Inc. SERDP - Strategic Envi Research
Devel Prog, US Dept of Defense State of
New South Wales, Australia - Dept of Envi and
Climate Change State of Queensland, Australia -
Sustainable Industries Division State of
Victoria, Australia Stockholm County (regional
transit health provider) Sustainable
Pittsburgh Sustainable Seattle The Heinz
Endowments, USA Triple Logic (Sustainable
Business Incubator) Toyota Japan - via Japan for
Sustainability UNEP - Asia - via Systainability
Asia US Army (Installation Sustainability
Program) Volvo Car Corporation - via Tencelsius
Alan AtKisson, Stockholm Author, Believing
Cassandra
PARTICIPATING LICENSED ORGANIZATIONS ATKISSON
INC. (USA) ATKISSON EUROPE AB (Sweden)
CHANGE AGENT, INC. (Japan) JAPAN FOR
SUSTAINABILITY LEAD INDONESIA NATURAL EDGE
(Australia) SYSTAINABILITY ASIA
(Thailand) SUSTINOVA (Portugal) SUSTAINUS
(UK) UNIVERSITY NEW SOUTH WALES / FBE UPPSALA
UNIVERSITY / CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(Sweden) ... and other Independent
Licensees AtKisson-owned company
David Berry, Paris Washington Former US White
House Official
Kristina AtKisson, Stockholm Science, Policy,
CSR
Junko Edahiro, Tokyo Japans Leading
Sustainability Communicator and Translator
Robert Steele, Bangkok Asia CSR Expert, Sr Trainer
www.AtKisson.com
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Something is happening to our world ... much
faster than we understandArctic Sea Ice 2007
Source National Snow and Ice Data Center
www.AtKisson.com
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A Global Transition is Happening... Faster than
We Can Understand
Dozens of trends show exponential growth patterns
-- rapid doubling effects that exceed the
current capacity of global governance systems to
manage them
Source International Geosphere-Biosphere Program
lthttp//www.igbp.orggt
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The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
Nature converted to human use ()
Remaining natural systems
Global Cotton production (predicted 2003 v.
actual 2007) One example of the accelerating
speed of conversion from natural to human use
Source Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
lthttp//www.millenniumassessment.org/gt
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Sustainable Development in the Baltic Sea Region
Starting Assumptions

• 1. Sustainable development, because it involves
  a holistic and systemic view, and requires
  extensive collaboration among diverse actors,
  is inherently complex
• 2. We are far from the goal of reshaping our
  societies to be economically and socially strong
  while also protecting and stewarding the natural
  systems on which we all depend
• 3. Some progress is being made, but the pace of
  change is still far too slow, given the pace at
  which certain critical problems are emerging and
  worsening.
• The Baltic Sea Region is both a typical and, in
  some ways, a rather extreme example of this
  general global situation.
• Source AtKisson, Ways to Regional
  Sustainability, closing analytical comments in
  Realizing a Common Vision for a Baltic Sea
  Eco-region Report from a Research Symposium on
  Sustainable Development Patterns, 28-29 Oct 2005,
  Kaliningrad, The Baltic University Programme (for
  Baltic 21)

www.AtKisson.com
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Key Conclusionsfrom 20 years of research and
practicein the field of sustainable development

• 1. Vision and ethics are centrally important to
  successful sustainable development
• 2. Visions and aspirations should be set very
  high the greater the gap between vision and
  reality, the greater the tug of aspiration, and
  the faster the lift in practice
• 3. Strong ethical commitments are the key to
  anchoring vision within practice, as well as to
  producing the greatest return on investment
  over the long term

www.AtKisson.com
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In Contrast ...

• Lack of vision and ethical commitment
• to a sustainable future
• can be hazardous to regional health.
• It can even be a matter of life or death.

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A Methodologyfor Accelerating Strategic
Sustainable Development

• Indicators gt Systems gt Innovation gt Strategy

Methodology developed by AtKisson, published in
The Natural Advantage of Nations, Hargroves and
Smith, eds., Earthscan, 2005
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The ISISIceberg
Capstone (Visible to Others) What you're doing
now (Agreements and Actions)
Level 4 Your Strategy for Action
Level 3 The Ideas and Changes you are Promoting
(Innovations)
Level 2 Your Mental Model (Systems)
Level 1 Your Information Base (Indicators)

• Foundation (At the Bottom)
• Your Vision, Values, and Ethics

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ISIS ToolboxACCELERATOR
Since the 1992, AtKisson Group has been
developing a set of tools, based on ISIS, to
support sustainability in practice Each Tool
is actually a full toolbox in itself a set of
processes, templates, applications manuals
designed to support deep-going change toward
sustainability
Indicators Defining Measuring Assessing Engaging
Systems Training Planning Teambuilding Building
Consensus
Strategy Formal Planning Organizing Finding
Niches Evaluating
Innovation Training for Change Strategizing
Change Spreading Replicating
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The Sustainability Compass
www.AtKisson.com
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The Sustainability Compass
Emissions
Ecosystems
Waste
Climate
Resources
Learning
Businesses
Relationships
Work
Health
Incomes
Investment
Happiness
Quality of Life
Innovation
Participation
Resilience
Institutions
Public Safety
Culture
Education
Governance
www.AtKisson.com
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Compass Index in Pittsburgh, USA
ACCELERATOR
Compass Sample City Orientation, Engagement,
Indicators Assessment
www.sustainablepittsburgh.org
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Pyramid Using ISIS to Build Agreement on Action
for Sustainability
ACCELERATOR TOOL
COMPASS OF SUSTAINABILITY
SELF-DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY
VISION STATEMENT
EARTH CHARTER
NATURAL STEP
PREPARE THE GROUND
TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
OTHER
What do we mean by sustainability? What is our
vision for the future?
www.AtKisson.com
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The ISIS Pyramid Accelerates Action for
Sustainability
Trust, Commitment, and Discipline
AGREEMENTS ACTIONS
STRATEGIES
INNOVATIONS
SYSTEMS
INDICATORS
www.AtKisson.com
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Building the PYRAMID
ACCELERATOR
Balaton Group, Hungary
PYRAMID is a powerful training and planning
workshop method used worldwide. It accelerates
systems thinking and sustainability using ISIS,
while creating a 3D visual record of workshop
results
Imperial College London
Brisbane City Council, Australia
United Nations Environment Program Sponsored by
Tetrapak
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Example from Latvia Related to Spatial Planning
(Yes, this has been done in Latvia!)
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Pyramid Case Study Baltic 21 Lighthouse
Projects

• ISIS Pyramid planning in 2003-2004 led to
  adoption of Lighthouse Projects concept
• New independent review in 2008 affirms that the
  policy impacts of the Lighthouse Projects are
  already tangible and visible
• Even newer projects have impacts that include
  greater EU-level policy influence -- an
  original strategic objective framed in 2004

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Baltic Sea Algae Blooms
New HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan sets visionary
goals unaffected by eutrophication,
undisturbed by hazardous substances, zero
emission target by 2020, etc.
www.AtKisson.com
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Aral Sea, with 1957 Shoreline
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But the Aral Sea isBeginning to Recover,Thanks
to Human Vision, Commitment and Action
Managers assumed that it would take up to 10
years for the water to rise 3 meters and cover
800 square kilometers of dry seabed ... They were
wrong. Just 7 months after the dikes
completion, the Small Aral Sea has reached
the target level ... Spare water is already
flowing through the spillway evidence of what
may become one of the biggest reversals of an
environmental catastrophe in history. SCIENCE,
VOL 312, 14 APRIL 2006, p 183
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Coming from Earthscan, Sept 2008 - The
long-awaited sequel to the bestseller Believing
Cassandra The ISIS Agreementby Alan AtKisson

• The 9-Step Theory of Sustainable Development
  that underlies virtually all methods and tools in
  use today
• Tools, methods, and case studies drawn from a
  twenty-year career in international
  sustainability
• The economic traps preventing progress in
  sustainability worldwide ... and the
  opportunities for profit in pursuing a
  sustainable agenda
• The power of networks to generate ideas, validate
  them, and amplify transformative change, quickly
• The Hope Graph how the speed of
  transformation is beginning to catch up to the
  speed of the problems
• Available direct from Earthscan or from any
  major bookseller

www.AtKisson.com
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Vision Ethics

• An ethic is a vision. It is the image we
  hold of
• ourselves, not as we are, but as we would like
  to be.
• It is what we strive continuously to become.

Source of image and quote unknown
www.AtKisson.com
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For information on our consulting services, tools
and methods,
Please Contact Us

• Alan AtKisson, President
• Mob 46 709 926 979
• alan.atkisson_at_atkisson.com
• www.AtKisson.com