Twenty-five years ago, scientists, interest groups and committed citizens gathered at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio Di Janeiro, Brazil, and discussed sustainable development. At the Summit, 178 countries signed several important agreements. One was “Agenda 21.” It provided a blueprint for communities to integrate sustainability into local planning. Since that time some communities, including Juneau, have tried to do this.
Sustainability is a confusing and conflicting concept; it suggests keeping things static. But, businesses, ecosystems, cultures, and of course humans, all change, and change can be good. But change is not always good. Most scientists agree that the climate is changing at an increasing rate. Temperatures in northern latitudes, including Alaska, are increasing several times faster than the rest of the world. Changing vegetation, increased air temperature, more erratic weather systems — these are some of the changes Alaska is experiencing. The question is: given an ever-changing world, what aspects of our community do we want to sustain, and what aspects do we have the capability to sustain, that support healthy families, rich natural systems, and economically vibrant and dynamic communities?
At least part of the answer about how to choose (which is really to manage), is included in the old adage, “to manage we must measure.”
Juneau started developing sustainability measures soon after the Earth Summit. In 1993, a small group of Juneau residents, myself included, accepted a challenge from the Juneau Assembly to develop sustainability indicators that would be monitored and measured to give us information. We developed an initial list of 26 sustainability indicators for Juneau. A few examples of the indicators were: percent of babies below average birth weight; number of non-profits and volunteer hours; annual total emission of carbon dioxide; and number of good air quality days in the Mendenhall Valley. These indicators were an important first step in our community discussion about sustainability. The initial list became a chapter on sustainability in the 1995 Comprehensive Plan. The updated 2013 Plan continues to include sustainability.
While Juneau has made great strides on its sustainability indicators, one big issue is that we measure indicators in isolation from one another. Indicators need to be measured in an integrated way. For example, if we have an indicator on bus service, we should connect that with how bus service impacts an indicator on jobs.
In the last 10 years, I have surveyed 250 cities in the U.S. and I am currently working with communities in Sweden and China on climate change adaptation. I’ve found several approaches to measure sustainability in an integrated way that appear to be working. One of the best methods is the use of graphically displayed information (sometimes referred to as a “dashboard”) for a suite of no more than 25 sustainability indicators organized under general categories such as economic, social, environmental, public policy and technology.
Thanks to strong community leadership, Juneau now has a Commission on Sustainability that is a standing committee of the City and Borough of Juneau. The Commission is working on refining Juneau’s indicators and determining how they should be used.
Going back to the real meaning of sustainability — we should ask what goals we in Juneau should set (what do we choose), so we know what we should be measuring. Several cities around the globe are setting a goal to become carbon neutral or make serious carbon reductions within five-10 years. Currently, Juneau has a goal to reach a 25 percent reduction by 2032 in greenhouse gas emissions. In Juneau, our electrical energy is already 95 percent based on renewable and low-impact hydropower that allows us to plug in cruise ships as well as cars. Maybe we should be more aggressive on this particular goal.
We also need to establish goals and key sustainability indicators for other aspects of our community such as measurable indicators to address the opioid issue. There are other issues such as food security, education and public safety that should be considered.
Publically discussing our values, and what we want to sustain, can provide a more focused and holistic approach to achieving the things we need and want in Juneau for our future.
• Dr. Jim Powell is an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Southeast and lives in Juneau. Powell is a member of the University of Alaska Southeast Sustainability Committee. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Alaska Southeast.”
