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Citizen Sustainability Assessment
A Demand Management Tool for Assessing Citizen Stewardship of the Community’s Natural Resources
A starting point for demand management is to assess how well a community currently benefits from citizen resource conservation and the potential for improvement. In this regard, U.S. EPA's Office of Urban and Economic Development provided Empowerment Institute funding to develop a tool which enables municipal decision-makers and citizens to evaluate how sustainably they are using the community's natural resources. This Citizen Sustainability Assessment is the product. It will help a municipality assess:
- The effectiveness of the various municipal policies and programs that enable citizens to conserve the community's natural resources and protect it's environment, identifying the incentives and disincentives built into the system.
- The potential of a Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign to support the municipality's commitment to citizen resource conservation.
The Citizen Sustainability Assessment is divided into sections on solid waste, water, energy and transportation. In each section the user is guided by a series of questions. If the municipality is doing a self-assessment, it will need to appoint a lead agency or staff person to manage the process. This agency or person will then identify representatives of each of the appropriate agencies to do the self-assessment.
Assessing The Sustainability Of Your Community
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Residential Solid Waste Management
The agencies involved in solid waste management may have different names in each community. Generally they will fall under the following categories: municipal public works or solid waste agency, recycling coordinator, county or regional solid waste agency, private solid waste hauler or recycling hauler, local transfer station, and local landfill operator. Read More -
Residential Water Management
The agencies involved in water management may have different names in each community. Generally they will fall under the following categories: municipal public works, water bureau, county or regional water agency, waste water treatment plant. Read More -
Residential Energy Management
The agencies likely to be involved in energy conservation will generally fall under the following categories: municipal energy office, state energy office, electric utility, gas utility. Read More -
Transportation Management
The agencies involved in transportation management may have different names in each community. Generally they will fall under the following categories: regional transit authority, municipal transportation or traffic agency' regional or state air quality control agencies, and regional or state departments of transportation. Read More
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Become Certified as A Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign Leader
A Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign leader certification is based on Empowerement Institute's Social Change 2.0 community organizing framework. As part of the certification, you will learn how to facilitate an empowerment training, provide empowerment coaching, and use the Social Change 2.0 framework, strategies and skills to architect a transformational community intervention. You will also receive the Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign training scripts, organizing templates and guidance on how to customize the campaign to the unique needs of your community and project. Click here for more information on the certification program.
Sponsor A Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign Training
A Social Change 2.0 community organizing training for a local government, utility or civic organization wishing to implement a Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign. This training is customized to the needs of the community and organization. To learn more about this opportunity contact Empowerment Institute.
Learn About Social Change 2.0
To learn more about the Social Change 2.0 framework and research underpinning the Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign, read the free four-part series excerpted from Chapter 2 of Social Change 2.0:
Part One: Empowering Citizens to Adopt Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyles
Part Two: Engaging the Community
Part Three: Taking the Program to Scale
Part Four: Teaching Others to Fish
Watch the video:
An introduction to the Social Change 2.0 philosophy and framework.
Green Living Handbook
A 6-Step Program to Create an Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyle
by David Gershon.
The workbook contains eighty-one behavior change actions divided into six topics: solid waste reduction, water efficiency, energy efficiency, transportation efficiency, green purchasing and empowering others. It includes a sustainable lifestyle assessment which generates the pre- and post program household behavior change information. This provides households and funding partners quantifiable feedback on the behaviors taken and their environmental impacts.
Implement the Children's Version of the Green Living Program
Journey for the Planet
A Kid's Five Week Adventure to Create an Earth-friendly Life
Journey for the Planet is a children’s version of Green Living Program for kids 8 to 12 years old. This program can be delivered in a classroom, after-school club, youth organization or for children of adults taking part in an EcoTeam. It is complemented by a twenty-six-lesson plan educator’s curriculum called the “Coach’s Guide.” Empowerment Institute offers a Journey for the Planet teacher certification. For more information click here.
Sustainable Lifestyle Campaign Testimonials
"The program offers a common sense approach to environmentalism. [One participant says] ‘I love our neighborhood and this is an opportunity for us to make it an even nicer place to live together.’"
– The Boston Globe