We already have all the knowledge we need to answer this question, and efforts are under way to do just that. Have a look at this clever response to Joel Makower's GreenBiz article "What Is Sustainability Anyway?", co-authored by The Natural Step Canada board member Bob Willard (the well-known author and sustainable business guru) and The Natural Step Canada executive director Chad Park. 

At The Natural Step International, we are working hard to craft TNS 2.0 with an inspiring business and organizational strategic direction. We’re very excited as we look forward!  At the same time, we celebrate the excellent work TNS offices, associates and partners are already doing around the world. This issue of Stepping Stones is dedicated to all the practitioners doing good work—within TNS and in the broader FSSD community. As we look towards the future, it is good to know we are resting on such a solid and valuable foundation.

Beyond Sustainability

Soon we will announce a subtle but powerful change to the way we talk about our mission. We want to make it clear that “sustainability” in itself is not the endgame. Rather, we think of sustainability as simply forming a set of baseline design constraints that we can all use to create exciting, positive futures together. Getting the design constraints right is of course critical, and this is where the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD, a.k.a. The Natural Step Framework) can help. But the goal is a great world, not a merely sustainable one—that’s something people can get excited about. And when we say it’s something we do together, that’s because we know that in complex systems the kind of shifts we hope to see can only happen through collaboration.

Compiled by Scott Perret and Kelly Baxter

In this issue of Stepping Stones, we celebrate our Natural Step family by presenting a snapshot review of our latest projects.

With a network of offices, associates and strategic partners that spans the globe (13 countries and counting), sometimes it's hard to keep track of the full scope and rich detail of all the great work everyone in our TNS network is doing. From tackling sustainable beef to defining a gold standard for sustainable business, to translating strategic sustainable development for the indigenous Māori context, the breadth and depth of collaborative engagement our people have with all sectors of society is breathtaking.

We hope you'll enjoy this sampling from the field as much as we enjoyed assembling it for you!

Photo by Simon Egger, courtesy of Verein Symbiose

Around the world, practitioners of the Framework For Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD, a.k.a. The Natural Step Framework) --originally developed by The Natural Step—work freely with it for the greater good of the planet and human society, independently of any formal affiliation with our organization. This was made possible by our founder’s early refusal to patent the Framework as intellectual property, and his insistence that it remain in the public domain for the greater good.

These practitioners have traditionally lacked a cohesive community where they can connect, innovate, share knowledge, tools and materials, and develop projects together.  In February of this year, The Natural Step kicked off an initiative to help foster the co-creation of just such a community (more information, including a video update).

We have barely begun to meet the members of this global, dynamic group of change makers, but already we find ourselves humbled and inspired by the range and caliber of the work they do, using the FSSD in ways that help society apply sustainability principles as design constraints to innovate toward a better world for all. We’ve also learned they are forming pockets of community wherever they go.