Sustainability. What does it mean? Depends on who you ask. Increasing walking and biking? Conserving natural areas? Reducing waste? Supporting local foods? If you have some ideas on community sustainability, the Bemidji Sustainability Committee invites to share them at a forum planned for Wednesday, October 21st at 7:00 pm at Bemidji City Hall, 317 4th St. NW.The City of Bemidji has talked about the s-word for several years, but this is the first community discussion sponsored by the City and we're a bit behind the rest of the state. Many Minnesota communities (large and small) have introduced measures to make their community more sustainable. Minneapolis has been working on sustainability for more than ten years and has invested a large budget in the effort.
The Crossroads Resource Center helped Minneapolis get started and their website provides guidance for other communities. The website offers several definitions of sustainable development and includes a link to the Neighborhood Sustainability Indicators Guidebook.
Just as there are many ways to define "sustainability," there are also many ways to approach the goal of becoming a more sustainable community. Some Minnesota examples:
- Red Wing sustainability commission; their Comprehensive Plan also includes a section on sustainability.
- Woodbury sustainability initiatives; They conduct a community survey every two years.
- Mankato passed a Resolution outlining three sustainability focus areas: Organizational, Public Policy, and Community.
The state of Minnesota also offers sustainable community planning assistance through a new program called Minnesota GreenStep Cities.
Obviously, there is no shortage of information on sustainability. We'll find out Wednesday if there is interest in defining it for Bemidji.
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