This is a guest post by Thor Hinckley, who manages the nation’s leading renewable energy program at Portland General Electric. Thor is also my husband.
At a meeting yesterday held at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, I was very encouraged to see a room full of sustainability experts endorse “behavior change” as a key strategy for forming a sustainable economy in Portland. During the meeting’s comment period, I had suggested that along with all of the other policy and economic considerations being considered, that creating a regional center for behavior change in a green economy was critically important to Portland’s sustainability efforts.
Some examples of behavior change would be: using less electricity in the home; driving less often and more efficiently; eating tasty yet meatless meals; and slowing our pace during summer heat waves instead of cranking up the air-conditioning.
The comments from the audience including my own were dutifully transcribed by the event’s organizers on poster paper that was affixed to the wall along with other expert recommendations. Later, during a audience participation session where attendees used colored dots to vote for what they believed to be the key elements in creating this new economy, I was humbled to see my “behavior change” comment receive the most support by way of dots.
I was attending a Climate Prosperity listening session hosted by the Climate Prosperity Work Group, operating under the auspices of the Portland Sustainability Institute, on its new draft plan, called a Greenprint. This new plan calls for a concerted drive toward climate-sensitive economic development that will require the united efforts of both the business and government sectors.
The full document, available for download here, lists six recommendations for integrating economic development and climate protection for the Portland metro region. The one missing recommendation for me and others in the room was creating and promoting the types of human behavior change needed to transition away from our current “take, make, waste” economy.
For many planners and policy types these behavioral considerations are often much too soft and squishy to receive serious attention especially in the context of a regional economic development plan. Others, including myself see creating and promoting human behavioral changes as one of the key elements in the emergence of a truly sustainable economy.
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