Becoming a Green Capital City
Helping Madison Meet the Challenges
of Becoming a More Sustainable City:
Lessons from The Natural Step Sustainability
Framework and the Swedish Eco-Municipalities
Presented to the Madison Sustainable Design and Energy Committee
November 7, 2005
By Lisa MacKinnon
Stockholm, Sweden
Madison, Wisconsin
What is an “Eco-Municipality”?
An eco-municipality aspires
to develop an ecologically,
economically and socially
healthy community for the
long-term.
What is “Eco”?
“Economic progress and
ecological balance are to be
united into a common
developmental strategy. We
believe that this is the best way
to draw benefit from what the
local authorities have to offer
and attain sustainable
development.”
The National Association of Swedish Eco-Municipalities (SEkom) (quoting
Ekotopen Foundation plan of action, Övertorneå, 1986)
The Challenge:
Speaking A Common Language
• Engaging staff at all levels
• Aligning individuals and city
departments with a variety of
interests, functional responsibilities
and resource pressures.
Becoming an “Eco-Municipality”
Initial Steps
• Adopt a sustainability framework
The Natural Step / APA Sustainability
Objectives
• Commit to a process for implementing this
framework
• Actual implementation of sustainable
development and municipal operations is
unique for each community
Swedish Eco-Municipalities
• Almost 70 municipalities (1/4)
in Sweden are official EcoMunicipalities
• Range in size from 300 to over
700,000
• Use a common set of sustainability
objectives—The Natural Step—as
their guiding policy
• Different approaches, different
scales, sustainable results
Swedish Eco-Municipalities and
Renewable Energy
Umeå
Davå power plant
99.5% efficiency
Fueled entirely by city’s solid waste
Övertorneå 100% free of fossil fuels for municipal
operations.
Eskilstuna
Combined heat and power (CHP) biomass plant
90% efficiency rate
95% of city’s winter heating and summer cooling
25% of electricity req’ts
38% reduction in fossil fuels for heating
All in 4 years!
Falkenberg “Solar array” on over acre of land
30% of electricity for homes, business and
institutions from renewables
Sala
1991: Sala decides to become an
eco-municipality
Highlights of the changes made in Sala
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1999, new combined heat and
power plant went on line.
Ten municipal cars run on
ethanol or biogas.
Hired consultants to develop
plan to eliminate heavy metals
in soil.
1991, opened recycling
center for 20 types of
materials.
1992, district heating system
switched its energy source
from coal and oil to
renewables.
Hammarby Sjöstadt,
Stockholm
How did they begin?
Municipal and Public Training
in the Natural Step Framework
Umeå
-50 department supervisors trained
- One working day be set aside to train
all city departments
Sala
- 2000 county employees trained
-10% of the population
Falkenberg
- 60% of all municipal employees trained
in the Natural Step approach to
sustainable development
Benefits of The Natural Step
Sustainability Framework
• Provides a shared understanding and language
• Involves all departments and levels of staff
• Provides process to identify, organize and
prioritize actions and investments for sustainable
municipal operations
• Can be used with the City’s existing plans and
systems
More Benefits of The Natural Step
Sustainability Framework
• Connects long-term sustainability objectives with
day-to-day actions and decisions
• Opportunity for the city to provide leadership on
sustainable development and operations for
individuals, businesses and the community as a
whole
• Opportunity for the City to be a proven and
successful contributor to a more sustainable
community
The Natural Step Framework ~
Taking Steps Toward
A Sustainable Future
Questions?
Lisa MacKinnon
Policy Director
608/259-1000
lmac@1kfriends.org
www.1kfriends.org