The
Community Sustainability Assessment (CSA) was
developed to assist communities in evaluating their
accomplishments
and charting directions toward ever increasing
sustainability. Like the Three Legged Stool concept,
overall sustainability
of a community (the seat) is upheld when each
of the three legs is strong and balanced. In the
CSA the three
legs, each as important as the other, are the
Environmental (ecological), Social and Economic aspects
of community.
The
Community Sustainability Assessment is a comprehensive
checklist that anyone can complete to get a basic
idea of how sustainable their community is. This
assessment tool is patterned after the Global
Ecovillage Network model. It is an
effective score card for promoting an understanding
and measuring of sustainability in communities,
and is applicable to any community. While it requires
good knowledge of the life-styles, practices
and features of the community, it does not require
research, calculation, and detailed quantification.
Review
a sample of the CSA scorecard by going to
this link.
The
CSA is a subjective tool. To get the most out
of this exercise, community members may meet
as a group and work through
the CSA together. This offers a meaningful review
of the community's accomplishments and areas for
improvement. Low scoring items may be selected for
community focus and action to improve sustainability,
providing direction for the community's future. It
is expected that communities’ actively planning
and pursuing sustainability will score high; however,
there is always room for improvement - from a high
to a perfect score.
Contact
us to get your community involved
in taking the
CSA Score Card at no expense.
The
CSA was designed to be universal and as useful
as possible to a wide variety of communities.
Overall,
scores should offer an informative picture of the
community's sustainability and provide an enhanced
awareness for what sustainable community development
is about. The kinds of issues of community life that
are covered by the CSA are illustrated by the examples
listed below.
Ecological Checklist
Sense of Place - community location & scale;
restoration & preservation of nature
Food Availability, Production & Distribution
Water - sources, quality & use patterns
Waste Water & Water Pollution Management
Open Spaces – parks, habitat preservation,
backyard ecology
Low Impact Development
Conservation-Based Development
Social Checklist
Openness, Trust & Safety; Communal Space
Communication - the flow of ideas & information
Networking Outreach & Services - resource exchange
internal/external
Social Sustainability - diversity & tolerance;
decision-making; conflict resolution
Education
Health Care
Economic Checklist
Sustainable Economics - healthy local economy
Sustainable Businesses – application of green
approaches to business
Physical Infrastructure, Buildings & Transportation
- materials, methods, designs
Consumption Patterns & Solid Waste Management
Energy Sources & Uses
Spiritual Checklist
Cultural Sustainability
Arts & Leisure
Spiritual Sustainability
Community Glue
Community Resilience
A New Holographic, Circulatory World View
Peace & Global Consciousness
Contact
us to discuss further how you might get
your community involved in taking the CSA Score Card,
at no cost to the community.
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