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Economics and incentives: a committee report of the Round Table on Sustainable Developement

Helping businesses adopt sustainable practices and challenging them to help society take strides toward sustainable development should be among Minnesota’s chief economic goals, recommends the Economics and Incentives Committee of the Minnesota Round Table on Sustainable Development. Long-term economic prosperity depends upon the acceptance of these responsibilities by businesses, governments and, ultimately, consumers.

The committee calls upon Minnesota businesses, trade associations, educational institutions and government to:

Action plan on sustainable development for Minnesota state government : areport to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board by a working group of the Sustainable Communities Partnership

Over the past several years, the Sustainable Development Initiative has fostered some significant shifts in policy, yielded a large number of recommendations for additional policy change and raised the general level of awareness about the goal and benefits of sustainable development. During this time, interest in more sustainable forms of development has grown at the community level, among many businesses and in the Legislature, as well as around the world.

Buildings can cost less yet benefit human health, productivity and the environment

On average, Americans spend 90 percent of their time inside buildings. A new report by Minnesota Planning, Return on Investment: High Performance Buildings, suggests that the way public buildings are designed, built and operated affects lifetime costs, human health, labor productivity, student achievement and environmental quality.

 

The report identifies emerging practices in the building trades, outlines efforts across the country and recommends ways to adopt these practices in Minnesota.

Minnesota ranked third among states in tools to foster environmental, economic and social progress

States are playing an unprecedented role in protecting the nation's environment and boosting the economy, yet most lack the tools needed to ensure that development is sustainable over the long term. Minnesota is one of a handful of exceptions according to a new report from the Resource Renewal Institute, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that supports policy innovation in the United States and worldwide.

From policy to reality: model ordinances for sustainable development,

Minnesota Statutes, Section 4A.07(3) directs Minnesota Planning to prepare a model ordinance in consultation with appropriate parties to guide sustainable development. To help meet this mandate, Minnesota Planning engaged a wide range of local and state interests in discussions about possible ordinance topics and contracted with Biko Associates to develop model ordinances on selected topics.

 

Smart signals: an assessment of progress indicators


An Assessment of Progress Indicators critiques measures of economic progress and looks for alternative ways to more realistically gauge Minnesota's well-being. As a result this research, the Minnesota progress indicator was developed. The new indicator is based on the belief that Minnesota's economy can be healthy in the long run only if its environment and communities are healthy. The measures used in computing the progress indicator help determine if the economy is being improved at the expense of Minnesota's communities or environment.

Sustainable communities and land use: committee reports of the Round Table on Sustainable Developement

Sustainable Communities adds a new dimension to traditional economic and community development practices by providing a clear, full picture of what it takes for a place to thrive over time.

From the diverse Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis to the famously chilly northern Minnesota town of Embarrass, cities, towns and counties throughout the state are recognizing that their environmental, economic and social concerns are fundamentally interdependent.

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