Renew America Success Stories

Minnesota Sustainable Development Initiative

Description 

The Minnesota Sustainable Development Initiative has brought together 105 citizen-leaders representing local agencies and environmental, business and civic organizations to develop a sustainable development plan for Minnesota that would reconcile the economic and environmental goals of the state, ensuring environmental protection while allowing for economic and job growth. 

The group was convened in 1993 by Minnesota's Governor and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board. 

After convening for more than a year, the Initiative produced its final report, Redefining Progress: Working Toward a Sustainable Future, containing more than 400 specific strategies for protecting the environment and developing the economy in the areas of agriculture, energy, forestry, manufacturing, minerals, recreation and settlement. 

The Initiative's recommendations, presented to a "sustainability congress" convened in February 1994, calls for fundamental changes in education and research priorities, and for tax, regulatory and investment policies to encourage and reward sustainable behavior. 

One of the key's to the Initiative's success in enabling 105 individuals with different backgrounds, goals and concerns to build a consensus is ensuring that representatives from all facets of the community were represented within the initiative. Asking traditional adversaries to gather around the same table and create a shared vision helped establish common ground and helped all parties understand how interdependent the goals of conservation, economic progress and human development are. 

In the writing their Vision, the Initiative concluded that "Minnesotans maintain their quality of life through sustainable use of energy and natural resources, recognizing that population growth, resource consumption and lifestyle choices determine the options they leave for future generations." 

Program Highlights 

Initiative Outline 

• The 105 citizens were divided into seven 15-member teams to develop a 50-year vision, a set of guiding principles, and specific strategies for protecting the environment and developing the economy in the areas of agriculture, energy, forestry, manufacturing, minerals, recreation and settlement. Each group was assigned to address one of the seven areas for investigation.
• The guiding principle in developing this initiative was to adhere to the definition of sustainability as established by the Brundtland Commission: sustainable development is development "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
• The Environmental Quality Board presented "Redefining Progress" to a statewide "congress" on sustainable development in February 1994. More than 400 citizens from across the state gave feedback and helped accelerate the work of building consensus for change as evidenced by the initiatives adopted in the Legislature.

• The goals of the Initiative are to:

• Protect and improve the state's environment and its natural resource base.
• Increase the number and quality of Minnesota's jobs.
• Foster communities that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
• Build routine consideration of future generations into the decisions we make as citizens and consumers in our communities, businesses and government.

• Move the state and nation toward markets and government actions that fully account for the environmental and social costs of decisions.
• Inventory the state's natural resource base.
• Chart environmental quality trends within the state.
• Integrate resource management by all levels of government in a watershed- and ecosystem-based framework.
• Use the tax system to help Minnesota business improve efficiency and increase innovation by providing tax incentives for reducing resource use and pollution (e.g., reducing taxes on activities that should be encouraged, like capital investment).
• Ask communities to prepare to meet the needs of minorities and those with limited incomes (e.g., create financial incentives to promote affordable housing and inner city redevelopment).
• Ease "heavy" environmental regulation and general business taxes in favor of increased fees targeted to waste generation on an escalating scale.
• Provide "one-stop shopping" for environmental permits.
• Enable faster permit approval for applicants who have shown good prior performance.
• Reduce taxes on capital investments designed to improve pollution prevention.
• Place greater emphasis on the true costs of products throughout their life-cycle by examining how many resources are consumed from initial product to final disposal (i.e., "cradle to grave" analysis).
• Establish the most scientifically sound health and environmental regulations, while giving businesses flexibility to meet those standards.
• Develop educational, regulatory and incentive-based approaches.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: The Minnesota Sustainable Development Initiative was convened by the Governor and Minnesota Environmental Quality Board in 1993. The Initiative was developed in cooperation with numerous organizations and agencies, including the Citizens' League, the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Round Table on Sustainable Development. 

Budget: The latest figures are available by contacting the program. 

Community Served: The residents of Minnesota. 

Measures of Success:

Publication of "Redefining Progress: Working Toward a Sustainable Future," which outlines Minnesota's approach to sustainable development and includes nearly 400 concrete policy recommendations to achieve this goal.

In response to the principles and recommendations developed during the Initiative, the 1994 Session of the Minnesota Legislature adopted measures seeking new frameworks for growth management, land use, transportation and energy production.

A legislative commission is poised to act on proposals to track environmental quality trends and to assess changes needed in tax, regulatory and investment policies to encourage and reward sustainable behavior.

The Minnesota Legislature has earmarked nearly $2.5 million for sustainable development initiatives and studies.