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Issue 4: October 2009

Welcome to this latest issue of the newsletter which has come to me to coordinate this time around. The context is one where the science of climate change is becoming clearer, with increasing commitment from governments to green policies, and investment starting to flow into green products and services. We hope you enjoy reading about some the key activities happening in the fast growing One Planet initiative - we can't keep up with all developments but here is a taster...

Pooran Desai
International Director, One Planet Communities Programme

All eyes on Copenhagen - the One Planet contribution

With the world's attention focussed on the Copenhagen climate negotiations, the time is absolutely right for the solutions being put forward through the One Planet initiative. At the invitation of the Danish Society of Nature Conservation, BioRegional will be part of the public event at Copenhagen, leading the call to action aimed at national governments, local governments, organisations and individuals. All around the world people are creating solutions and showing what it is possible.

We will be calling for everyone to look at their carbon footprints and in particular for governments to establish carbon budgets (as the UK government has done) consistent with bringing CO2 and other greenhouse gases within safe limits; and for governments to put in place coherent policies which will enable a very rapid move to a sustainable economy. Under the leadership of BioRegional CEO, Sue Riddlestone, we will be presenting evidence to delegates at the conference using projects within the One Planet family as case studies illustrating what can be achieved or what we can strive for.

For more information contact Sue Riddlestone.

Green developers to gather in California

Following on from the developer gathering at 'One Planet One Day' last year Greg Searle and Brett Hodnett of BioRegional North America have been putting together the Second International Green Developer Roundtable which will be held in Sonoma and San Francisco on 3rd and 4th November 2009.

This will be a small circle of green real estate developers from the USA, Canada, and Europe in an atmosphere of frank co-operation to exchange best and worst practices. This unique combination of knowledge-sharing and insider tours kicks off the 2009 Urban Land Institute Fall Meeting (Nov 4-6, San Francisco).

The Roundtable will include:

• tour of Sonoma Mountain Village, a zero carbon planned neighborhood
• tour of Google Campus
• creating a network for One Planet investors
• lunch discussion with Kevin Hydes, former chair, USGBC & World Green Building Council
• regulatory Barriers Workshop by Dan Slone, co-author "A Legal Guide to Urban and Sustainable Development"
• peer-to-peer green developer discussions
• supper with ULI Climate Change Leaders.

For more information contact Greg Searle.

Focus on South Africa

In South Africa, Phase 1 of development for Sibaya Precinct continues with preparation of land Sales Agreement documentation and construction due to begin in 2010. BioRegional are working with Tongaat Hulett Developments and their project team to finalise a specification for the Sustainability Action Plan for the phase to accompany the overarching sustainability strategy as part of the Sales Agreement.

Sarah and Pooran had a productive week at the end of August / beginning September when Pooran visited South Africa. Pooran delivered a half day workshop on the ten principles to teenage students at the Maharishi Institute in Johannesburg followed by a visit to Durban. In Durban talks and lectures on One Planet Communities were delivered to planning students, a public forum at the Botanic Gardens as part of eThekwini's municipality sustainability visioning process 'Imagine Durban', and to 'top structure' developers in a half day workshop.

Pooran and BioRegional South Africa trustee, Michelle Wilson, also visited Waterloo and met Sthe Ndzimbomvu, now in his fifth month as coach for the Waterloo Entrepreneurial Development (WED) programme, the partnership initiative with UK based nef (New Economics Foundation) to twin growth in local enterprise in the area with the economic opportunity provided by new development in the region. To date Sthe has coached 45 potential business start ups and seven existing businesses on expansion, with the first big public event of the programme, a resources flow workshop, attended by over 170 people. Sthe describes his role below.

The role of the business coach

by Sthe Ndzimbomvu

As a business coach my responsibilities are to coach:

• people who have business ideas and want to develop them into businesses and don't know how to,
• people who are already in business who want to expand their businesses but don't know how and they need assistance,
• people who have interest in community development in terms of seeing their community develop in various areas such as better schools, parks in the area, environment and human well being in the areas they stay in.

A client will come with a business idea and my role as a business coach is to coach that client on that business idea and together with the client turn that business idea into a business that is sound and sustainable. The idea should be based on the TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE requirements in order for me to coach the client. The idea should be ECONOMICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL FRIENDLY and SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE in the community.

A client comes with an idea, I listen to the idea and I work with the idea the way the client wants it to be. I have no rights whatsoever to approve or disapprove a client idea. My role is to make sure that I use all the skills and tools I have to lead the client to the right decision.

Our philosophy is to always create a space for the client by doing so allowing the client to talk and make decisions about the life and their business at the end of the day. I do not do things for the client, but the client does everything to allow for internalised learning to take place because I strongly believe in the Samuel Smith philosophy which says help from within is more strong and powerful then help from outside.

I use the T-GROW approach to allow the client to vision and to create the space for the client. It is a very excellent approach, before I never thought it might work but now it touches every single part of my body when I use it.

Got the T shirt? Now you can get the book!

November sees the launch of the One Planet Communities book commissioned by publishers, John Wiley. Already available for pre-order from websites such as Amazon, the official launch of the book will be at a lecture given by Pooran Desai with David Nelson (Head of Design at Foster and Partners) and Professor Peter Clegg (Senior Partner, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios) at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London on Wednesday 25th November. The RIBA International Dialogues lecture series as a whole is in partnership BioRegional One Planet Communities so we thank the RIBA for their continuing support of sustainability issues.

More information about the event here.