In the 1990s Sustainable Seattle was at the forefront of defining sustainability with its groundbreaking work on urban and regional indicators and systems thinking. With a clear vision of what kind of information was needed to move the city and region forward towards a more sustainable future, Sustainable Seattle worked to inspire real and actionable change.

Our creativity, energy, and innovative ideas are still referenced today as a formative spark in the sustainability movement. Many cities around the world continue to look to Sustainable Seattle as a resource and inspiration. Sustainable Seattle is acknowledged as a world-leader in sustainability indicators based on citizens’ values and goals for their communities.

In 1996, the Sustainable Seattle Indicators were recognized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements with an “Excellence in Indicators Best Performance” Award. Sustainable Seattle has also received many other awards over our almost 20 year history. Sustainable Seattle is held to be the first "Sustainable Community" organization. Today, there are over 50 "Sustainable Community" organizations in Washington and hundreds nation wide. Redefining Progress surveyed over 170 sustainability projects around the country and found that more than 90 of them used Sustainable Seattle as a model for their own initiatives.

Our Founders

Alan AtKisson        Vicki Robin        Mark Aalfs             Carla Berkendall      
Richard Conlin       Nea Carroll       Jan Drago               Susan Hall          
Steve Nicholas      Belinda Berg     David Smukowski                      

Time line

1990: The Global Tomorrow Coalition organized a workshop in Seattle, in preparation for the Earth Summit which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.  It was the challenge of integrating economic, environmental, and social values, and the opportunity to define new measurements of progress, that inspired Seattle citizens to create the civic movement that led to the founding of Sustainable Seattle.

1992: Sustainable Seattle’s founders convene a panel of over 150 civic leaders -- environmental groups, city and county government representatives, labor, the religious community, business leaders, educators, students, and social activists -- which developed the first set of draft indicators.

1993: The Sustainable Seattle 1993 Indicators of Sustainable Community – A Report to Citizens on Long-Term Trends in our Community is published.  The report includes 20 indicators.

1993-95: The 1993 report is presented to the U.S. President’s Council on Sustainable Development, the Global Forum in Manchester, England, the European Commission, international forums from Hungary to Argentina, and many U.S. cities. Sustainable Seattle volunteers spend two years researching the next set of 20 indicators as well as updating the first group.

1995: Sustainable Seattle’s 1995 Indicators of Sustainable Community is published.  It includes 40 key indicators.

1996: Sustainable Seattle is recognized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements with an “Excellence in Indicators Best Performance” by the Community Sector, awarded at the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul, Turkey.  Sustainable Seattle receives the Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2020 Award

1997: Sustainable Seattle incorporates in Washington as a Civic Collaboration for Sustainability

1998: Sustainable Seattle’s third status report on its 40 Indicators of Sustainable Community is published.  It is a mixed report card.  Some key indicators show improving trends, e.g., air quality and volunteer involvement in schools.  Some trends are flat, such as juvenile crime and housing affordability.  Other measures of the social, economic and environmental health of the region are trending down, e.g., generation of waste and children living in poverty.

2001: The Sustainable Community Outstanding Leadership Awards (SCOLAs) are born and Sustainable Seattle recognizes its first set of award winners in the Business, Government, Social Justice and Built Environment categories.

2002:  Sustainable Seattle is awarded a four-year Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant to measure quality of life at the neighborhood scale.  To do this, Sustainable Seattle works with community groups to empower residents to identify issues of concern in their neighborhoods, collect data around these issues, and convey priorities to the city government (around municipal service delivery) for action-oriented solutions.  Through the use of tools and technology, this project aims to enable citizens to be better informed and empowered to improve their neighborhoods and communities.  The Second SCOLAs are awarded. Sustainable Seattle develops an educational program that includes Sustainability Workshops and mini-grants for middle- and high-school students

2004:  The Third SCOLAs are awarded at a ceremony at the University of Washington. At the conclusion of its first year under the Sloan Grant, Sustainable Seattle has surveyed 4 neighborhoods to collect quality of life information and has started the development of a neighborhood-based website that includes a wide range of sustainability indicators.

2006: The final SUNI report is issued, signifying  end of an era for Sustainable Seattle.

2008: Sustainable Seattle undergoes an intense period of discovery and undertakes a year-long market survey to identify needs and opportunities for the future.

2009: Sustainable Seattle issued the forth set of Regional Sustainability Indicators in an online tool B-Sustainable.org at the Community Indicators Consortium's 2009 International Conference.  This set of indicators included goals, data from data partners and action items in a manner that shows the interlinked and holistic nature of sustainability. Sustainable Seattle also issued its first Neighborhood Sustainability Report cards for two neighborhoods as part of a pilot project.

2010: Sustainable Seattle revives its awards program, and begins a formal training program, corporate responsibility program and Dream a Sound Future: a dream and design competition for visions of a sustainable future and the steps to get there in 2020, 2050 and 2070. Fiscal sponsorships grow from four to thirteen, including Alleycat Acres, Sustainable Belltown, Sustainable Cascadia, Seattle Innovators, Green Plate Special, Pursuit of a Green Planet and others.

2011: Sustainable Seattle launched its 5th set of Sustainability Indicators, The Happiness Initiative. This was a departure from its 20 year history because it involved a subjective measure conducted with a survey. By June of 2011, over 7000 people had taken the survey, the Seattle City Council made a Happiness Initiative Proclamation and other city and county councils took steps to start Happiness Initiatives in their areas.

References

"The indicators a society chooses to report to itself about itself are surprisingly powerful. They reflect collective values and inform collective decisions. A nation that keeps a watchful eye on its salmon runs or the safety of its streets makes different choices than does a nation that is only paying attention to its GNP. The idea of citizens choosing their own indicators is something new under the sun-something intensely democratic."
Donella H. Meadows, writing about Sustainable Seattle