stumbleupon

Report - International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP)

Learn about our Company

International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP)

ABOUT International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP)

The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) is a non-profit, member-driven association for professionals who are committed to making sustainability standard practice. Members network, share resources and best practices, and develop themselves professionally. Special reports, salary surveys, and the upcoming competency study are just a sampling of the rich content offered members.

ISSP offers the services you would typically expect from a professional association, but we use the latest Internet tools to provide better service and reduce environmental impacts.

Community--ISSP uses web technology to help you search for and connect with people who share certain interests or fit certain criteria. Search for people in your geographic area, within a specific organization, or find people who are working on specific types of projects or have certain skills.

Resource Sharing-- Stop reinventing the wheel! The ISSP site allows members to post and evaluate content. Imagine being able to search for a tool, policy, case study, book or other resource and be able to see at a glance which ones were deemed most worthwhile by other professionals. Also, similar to Wikipedia, the ISSP site allows members to co-create documents or resources. Weve started a glossary of terms but this feature could also be used to write documents with others.

Advancements in the Field-- Engage in discussions through topic-centered forums to get answers to difficult challenges from experienced professionals.

Professional Development-- ISSP will provide distance learning (planned for late 2008) so that you can take classes with a cohort of peers, accessing the best instructors from all over the world. The first planned offering will be a set of courses designed to get new sustainability coordinators up to speed in a hurry.

Conferences-- Dont waste time and generate greenhouse gases traveling to a conference. Instead, participate in periodic webcasts and teleconferences on leading-edge topics. Imagine being briefed on the latest development in the field or asking questions of the author of a newly released book. Eventually, we may also offer face-to-face conferences as well.

Career Assistance-- Our web site will have a special section devoted to career advancement with job postings, job descriptions, salary studies and other useful information. We also offer discounted career development coaching services.

Professional Journal-- ISSP will produce an e-Journal Digest that goes out to all members. It will point you toward the latest articles, book reviews, or events that have been posted on the site.

Professional Standards-- Many members are expressing an interest in moving toward some form of professional accreditation. ISSP hopes to be the nexus where exploration about accreditation can take place.

Cool Trends: Ten Things Cities are Doing Now to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Nov 9, 2009 2:49 PM CST
Report PDF (0 kb)

During the summer of 2008 the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) set out to answer this question for our members: What strategies can communities and municipalities in the developed world implement now to reduce greenhouse gases that can be easily retrofitted into an existing community (i.e., not require major redevelopment) that offer multiple benefits (social, economic and environmental)?


Through a combination of research and interviews with experts in the field, ten strategies emerged. These are not the only strategies that are possible but instead are ones that seemed to be the most widely applicable while yielding significant carbon savings. We focused on energy, transportation and waste as major sources of greenhouse gases. Issues related to larger system issues like land use are implied but not addressed specifically.


This research is in no way intended to be a prescription for a single path that all municipalities should take, but rather a simple toolbox filled with strategies that have worked for others and might just work in your city. This toolbox is primarily meant for municipalities, but can also be valuable to business leaders, sustainability professionals, or interested individuals.


Many of the following suggestions benefit from the participation of all of these parties. It is also important to note that this report is neither the first nor the only report of its kind, and has no intention of asserting that it is more valuable or comprehensive than any other. Instead, it provides another set of tools and advocates for a more central, comprehensive, easily accessible database for such tools. Once a community decides that it is time for a change (and time for sustainability), such information must be readily available so they can take action.