Join us for
Sustainable Vashon: Moving Forward
We invite you to join us for an exchange about the future of Sustainable Vashon and an update on projects currently underway.
(View this document in pdf here )
Sunday, March 23 1:00 - 3:30 PM
Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust Building
10014 S.W. Bank Road
Since the initial Sustainable Vashon Conference in September of 2002, the conference coordinators and others have been working to define how we can be most helpful in making Sustainable Vashon a reality.
During the first part of this meeting, we will briefly share the ideas and proposals from this group - and gather your responses and suggestions for how to make them better. Specifically, we want to know:
- Is our mission statement appropriate?
- Is our concept of a flat web for our organizational structure the right one?
- Should we apply for non-profit status? And
- Is the role of the "linkages" group appropriate?
Several pages of our proposals for the mission, operating principles, structure, coordination and possible resources for Sustainable Vashon are outlined here.
We are excited about individuals and groups who are working on specific sustainability projects. The latter portion of this meeting will highlight what is currently happening with these project groups for both on-going members and those newcomers who want to share in our efforts.
If you have questions, please contact Merrilee or John Runyan at 463-6647 or by e-mail to jrmrv@aol.com.
To Fellow Islanders interested in a Sustainable Vashon,
Since the Sustainable Vashon Conference in September, the conference coordinators, and others who joined us in the fall, have been working to define how we can continue to be most helpful in making Sustainable Vashon a reality. We are excited about all the individuals and groups who are working on specific sustainability projects, and want to support these efforts. With this in mind, we have worked to define the role an ongoing coordinating group might play in support of a dynamic, expanding Sustainable Vashon network.
These materials describe one way to coordinate our efforts toward a Sustainable Vashon. We have drafted this proposal in hopes that it will help us define together a structure that will work for our community.
In these materials, we first propose a mission statement for Sustainable Vashon, and the principles by which we want to work together. We go on to describe a possible structure of a Sustainable Vashon organization. Then we propose activities of what we call a "linkage group," that would serve primarily in a coordinating function. We also describe how Sustainable Vashon might use resources to achieve its goals.
We want to acknowledge the support that Rita Schenck and IERE have so generously given our efforts. The way we visualize Sustainable Vashon is a "flat web," with IERE one of the organizations and individuals that comprise it. The "linkage group," in its coordinating role, is another of the groups in the web. It is a rich image, and a vibrant one.
We hope that you are able to take time to review what we have drafted. We seek your advice and counsel, and any suggestions you may have. We would very much like you to comment on what we propose. We would also like to know if you think that what we suggest will help all of our efforts toward a sustainable Vashon.
Please comment by e-mail to one of us listed below, or call us, if you would like. We also hope that you will consider attending the meeting on March 23rd to talk about what we have proposed. Thank you.
Barb Adams, 567-5264, adamsmiller2@netscape.net
Kathleen Fitch, 463-7706, awskmf@msn.com
Donna Klemka, 463-2645, croft@centurytel.net
Ken Miller, 567-5264, kmillervi@netscape.net
John Runyan, 463-6647, jmrv@aol.com
Merrilee Runyan, 463-6647, jmrv@aol.com
Rita Schenck, 463-7430, rita@iere.org
Janie Starr, 567-5644, starrboogie@earthlink.net
Tracey Stover, 463-1490, solielle33@hotmail.com
MISSION
Sustainable Vashon is a learning and action network with a shared commitment to discover, model and advocate for the environmental, social and economic sustainability of Vashon-Maury Island.
Sustainability means meeting our needs today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.* We believe that sustainability is fundamentally an issue of justice; that no community can meet its present and future needs at the expense of others and the health of the natural systems on which we depend without compromising the whole.
Sustainability recognizes the interrelatedness of economy, society, and the environment. The Vashon-Maury Island community has the same needs as all people: food, shelter and clothing, opportunities for making a livelihood, education, and opportunities to contribute to the community in a way that maintains clean water, soils, and the diverse natural systems that underlie the health of our island. Achieving sustainability is a dynamic balance. At the balance point, we will meet our social and economic needs while never exceeding the carrying capacity of the island.
Sustainable Vashon is a network of individuals and organizations working to make the fundamental changes needed for the sustainability of our community. Each of us works on individual projects and programs but our efforts are interconnected. Because we are an island, it is easy to see where the boundary of our community lies. However, we recognize that sustainability does not mean that we are totally self-sufficient; we recognize that we are reliant on and connected to the rest of the world.
Sustainable Vashon shares a holistic approach, thinking comprehensively about whole systems, and about the connectivity of individual parts. By working together we have a larger, integrated voice in achieving the education and actions necessary to realize sustainability for our community.
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*This common definition of sustainability is taken from the work of the 1987 Brundtland Commission (the World Commission on Environment and Development sponsored by the United Nations).
OPERATING PRINCIPLES
- We are compelled by the need for a fundamental transformation in our lives and in our collective actions. We want to support, inspire and achieve change in how we live now and in the future.
- We are holistic in our approach and seek to think comprehensively about whole systems and the connectivity of individual parts.
- We acknowledge and respect the many approaches of individuals and groups dedicated to sustainability, and recognize they have varying needs to participate in Sustainable Vashon.
- We use an appreciative inquiry approach. This means that we are constantly looking for ideas to make us stronger and more successful.
- We are inclusive, expansive, and seek to bring others into discussion and collaboration.
- We are groups and individuals who choose to function in a non-hierarchical, cooperative way.
STRUCTURE
We propose the following ideas, definitions and intentions for the structure of Sustainable Vashon. These ideas represent our vision for the first 1-2 years of our existence; we suggest that our structure be re-confirmed or modified as we develop.
Our group began as a subgroup of Vashon Islanders for Peace, and we intend to continue to be grounded in the movement for peace and justice, and to work collaboratively with them as a sister organization. We propose that Sustainable Vashon become a separate non-profit organization in order to be able to raise funds to support the community projects and educational efforts that will help move the island towards sustainability.
We propose that:
- Sustainable Vashon (SV) immediately incorporate as its own non-profit organization. For purposes of raising tax-exempt funds for sustainability projects, SV will then consider seeking 501(c)3 status. SV will also consider other options for achieving tax-exempt status (e.g. partnering with another non-profit).
- SV has a formal Board of Directors for legal entity purposes only, not as a decision-making body for Sustainable Vashon.
- The basic working structure of Sustainable Vashon is a flat web made up of groups and individuals who choose to function in a cooperative way.
- On principle, SV has no bureaucracy or hierarchy.
- On modification/ratification of these plans for Sustainable Vashon, the current central group becomes the Linkage Group for the organization - one of many groups in the flat web with specific purposes and responsibilities.
- This Linkage Group would:
- Function as a working council.
- Be made up of interested and willing members who are committed to working in service of the whole organization.
- Include members on a self-nominated, membership-proved-by-working basis.
- Include members representing the various groups of Sustainable Vashon, if those groups are so inclined to have representation.
- Make decisions using a flexible, ad hoc repertoire of modes.
OBJECTIVES, INTENTIONS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE LINKAGE GROUP
The primary objectives of the linkage group are to:
- Maintain the network and assure communication across the network.
- Keep sustainability alive, visible and heard as an issue in an on-going way.
- Help identify, coordinate and support projects.
In support of these objectives, we see our most important initial activities as:
- Identifying the network.
- Linking the network together in various ways.
- Making the network accessible and permeable to newcomers.
On an ongoing basis, our activities could include:
- Publishing a quarterly newsletter.
- Further developing our web-site.
- Establishing a good working relationship with the Community Council and its sustainability-related committee.
- Sponsoring regular general meetings and educational events.
- Gathering and writing content for articles for various media.
- Inviting others and carrying out ourselves the inquiry, outreach and research needed to develop new ideas and models.
- Characterizing our current sustainability state.
- Building the case for a sustainability plan for Vashon-Maury Island.
- Coordinating the development of a sustainability plan.
- Incorporating measurements of our progress toward sustainability in the plan.
- Monitoring the on-going work of implementing the sustainability plan.
RESOURCES
- Sustainable Vashon intends to raise money for its purposes and projects.
- SV will continue to create and build relationships with other Vashon organizations.
- When appropriate, SV will network and ally with other "sustainability organizations" and interested communities elsewhere in Washington, across the country and around the world.
- SV will develop appropriate political relationships and alliances.
- SV will draw on available human, informational and practical resources from state, county and local entities and experts.
- For the time being, IERE generously offers to continue to serve as a physical location for SV. Gratefully, we think we should accept this offer.
- SV will decide about its own location over a period of time.