Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council

The Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council is one of ten components of the Thomas Jefferson Study to Preserve and Assess the Regional Environment (TJSPARE). The Council's three-year mission is to provide a definition of sustainability for the small but rapidly urbanizing Charlottesville region, to develop indicators to measure sustainability, and to determine the risks to the region associated with any currently unsustainable actions or policies. The ultimate goal is to develop a "sustainability compact" among citizens, businesses, organizations and government in the region to improve the sustainability of the economy, environment and human health. 

TJSPARE, the parent initiative of the Council, is working to determine the long-term capacity of the region's constructed and natural environments to support planned development in the region. Both initiatives are projects of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. 

Central to the approach and success of the Council is its multi-stakeholder process. The three-year program is bringing builders, developers, environmentalists, social scientists, elected officials, teachers and many others together to explore the definition of sustainability, indicators of sustainability and the comparative risks of current and proposed development policies. In particular, the process incorporates an environmental justice perspective, ensuring that all disproportionate risks being borne by low-income communities are identified. 

Ultimately, the Council hopes to ensure ecological improvements by using a market approach and appropriate technology to develop jobs and products from the region while protecting significant habitat and other natural resources. 

The development of a more sustainable region will particularly benefit low- and moderate-income residents who would be the least able to flee to other parts of the state if the area becomes less livable. 

The process is moving forward through a series of three regional forums to develop actions, indicators and benchmarks and through 14 working groups, each focusing on a separate topic identified by the Council as critical to the process. To date, more than a year has been spent in consensus building efforts among an incredibly diverse group of stakeholders. 

Program Highlights 

• The Council will hold three regional forums to develop actions, indicators and benchmarks for assessing the regional carrying capacity. The Council will measure such elements as waste reduction and the protection, restoration and enhancement of natural resources.
• The Council has convened 14 working groups to concentrate on 14 sustainability topic areas.
• The process will enable the community to establish "desired ecological states," and to outline a process for achieving these states.
• An interdenominational roundtable is planned to reveal the religious and ethical impediments to sustainability.
• The Council has made extensive use of local expertise for presentations on the various elements that build a sustainable community.
• Hundreds of hours have been dedicated to thinking about the roots of emerging long-term environmental and economic problems.

Vital Statistics

Program Management/Partnerships: The Thomas Jefferson Sustainability Council is a component of the Thomas Jefferson Study to Preserve and Assess the Regional Environment. Both are projects of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. In moving this process forward, the Thomas Jefferson Planning District has worked to ensure participation of as diverse a group as possible, including developers, local businesses, community organizations and teachers. 

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

Community Served: The 160,000 residents within the six jurisdictions of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District in central Virginia. Particular attention is being paid to ensure that no disproportionate risk is assigned to low-income communities. 

Measures of Success:

The first Sustainability Forum was attended by approximately 300 people.

The program has led to a greater understanding of the interconnections between a healthy economy and a healthy environment as well as the interconnections between urban and rural areas.