Our Approach to Sustainability
Our Process
How we workWe recognize sustainability is not a one-size-fits all journey. Instead, it's a series of thoughtful, intentional steps that reflect your mission, values and goals.
We empower our clients to lead with purpose, inspire trust and make informed decisions that strengthen your organization, your community and the environment - now and in the future.
1. Define Purpose and Scope
We start by helping you clearly articulate your environmental, economic, and social sustainability goals and align them with your desired implementation scope, timeline and resources.
2. Identify and Engage Stakeholders
We work with you to identify and engage key stakeholders whose input is vital to your sustainability journey. Early and active stakeholder engagement ensures that your strategies are collaborative and address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by your organization.
3. Review Framework
We guide you through industry recognized sustainability assessment frameworks to select those that best fit your goals, plan and location. By aligning your assessment and progress with the framework, you’ll have clear standards and benchmarking to measure your baseline and progress.
4. Collect Data
Our process includes gathering both quantitative and qualitative data on your current practices—from energy use, procurement policies and waste management to stakeholder feedback and community insights. Our comprehensive data collection ensures that your assessment and planning are informed and measurable.
5. Evaluate Current Performance
We help you analyze your data to understand and measure your current practices. This evaluation helps you establish a solid baseline, highlights your strengths and uncovers areas where targeted improvements can significantly enhance both your operational efficiency and stakeholder experience.
6. Identify Opportunities
Together, we identify near and long-term opportunities to boost your sustainability efforts, whether it’s reducing energy consumption, improving waste management, or enriching your visitor programs. These opportunities are prioritized to ensure your initiatives are actionable and deliver measurable operational and financial benefits while also enhancing community engagement.
7. Develop Action Plan
We collaborate with you to craft a detailed improvement action plan that outlines clear steps, assigns responsibilities, identifies required resources and sets realistic timelines and measurable goals. This plan is specifically designed to enhance your mission and improve your operations and extend your community impact.
8. Implement Changes
With your action plan in place, we support you in integrating new sustainability practices into your everyday operations. From training your team and volunteers to launching pilot projects and forging community partnerships, we ensure that these changes become an integral part of your organization’s culture.
9. Monitor and Report Progress
We help you establish effective monitoring systems and key performance indicators so you can regularly track your progress. Transparent reporting not only builds trust with your community but also provides the critical data needed to celebrate successes and identify further areas for improvement.
10. Review and Adjust
Recognizing that sustainability is an ongoing journey, we encourage periodic reviews to assess what’s working and where further adjustments are needed. By continuously refining your strategies based on performance data and stakeholder feedback, you can ensure long-term success and sustained positive impact for your nonprofit.
In all our projects, we utilize systems thinking and prioritize values-based decision making, guided by:
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards
Common Global Language for Sustainability ReportingUnited Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
2030 UN Agenda for Global Prosperity and SustainabilityWe also integrate organization and project-specific frameworks, such as:
Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC)
for visitor-based organizationsISO Event Sustainability Management System
for in-person eventsUNESCO’s ESD Competency Framework
for educational programsSustainability Advantage
Open source customizable tool to track and report key metrics. Uses the GRI and SDG frameworks to organize and evaluate data.
What is Sustainability?
"Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
— United Nations Brundtland Commission 2015Sustainability is the integration of environmental health, social equity and economic vitality in order to create thriving, healthy, diverse and resilient communities now and for generations to come. The practice of sustainability recognizes that these issues are interconnected and require a systems approach and an acknowledgement of their complexity.
Elements of Sustainability
Sustainability can be visualized as three interconnected spheres of impact and influence:
Environmental/Better Planet
Actions safeguard natural ecosystems, address climate change and prevent resource depletion. Environmental sustainability involves integrating green practices into operations and activities, including facility, land and ecosystem management and procurement practices - to do no harm and reduce or eliminate ecological footprints while inspiring community awareness. Improvements in this area can lead to energy-efficient venues, sustainable material usage, and educational programs that promote environmental stewardship.
Social/Better Communities
Actions focus on equity, well-being, and community resilience. Social sustainability centers on creating inclusive, accessible, equitable organizations, locations and programs that enhance community and stakeholder engagement, foster lifelong learning, celebrate diversity, and respect cultural traditions. Improvements result in increased stakeholder engagement, stronger community bonds, and enriched cultural experiences that contribute to overall resilience and well-being.
Economic/Better Finances
Actions ensure long-term prosperity by promoting responsible resource management, innovation, and financial stability. Economic sustainability focuses on growing funding and revenue streams in a way that is not harmful to people or the planet and realizing cost savings from efficient resource management and responsible procurement practices. Improvements can lead to enhanced financial stability, increased investments in projects and programs, and stimulated local economies through visitation, tourism and job creation.
Our Values
We imagine a world where every individual and every ecosystem thrives, driven by intentional choices that balance people, planet, and prosperity.