Washington Lawyers for Sustainability

Sustainability’s Core: What Must Lawyers Do?

Last chance for online pre-registration on our new website:

www.washingtonlawyersforsustainability.org

The conference will be of interest for lawyers and non-lawyers interested in a sustainable society and the role that lawyers could or should play in creating it. It will consider:

· Whether lawyers have particular abilities and responsibilities for setting society and its institutions on a more sustainable course; and

· Whether present practices of lawyers are addressing the need for sustainability in the economy, in society, and in our relations with the natural world.

Distinguished guest speakers include

§ Gifford Pinchot, President, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, and long-time advisor and writer on business issues

§ Ross Macfarlane, former head of the environmental law practice at K&L Gates and now Senior Advisor, Business Partnerships at Climate Solutions

§ Tim Parsey, principal of Shift Alliance, a B Corporation

§ Trudy Scherting, President of Moka Joe, a B Corporation

§ Laura Musikanski, JD, MBA, Executive Director, Sustainable Seattle

The conference will end with a panel and roundtable discussion of B Corporations and other issues raised by the conference.

Date: Thursday, May 27, 2010

Time: 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Location: Seattle University Student Center, Room 130

Beat the registration line at the door tomorrow!

Pre-register today for the Sustainability’s Core conference and join Washington Lawyers for Sustainability, at:

www.washingtonlawyersforsustainability.org.

Please note that event registrations and memberships at the door tomorrow must be paid by check, payable to "Washington Lawyers for Sustainability".

3.0 CLE credits have been granted for this conference

Getting to Seattle University and the Student Center

The University is located east of I-5 in the blocks bounded by East Madison, 12^th Avenue, E. Cherry Street, E. Jefferson Street, and Broadway.

A map and driving directions can be found at www.seattleu.edu/campus_community/visit_campus/directions_area_maps/driving_to_main_campus/

Metro routes 9, 12, 43, 49 and 60 all come within 0.1 miles of the Campus.

A campus map can be found at www.seattleu.edu/uploadedImages/su_map_campus.gif. The visitor parking area is location no. 40 on the map. Access to the visitor parking area is at the intersection of 12^th Avenue and E. Marion.

The Student Center is at location no. 15 on the campus map. Access is from the campus side rather than from E. James Way.

AIChE regional conference

Last week, our own Laura Musikanski and Eldan Goldenberg were invited to the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' first Puget Sound regional sustainability conference. We kept our talk short, as neither of us are exactly chemistry experts, but used the brief presentation to open up a round table discussion about sustainability.

This is important work for us, as building a truly sustainable world will require getting everybody on board, not just those whose career specialises in this. In the initial presentation we talked about how much of sustainability is simply good engineering practice, and then we asked the audience to break up into small groups and brainstorm about ways the industrialised world could be more sustainable. The group came up with a very broad range of ideas, touching on many aspects of sustainability: everything from reducing paper use in offices to ensuring that cities maintain enough open space for residents' well-being.

A few key principles came up in the closing discussion which seem worth sharing, because they are insights from engineers, which apply to many fields:

• Technological advances can be a useful tool, but they are never complete solutions to problems, and people who would rely on future tech as a magic bullet are simply avoiding thinking their problem through.
• It's dangerous to be too wedded to any given technology.
• In designing anything new, it's important to watch for unforeseen consequences: for instance the car was initially welcomed because it freed cities from one of their biggest environmental problems—horse manure—and the drawbacks did not become obvious until mass car ownership.

We are grateful to AIChE for inviting us to this conference, and we hope we will have more chances to reach out to groups of experts like this in future.

Journalism that Matters, part two

Notes from the Journalism that Matters Conference breakout hosted by The Daily of University of Washington.

Eeeek. It was so hard to pick a session. The sessions were created by attendees who had a desire to host sessions, so totally on-topic…..and so desirable! Sustainable Seattle attended the session focusing on respect in communications. We attended with Ashoka/Youth Venture (an organization that creates continuous chain of empathy for youth 12-20, empathy in action, and a change maker campus program, and changemakers.com where there is a local and global) and WA Farm worker Housing Trust (a nonprofit that does policy and advocacy to ensure farm workers have a safe place by working with all the stakeholders to find common ground, a strategy that is working with state legislature!).

Our session host, Kristin Millis, posed the notion if journalists listen and respect the public, readers, and those we write stories about, news and media entities would be more trusted and would stay in business.

• · All stories are newsworthy: What ever anyone has to say, has value to them, so that individual should be treated with respect. If you can’t provide them coverage, offer them resources.
• · There is always a story: There is always truth in a story: Stop, listen, ask, find out more, take the time to find out more. Take the time to listen.

With a journalist at the table with three nonprofit representatives, we adapted these lessons to our efforts: Nonprofits tell stories too- we need to ensure the stories we tell are accurate to our community, and we can do this by listening, and by telling the stories that fulfill our goals and provide information for better decisions (by nourishing people and encouraging action) and that provide a context – the good, the norm and the bad – not just the bad. Nonprofits also are conduits for changing behavior. Collaborating with others in getting the message out is a great way to get the message out, and is cost effective- in many ways! Collaborating in communicating also allow the nonprofit and all to get a better idea of the story.

Journalism is funded by advertisers. So- we asked about the proof in the pudding: As the UW Daily focused on respect, it took leaps and bounds in national advertising and has done well comparatively in the economic times, with drops about half as much as others. Local advertising composition changed, with overall growth in local advertising. New room costs dropped because staff became more effective at their jobs.

Tips for non-profits -How to sell a story: Come into a newsroom and talk to someone. Don’t make an appointment and show up in the mornings or early afternoons. Try to find a reporter and build rapport. When you send a press release, don’t make it look like a press release- use real working, from the heart. Give the journalist something to write about. Tell the journalist what the nutgraph is (what is the heart of it? What is the story about? What is the most important thing) Give the journalist a list people and their contact information and why that person is a good person to talk to. Send photos that connect the journalist to the story. Give the other side of the story- even a hint – of who and what that story is. Who have you talked to? Let us know who.

Journalism that Matters part one

Sustainable Seattle was invited to host a table and participate in Journalism that Matters. We came to learn, to change and to affect change from this un-conference for transforming our world through the communication.

Norm Rice spoke to being a green city council member in 1978. As a grad from the School of Communications, he identifies the importance of effective communications. Norm talked about how he once worked to address the issues of how minorities gain access to electronic media and how access to electronic media transforms lives. He said that while he did not find the solution, seeking for it transformed his life. Civic engagement was and is fundamental: Being heard. Can you frame the question to bring out hopes and dreams so we can articulate and work with strategies for moving forward. Do not frame in the negative, Norm cautions us, ask for a transformation in specifics: What does sustainable transportation look like? Gathering people, facilitating meetings, helping people speak and ensuring people listen creates consensus on issues. When organizations- governmental, non-governmental and others partake in active learning after bringing people together to discourse, people step up to the plate, engage in working together to solve a problem. Accountability and political will on the part of policy makers are key to implementing civic engagement. Communicate the aspirations and goals on a civic engagement process- this process is key – it is a long process, and this process is key in success. The civic engagement process is about life and hope – civic engagement is a process by definition. Life, hope and aspirations are the engine that keeps the process alive. When the task is accomplished, the people will remark- “we have done it ourselves.” This is the mark of success.

Chris Jordan came on and asked us to reach into our hearts, to think with our hearts, to speak from the heart. Allow your heart to be broken, and to be broken again. Speak authentically. Take the templates off. Care. This is the key to transforming space, shifting our world. This is the key to reaching the wisdom we all carry, to reaching those big huge goals we are seeking, and feeling so close and yet, like Tantalus, so far. Chris Jordan is a visual artist who uses consumption products to depict and emphasize the amount of waste in the American culture.

Conference | April 2-3 | Working Collaboratively for Sustainability | Seattle University

Growing evidence shows that successful programs to promote a sustainable environment and society require the collaboration of business, government, religion and non-government organizations working toward a common goal. That is the theme behind a two-day conference hosted by Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics.

The two day conference will explore how cross-organizational projects promoting sustainability also support economic development, reach out to marginalized populations and engage the average person.

Speakers include:

• Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
• Brenda Metropolit, Director of Sustainability Initiatives for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
• Auden Schendler, Aspen Skiing Co.
• Tom Crompton, World Wildlife Foundation-UK
• Kevin Wilhelm, Sustainable Business Consultant

When April 2 - 3, 2009 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where Seattle University, Seattle, Washington
Cost $135 per person
To Register Visit www.SUsustainability.org or call (206) 296-5714

The conference is organized by the Albers Business Ethics Initiative and the Albers Entrepreneurship Center with Support from the Genevieve Albers Endowment. Sponsors include the Boeing Company, McKinstry, REI, Sustainable Industries Magazine and the International Society of Sustainability Professionals.