Managing Director

Susan Burns

Welcome!

Outcomes1. Shared vision, how does Footprint

contribute to the world?2. Deeper personal relationships among

partner organizations3. Deeper knowledge and skills about

Ecological Footprint4. Increased understanding about ways to

participate with Global Footprint Network5. Feedback from partners on how Global

Footprint Network can be more effective

Logistics

History of Global Footprint Network

• Wackernagel and Rees, 16 years ago• Worldwide spread of idea

The Economist- 3 planets

World Ecological Footprint

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Num

ber o

f Ear

ths

23%

Mathis - context

• What’s at stake? Overshoot graph• We can turn things around, this is a race

we can win.• Action

– Good measurements– Slow things first – timeframes (big ticket, low

hanging fruit)– Channel innovation into sustainability, use in

inspiring ways – EPA Victoria

Goals of Global Footprint Network

• To ignite a global dialogue about ecological limits and overshoot

• To make ecological limits central to decisionmaking everywhere

Our Mission• Global Footprint Network promotes a

sustainable economy by advancing the Ecological Footprint, a tool that makes sustainability measurable. Together with our partners, we coordinate research, develop methodological standards, and provide decision makers with robust resource accounts to help the human economy operate within the Earth’s ecological limits.

How?Make Ecological Footprint :• scientifically robust

• standardized• policy relevant

Ten-in-Ten Campaign

• Ten nations in ten years (by 2015) institutionalize the Ecological Footprint and measure their ecological health just like they measure their GDP.

Funding our core Programs

Foundations, $69,450

Partnership contributions, $48,658

Donations, $76,484

Fee for service income, $379,737

Contributed services, $101,992

License fees, $16,104Reimbursable, $10,925

Speaking honoraria, $20,112

Total Income FY 2005: $723,463

Progress, so far• 23 Senior Advisors among which senior scientists,

former and present ministers, and 2 Nobel Prize Laureates

• 67+ partners• First Standards Launched • Projects:

– Europe’s State of Environment Report– Biodiversity Convention– Solid Interest of the European Union and Switzerland– Businesses, Cities, and Regions– WWF’s Living Planet Report and regional reports

How does this vision support your organization?

Break out groups

• Brainstorm 5 year outcomes• Share with group

Partnership with Global Footprint Network

• Our strategy, programs and policies• Design of Partnership Network

Design of Network

• Various designs proposed• Existing practitioners and methods• Need to align existing community• Need to set standards• Did not want a policing function

Partnership Means…

• Freedom - to innovate and experiment• Collaboration – joint projects• Shared benefits - accomplish things that

are critical to everyone but that no one can do on their own– setting standards– maintaining national accounts.

Partnership Means…

• Leverage and Reach -Did not want to be another practitioner, but to work through partners

• Policy on Projects• What can we do together that will meet all

of our goals?

Partnership: Criteria and Responsibilities

– Support Mission• Harmonize methodology• Coordinate research• Common set of National Accounts

– Definition of term “Ecological Footprint”– Financial Contribution – Comply with Standards– Use of term “Global Footprint”– Non-endorsement

Partnership

• How have you benefited from your involvement with Global Footprint Network?

• How would you like to be involved in the future?

Programs• Research and Development: National

Footprint Accounts, applications with partners.

• Outreach and Partnerships.• Training: materials and courses.• Standards Development: plus future

certification.

EF Research Question

The full technical version:

How much of the annual regenerative capacity of the biosphere, expressed in mutually exclusive hectares of biologically productive land or sea

area, is required to renew the resource throughput of a defined population in a given

year—with the prevailing technology and resource management of that year?

Messaging Workshop

Branding

• Branding GFN– Audience– message

• Branding the Footprint– Old foot, new foot

Audience

• First Wave vs Second Wave• Primary audiences:

– National and international Government policymakers

– Academic community– Statisticians– Business and financial community

Old Foot

New Foot

Messaging

• Conversations about Overshoot are Challenging

• Cognitive Dissonance - Conflict between dominant economic models (growth) and ecological reality

• Short term thinking• Message must go down “like candy”

Mathis

• First wave, second wave• Commitment is people’s wellbeing• Tragedy is involuntary footprint reductions• “reduce your footprint” doesn’t work

Our Message

• The World is currently living beyond its means.

• The Ecological Footprint is a tool to help us all live well within the means of nature.

Component Branding

• Partners have unique audience and mission

• But messaging about Ecological Footprint should be consistent

• Benefits for everyone:– Stature and recognition– avoid fragmentation– avoid confusion– consistency in results.

Communications Standards

• Separating the analysis from the policy recommendations

• Accountant vs financial consultant

Tools to help you

• Tool Kit• Common Misperceptions• Wallet cards• DVD

Guidelines

• No “GFN”: use Footprint Network or Global Footprint Network

• Ecological Footprint – capitalized• Don’t use “environmental footprint” and

other confusing terms without distinguishing them from Ecological Footprint

Strategic Needs

Strategic needs

1. Funding our core programs2. Messaging – consistency across diverse

partner organizations3. 10 in 10, what is the right strategy?4. How do we engage the research

community?

Need 1) Funding our Core Programs

• National Accounts• Standards

Need 2) Branding and messaging

• Component Branding – everyone benefits from Footprint’s good reputation as a trusted metric and from consistent messaging about the Footprint

• Our partner organizations have diverse missions, audiences, styles and goals.

• How do we maintain our diversity while communicating about the Ecological Footprint in a consistent way?

Need 3)10 in 10 strategy

• Ten-in-ten Campaign seeks to institutionalize the EF in ten nations by 2015.

• What is the best strategy for engaging with national governments to “institutionalize” the Ecological Footprint?

• How can we raise money for this?• Note: any partner work on 10-in-10 must be

coordinated with us

Need 4)Engaging the Research Community• “Catch 22” – statisticians and data analysts

won’t engage with Footprint until it is endorsed by their governments

• But their governments won’t engage until their data analysts have evaluated the Footprint

• How do we attract the involvement of statistical offices and researchers even though the Ecological Footprint hasn’t been adopted by their governments?

Thank You!