HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Step ResolutionResolution Endorsing The Natural Step Framework for Sustainable Communities
WHEREAS, the Oshkosh Common Council resolution 08-295 (Aug 26 2008) requests the
Sustainability Advisory Board "...recommend to the Common Council sustainability initiatives
that may be implemented by the City and the community"; and
WHEREAS, the Oshkosh Common Council resolution 09-89 (Apr 14 2008) recreated Section 2-
42 of the Oshkosh Municipal Code to rename the Energy & Environment Advisory Board as the
Sustainability Advisory Board; and
WHEREAS, the same resolution (09-89) describes the responsibility of the Sustainability
Advisory Board as "...charged with the responsibility of advising the City Manager and
Common Council on Sustainability issues affecting municipal operations and the community at
large"; and
WHEREAS, the adoption of the four systems conditions of the Natural Step can provide a
framework that will assist the Sustainability Advisory Board, city employees, elected officials,
and residents in moving in a more sustainable direction; and
WHEREAS, the Brundtland Commission in 1987 defined "sustainability" as `meeting the needs
of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
needs'; and
WHEREAS, the four system conditions e developed by the Natural Step, were adapted by the
American Planning Association, to help communities implement sustainable practices:
1. Reduce dependence upon fossil fuels and extracted underground metals and minerals;
2. Reduce dependence on chemicals and other manufactured substances that can accumulate
in nature;
3. Reduce dependence on activities that harm life-sustaining ecosystems; and
4. Meet the hierarchy of present and future human needs fairly and efficiently;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Sustainability Advisory Board hereby endorses
the principles of sustainable community development, as adapted by the American Planning
Association and described herein, and agrees to apply these principles whenever possible in its
planning, policy making and municipal practices.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Sustainability Advisory Board recommends that the
Sustainability Plan Steering Committee also adopt these principles of sustainable community
development described herein.