Values Market a tool for advancing Sustainable Community Development

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Values Market a tool for advancing
Sustainable Community Development
Cascadia Indicators Meeting September 13, 2005

• Don Harker
• Co-Founder, Communities by Choice
• Consultant, Sustainable Northwest

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What we know about the world

• Change is constant
• The world is complex and messy
• Everything is connected

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What I believe about the world

• World is in a paradigm shift to sustainable
  development driven by necessity
• Communities and sustainable development need a
  face and resources
• We must embrace and pursue multiple paths to
  sustainability

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Sustainable Development Faces Three Key Challenges

• Remoteness of effect
• Incremental relevance
• Uncertainty of risk

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What we need

• Greater understanding of the systems within which
  we work
• Vetted strategies and initiatives that inform our
  work and scale to sustainable
• A compelling social impact theory (theory of
  change)
• Inspiring indicators and clear outcomes
• Increased resources for communities and
  sustainable development

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Social Impact Theory
How implementing a particular set of strategies
will lead to an intended impact
Context Indicators
System Environment Context
Outcome Indicators
Outcome Indicators
Leverage points
Intended Impact/ Preferred Future
Initiatives Projects Activities
Intermediate Outcomes
Strategies
Principles/ Mental models
Process Indicators
Values/beliefs
Experience
Knowledge
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Tools for Engaging Citizens

• Scenario Planning
• Visioning
• Scanning
• Asset Mapping
• Mind Mapping
• Stock and Flow Modeling
• Causal Loop Modeling
• Backcasting
• Logic Modeling
• Behavior over time graphs

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Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs)

• Defined
• A CLD consists of variables connected by arrows
  denoting the causal influences among the variables

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The linear perspective

• The linear view sees the world as a series of
  unidirectional cause-and-effect relationships.

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The feedback loop perspective

• The feedback loop perspective sees the world as
  an interconnected set of circular relationships

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CLDs Help Us

• Break through our mental models
• Find leverage points in the system
• Formalize our thinking (assumptions)
• about what is going on
• Create stock and flow models
• Evaluate progress
• Examine unanticipated consequences

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Limitations of CLDs

• CLDs can never be comprehensive
• CLDs are never final, but always provisional
• Initially Overwhelm some people

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Forest System
Acres nonforest/poorly managed forest converted
to well managed
o
Cost of wood paper
s
Acres nonforest/poorly managed forest converted
to plantation
Paper reducing technology
o
o
o
o
s
s
Acres nonforest/poorly managed forest converted
to protected
s
Fire wood demand
o
Ecological service value
Demand for wood paper products
s
s
s
s
s
s
o
Plantation Acres
Protected acres
Virgin wood paper use
s
Acres well managed natural forest
o
Conservation practices
o
o
o
o
o
s
of paper recycled
o
s
well managed natural forest logged
s
Population/ affluence/ education
s
Alternative fiber production
of building materials recycled
Acres developed
s
o
s
s
s
Acres of Federal/State forest well managed
o
Demand for recycled wood paper products
Sustainability of Supply
o
Acres impacted by diseases and pests
Acres impacted by wildfire
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Social Impact Theory
How implementing a particular set of strategies
will lead to an intended impact
Context Indicators
System Environment Context
Outcome Indicators
Outcome Indicators
Leverage points
Intended Impact/ Preferred Future
Initiatives Projects Activities
Intermediate Outcomes
Strategies
Principles/ Mental models
Process Indicators
Values/beliefs
Experience
Knowledge
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Social Impact Theory
How implementing a particular set of strategies
will lead to an intended impact
Outcome Indicators
Context Indicators U.S. supply/demand
ratio Average wage
of working forest well managed paper
recycled Supply/demand ratio of certified
products
Native species diversity of protected conservat
ion land
System Environment Context
Leverage points
Ecologically healthy, sustainably managed forest
resource
Specific to each community
Increased demand for certified products Decreased
demand for virgin wood
Increase paper recycling Increase alternative
fiber Expand forest certification Create
sophisticated consumers
Principles/ Mental models
Process Indicators En Ed program implemented
Ecologically healthy Forests essential to
a Healthy planet
Forests can be Sustainably managed
Forests are Renewable Forest products Are
fungible commodity
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Strategies Expand Forest Certification
Create sophisticated consumers
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Current systems under analysis by SNW

• Systems Analysis related to
• Biodiversity
• Forestry
• Climate Change and Energy Use
• Fresh Water
• Local Economies
• Coastal Marine Ecosystems
• Food Systems
• Human Health

• Identification of the most promising strategies
  for action and advancing sustainable development
• Creation of an open-source set of screens to
  foster interaction and be transparent about
  metrics and measures of success

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Scaling deeply and broadly

• Increase the number of sustainable development
  strategies deployed in each community
• Increase the number of communities using
  sustainable development strategies

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Critical questions

• How do we give a face to communities and
  sustainable development?
• How do we bring more resources to this
  under-capitalized work?

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It is time for a new philanthropic value
proposition
Satisfied with doing good, too few foundations
work strategically to do better. Source
Michael Porter and Mark Kramer. 1999.
Philanthropys New Agenda Creating Value.
Harvard Business Review
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Philanthropy and Impact
According to the evening news, the worlds still
a mess. What have you been
doing with my donations?
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Confluence of trends
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Confluence of needs
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Values Market is a tool for high-impact
philanthropy

• Creates a reliable mechanism for philanthropy to
  address
• Environmental Issues of Concern
• Economic Development of Communities
• Offers transparency and accountability of impact
• Invests in sustainable development and asset
  buildingfrom the ground up

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The Values Market proposition high-value/high-im
pact philanthropy
Donations/Investments
Donors/Investors
Performance
Capital Aggregation
Sustainable Development Outcomes (Environmental
Economic)
- Individuals - Community Fdns. - Private
Foundations - Family Foundations - Funders
Networks - Charitable Funds
Values Market Community Funds
Community Alliances Implement Integrated Strategi
es
Performance Feedback
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Connecting with Values Market

• The interface will be a nationally-branded
  website where anyone can find communities they
  care about and make a high-impact donation or
  find multiple sustainable business investment
  opportunities.

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Next Steps

• Finalize
• Funding screens based on system-level models and
  indicators
• A list of integrated strategies and tactics that
  deliver impact.
• A list of leading return on investment measures
  to assess progress implementing strategies
• Philanthropy and Investment Structure
• Partnership structure with founding financial
  partners
• Full prototypes of VM website content for 6
  community alliances

• Develop business plan, including brand and
  marketing plan
• Develop a prototype website
• Secure additional funding

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Thank You!

• Questions and Discussion