Office of Sustainability

1. Office of Sustainability

2. The satisfaction of basic economic, social, and security needs now and in the future without undermining the natural resource base and environmental quality on which life depends. Sustainability: What is it? Source: US Environmental Protection Agency http://epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm

3. Identify goals and realize Lee County’s commitment to conducting the most efficient, responsible, and coordinated operations • Provide leadership in the cultivation of a livable and resilient community where there is an unmistakable balance between social well-being and equity, economic prosperity, and environmental resource conservation Lee County’s Office of Sustainability

4. Board of County Commissioners • Community Sustainability Advisory Committee • County Manager • Department Managers • Office of Sustainability • Lee Green Team Organizational Chart • County Staff

5. What is a Sustainability Plan? • Sustainability is not an end goal, but a journey to improve the social equity, environmental, and economic conditions of a community. • A Sustainability Plan provides a common framework • Guides efforts • Ties together community goals, strategies, implementation plans, and metrics for improving sustainability Sustainability Planning

6. Sustainability Planning Process Source: ICLEI USA Local Governments for Sustainability. STAR Community Index: Sustainability Goals and Guiding Principles. October 2010.

7. Identify social , economic, and environmental challenges and the systems that are in place to address them • Increase understanding of sustainability as a processwith a broad scope • Create a baseline/benchmark • Provide quick opportunities to learn • Clarify – it’s not just he environment or “going green” • Keep it short and simple • Ensure it is graphically engagingand meaningful • Demonstrate Lee County’s accomplishments and opportunities Sustainability Assessment Goals

8. 1. Identify goals 2. Work with Lee Green Team (Interdepartmental Performance Team) to gather data 3. collaborate with community partners 4. Involve the public 5. Make it interactive Assessment Process

9. Breakdown silos • Promote efficiency • Save resources • Establish a holistic approach to challenges • Represent more stakeholders • Avoid unintended consequences • Foster innovation • Complete Streets Team • Lee Green Team • EAR/Lee Plan Amendments Team Interdepartmental Performance Teams

10. 1. Identify goals 2. Work with Lee Green Team (Interdepartmental Performance Team) to gather data 3. collaborate with community partners 4. Involve the public 5. Make it interactive Assessment Process

12. Given the eight categories, how important is sustainability to your quality of life? • 91% indicated sustainability is important • Employment & Workforce (29%) and Economic Prosperity (26%) identified as biggest challenges Public Input: What did we learn?

13. Synergies • Collaborate • Maximize benefits • Create efficiencies Trade-offs • Opportunities have economic, social & environmental costs • Life-cycle analysis in decision-making Opportunities • Demonstrate where Lee can improve • Must be prioritized • Require flexibility and the ability to adapt • Often interdependent Economic Resiliency • Our biggest challenge What did we learn?

14. Economic Resiliency • Involve more than economic development • Establish a vision • Focus on the health of our community • Address education of our workforce (K-20 Approach) • Identify a culture to set us apart • Coordinate land use, transportation, & natural resources play a role • Make a commitment What can we do?

15. What does this mean for business?

16. Appeals to customers changing values • May strengthen relationships with suppliers • Can have a huge impact on the positioning of brand as a good corporate citizen • Operate in harmony with local communities and environment • Can reduce the variable costs of running a business, driving profitability Sustainability is good for business

17. At Walmart, we know that being an efficient and profitable business and being a good steward of the environment are goals that can work together. Our broad environmental goals at Walmart are simple and straightforward: • To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; • To create zero waste; • To sell products that sustain people and the environment. To succeed as a global business, we therefore need to help build these societies, wherever we work—through the products and services we create, the way we work with employees, customers, suppliers and investors, the public policies we advocate and the philanthropic partnerships we support. Who is practicing sustainability?

18. One-third of smaller companies surveyed have a defined sustainability strategy • An additional 23% plan to develop a strategy in the next two years • Adopting a sustainable business model improves the bottom line by: • Eliminating waste and increasing energy efficiency • Engaging employees to motivate, excite, and inspire • Capturing brand equity by operating as a responsible business What about small businesses? Source: SMEs Set Their Sights on Sustainability: Case Studies of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the UK, US, and Canada

19. Questions?

20. Tessa LeSage, MPA LEED AP BD+C Sustainability Programs Manager County Administration (239) 533-2240 Tlesage@leegov.com • @sustainleeco Keep in Touch