Story 4 - from "The Tao of Democracy" – by Tom Atlee

“In 1992 one hundred citizens - ranging from a corporate executive to an activist, from a priest to a teacher – formed the Sustainable Seattle Civic Panel. They wanted to build their city’s “long-term cultural, economic and environmental health and vitality, with emphasis on long term. “ But how?
They wondered: How does anyone know whether a community is getting more or less sustainable? How do you measure sustainable progress?
They broke into 10 topic groups – economy, education, health, environment and so on. Each group brainstormed a long, lively list of possible measurements. But then they had trouble winnowing down their burgeoning lists! After investing 2500 volunteer hours in the project, they finally settled on 99 indicators of Seattle’s sustainability. Their list – which they presented to the public in a dramatic reading interspersed with stories, quotes and poems included:

• Hours of work at the median wage required to support basic needs.
• Percentage of employment concentrated in the top 10 employers.
• Wild salmon runs in local streams.
• County population and growth rate.
• Average travel time from selected starting points to selected destination points.
• Percentage of population that gardens, and that votes in primary elections.
• Tons of solid waste generated, and recycled, per person.

Sustainable Seattle is now unearthing and publicizing actual numbers for as many of these indicators as possible – and getting city instructions to measure and report them on a regular basis. Then they will initiate programs to get those indicators moving in the direction people want them to go. With sustainability consultants, awards, checklists and publicity, their efforts will start to make a real difference in the quality of life in their city.
This powerful program, run on a shoestring, could be done by any community.”
http://www.sustainableseattle.org/pubs/1998IndicatorsRpt.pdf