Principles of Sustainability

Local Organizations | National Resources | Journals & Publications | Conferences

Foundation Frameworks to ground your learning journey.

As we start the work of gathering all the links and lessons we have learned over the last six years, we are amazed at all the resources that are available to assist business and organizational leaders on their journeys toward sustainability. Pick any one of these sites and start and pick another and start again! We have just begun.

• Northeast Ohio was recognized as the region with the largest percentage of triple bottom line businesses - transforming how we do business in Northeast Ohio. See more of the E4S Vision.
• Non-profit, government and academic resources are listed here. Find companies to help your business implement sustainable business projects in the E4S Sustainable B2B Directory.

Foundation Frameworks include (in order of their publication):

Natural Step
www.naturalstep.org
www.naturalstep.ca

Natural Capitalism
www.naturalcapitalism.com
www.rmi.org
www.natcapinc.com
www.naturalcapital.org

Cradle to Cradle Design
www.mbdc.com
www.greenblue.org

Biomimicry
www.biomimicry.net
database.biomimicry.org

7 Fronts of Sustainability by Interface
www.interfacesustainability.com

UN Millennium Goals (a foundation for your social bottom line?)
www.un.org/millenniumgoals

Local Organizations:

Entrepreneurs for Sustainability (E4S)
Join a Sustainability Implementation Group (SI Group) or one of our other Learning Center Programs to put sustainability principles into action for your business.

Business as an Agent of World Benefit (BAWB) at Case is a global forum uniting the best in business with the call of our times. At the heart of the Center is the World Inquiry - global search for the many ways dynamic leaders in the business sector are putting their people, imagination and assets to work to benefit the earth, from its ecosystem to the needs of its vast, diverse population. The Center takes the work being done by business practitioners, civil sector actors, and the academic community in business-in-society innovations and synthesizes their knowledge and experience into one powerful, central location.

National/International Resources:

The purpose of the SoL Sustainability Consortium is to build the capacity of organizations and society to achieve economic, ecological and social sustainability so that all life can thrive for all time. They do this by actively practicing the five disciplines of organizational learning and systems thinking in all they do and by engaging leaders who work together across traditional boundaries to achieve our shared aims.

The West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum’s mission is to promote business practices that demonstrate environmental stewardship, economic vitality, and social responsibility. Their goal is to encourage the adoption and implementation of sustainable development business practices aimed at improving corporate profitability while simultaneously enhancing the long-term health of the environment.

Since 1992, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) has helped companies of all sizes and sectors to achieve success in ways that demonstrate respect for ethical values, people, communities and the environment.

Journals & Publications:

Green@Work Magazine is dedicated to telling the stories of ecological pioneers, products and systems that are driving an important change in corporate America.

InBusiness is dedicated to telling the stories of ecological pioneers, products and systems that are driving an important change in corporate America.

LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice.

GreenBiz is a comprehensive free information resource for large and small companies seeking to align environmental business practices with business success. Includes environmental business news, job listings, career advice, tools, reports, mentor programs, awards, government resources, backgrounders, expert advice, and more.

Conferences:

If you attended a conference on the business of sustainability that was valuable to you, send us the link and we will post it here for others to attend next year.