I have seen the future of how we can transition to a healthy local food system and it is in Vermont. Picture this: 180 people from all parts of the state’s food system, in one room, reflecting on how they have worked together over the past year in a coordinated way towards goals of doubling… Read more
Tag: Systems Change
Vermont Farm to Plate Network Gathering – Year 2
Last year, we had the pleasure of helping design and facilitate the launch of the Vermont Farm to Plate Network, working in collaboration with Curtis Ogden of the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) and the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. During the past year, over 150 organizations have been meeting to advance the Farm to… Read more
Gathering to Launch the Vermont Farm to Plate Network
The state of Vermont had committed to double local food production over 10 years, as a way to boost economic development, increase jobs, and increase access to healthy food. The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) had gathered input from hundreds of Vermonters to create a Farm to Plate Strategic Plan that defined the sub-goals and… Read more
Getting Beyond the Plan that Sits on a Shelf
After 20 years of consulting, I have dedicated a lot of time to developing action plans and reports. Like me, thousands of people have devoted countless hours of meetings, research, and writing to develop plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing a sustainability strategy, etc. You know the reports with goals, specific recommendations, nice graphics,… Read more
Energy Smart Transportation Initiative
What does it take to make the transportation sector more energy efficient? The State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) sponsored the Colorado Energy Smart Transportation Initiative to explore this question. New Directions Collaborative, in collaboration with Sonia Hamel of Hamel Environmental Consulting and Pat Field of the Consensus Building Institute, helped to facilitate a cross-agency collaborative… Read more
A Network Approach to Local Food Systems: Vermont Farm to Plate
Vermont is building on the growing movement for local food systems and making this a major economic development and job driver. To accomplish this, a 10-year Farm to Plate Strategic Plan, based on a comprehensive view of the local food system, was developed with input of 1,200 people. The plan and its goals have broad… Read more
Collective Impact – An Idea Whose Time Has Come
In the Midwest, a group of foundations and non-profits decided to try an experiment – instead of individual foundations placing grants with individual non-profits, they came together to create a coordinated network to pursue the ambitious long-term goal of reducing regional global warming emissions 80 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2050. The Garfield Foundation, one… Read more
Networks: A Core Strategy for Sustainability
Consider these scenarios: Every hotel could adopt greener practices, such as saving water, reducing energy use, serving food from local farms in its restaurants – and many leaders already have. How do we get the rest of the hotels to learn from the leaders and adopt these innovations? Buildings are responsible for about one-third of… Read more