Can we accelerate the adoption of sustainable behaviors and products in business by sharing training materials? That is the question we asked a group of subject-matter experts at a meeting in EDF’s DC office on July 20, 2010.

As described in my earlier post, the idea is that companies benefit from each others' investment in training materials via sharing the materials in an “open source” mode – ideally, materials would be licensed for shared use by their creator, used and improved by others, and re-contributed to a public archive. The Hewlett Foundation, in particular, has promoted this approach in academia, calling it "open education resources" or OER.

Potential contributors would be:

• Fortune 1000 companies that already have sustainability initiatives underway and have provided formal training (classroom, video-based, online, etc.) to employees or other stakeholders (e.g., suppliers, customers, etc)
• Consulting firms providing training materials related to their products and services
• Non-profits developing materials to address their specific topics of importance
• Government agencies at the federal, state, or local levels
• Universities developing course materials appropriate to executives and business students.

For this initiative, we are focusing on training materials, as opposed to internal or external communications, research, or marketing materials.

We envision the initial users to come from business, academia, government, consulting, etc. In addition, we imagine an "eco-system" of professional services might develop around the content as consultants and service-providers take advantage of high-quality materials to market or improve their offerings. Our goal is to generate as much interest as possible – we hope to create active participation from many users.

What did we talk about?

We had a nice mix of people participate representing organizations including Green Order, Sodexo, Creative Commons, NEEF, ICS, Spoonflower, and Genofish, as well as EDF.

We learned more about Creative Commons, a nonprofit providing free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, and use the material commercially.

Debbie Sliter of National Environmental Education Foundation presented findings from “The Business Case for Environmental and Sustainability Employee Education” a survey of 1300 professionals about engagement and education. The report provides examples from around the world that teaching employees to conserve, recycle, improve efficiency and reduce waste, among other actions, have benefits for employees, companies and communities.

Much of the discussion focused on “incentives” for participating – why would companies contribute their materials to be shared? Possible motivations include:

• Being recognized as a leader
• Creating “brownie points” for individuals within companies (e.g., tying to professional development credentials or company certification ratings)
• Quid pro quo – contribute in order to receive/use materials
• Supplier/partner network – potential to incent suppliers or customers in exchange for other value
• Leveraging existing partnerships and networks that have already created public materials

Now is the time

One of the clear messages we got is that this project is forming at a good moment in time. The need for effective solutions to pressing sustainability problems has never been greater. Many companies recognize they can’t do it alone and are more receptive to partnering with others to accomplish specific outcomes. There are many "communities of practice" across all sectors and geographies seeking innovative, proven, cost-effective solutions to the challenges their organizations face. This initiative is positioned to capitalize on all of these trends.

Responses to this project idea were encouraging enough that we will continue the exploration. We will reach out to more experts to discuss ongoing initiatives, opportunities, and possibilities for partnership. To allow people to continue engagement in the discussion we will host it on a public Google Group (participants must register to contribute but anyone can read). Please join in!

Map of the Vermilion 380 and Deepwater Horizon explosion sites in the Gulf of Mexico (Source: Associated Press)

The Associated Press reported that Vermilion 380, an offshore oil and gas platform, exploded earlier today in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion was first reported by a commercial helicopter pilot flying eighty miles south of Vermilion Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico that marks the westernmost boundary of Louisiana’s Deltaic Plain. Vermilion 380 is a facility owned and operated by Mariner Energy, a Houston-based firm with interests in over three hundred Federal offshore leases.

Early reports suggest that all thirteen people working at the platform have been rescued. However, a mile-long oil sheen has been spotted near the site of the ruptured rig, though it is unclear if that oil is pouring from fuel tanks on the damaged platform, leaking from ships dispatched to deal with the explosion, or gushing up from underneath the surface of the Gulf.

Because the Vermilion 380 explosion occurred further away from the coast and farther west than the Deepwater Horizon incident, this accident may have a much smaller impact on the environment and economy of the Mississippi Delta than the BP oil disaster. Still, because fishermen, platform workers and many others across coastal Louisiana are still dealing with the repercussions of the earlier spill, we’ll be watching to see if the Vermilion 380 explosion has any significant effect on employment indicators and environmental health in the region.

• On September 11, Kirk Hourdajian kicks off our monthly conference visits at the Georgetown University Cleantech Forum, where he is speaking on the Financing Energy panel. If you plan to attend, come visit our EDF Climate Corps booth to learn more about this exciting and innovative program.

• The next event this month is at the Darden School of Business on September 15 where Sitar Mody is speaking with Will Teichman of Target and Matt Coleman 2010 EDF Climate Corps fellow.

• Rachel Hinchliffe, Namrita Kapur, Sitar Mody and Emily Reyna are heading over to Duke University's Fuqua School of Business for the Capturing the Energy Efficiency Opportunity.

• Don't miss out on the last Solutions Lab of the summer where the focus of the event will be energy efficiency. This Lab is arriving in Cambridge, MA on September 16 and is graciously being hosted by the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center. EDFers attending are David Witzel, Victoria Mills, Melanie Janin, Cynthia Hampton, Greg Andeck, Rachel Hinchliffe, Namrita Kapur, Gwen Ruta and Beth Trask. To register, please click here.

• On September 20, Victoria Mills is attending the Carbon Disclosure Project's Global Forum at the Bank of America Tower in New York City.

• Sitar Mody and Emily Reyna are attending the 2010 National Black MBA Conference from September 23-24 in Los Angeles.

• Tom Murray is heading back to the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Conference this year where he is moderating a roundtable on September 28-29 in New York City. Greg Andeck is attending this conference as well.

• Help us usher in the autumn season when the Solutions Lab series lands in Austin on September 29. There, you can meet David Witzel, Jasper Jung, Monica Michaan and Beth Trask.

September is National Preparedness Month (NPM). The goal of this thirty-day campaign is to encourage homeowners, business managers, and local officials to prepare for natural and technological disasters in their communities. National Preparedness Month is sponsored by the Ad Council, Citizen Corps, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) Ready Campaign.

Natural Disasters, National Problems

Every year, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes and wildfires cause hundreds of deaths across the United States. According to FEMA, floods alone account for more than three-quarters of all federally-declared disasters. 

It isn't that surprising given the fact that half of all Americans live within fifty miles of a coast, or when one considers that many of America's largest inland cities like Nashville and Pittsburgh lie in river valleys prone to seasonal flooding. For this reason, counties and parishes located near coastlines and major rivers account for a significant proportion of annual disaster declarations by the federal government, as shown in the below map.

The map above shows presidential disaster declarations by county between 1965 and 2003. Counties (or parishes in the case of Louisiana) with more than ten disaster declarations over that period are labeled red. Note that the parishes and counties along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts had relatively frequent disaster declarations during that period. Most of the inland disaster declarations were concentrated in areas near major rivers like the Mississippi (Sources: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), United States Geological Survey (USGS))

Given the nationwide scope of this issue, initiatives such as storm surge protection and emergency flood preparedness should be vitally important to all Americans. But all too often they are forgotten until an unexpected disaster forces people to confront these issues head on. Simple steps such as setting up home emergency kits before calamity strikes could reduce injury tolls during emergencies and save lives afterwards.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Hazardous weather events and other natural disasters occur all throughout the year, but September is a particularly dangerous month for residents of the Gulf Coast. This is because the peak season for hurricane formation in the Atlantic Basin occurs in late summer/early autumn.

September Storminess: Between 1851 and 2006, September ranked first among all months for the number of recorded tropical storms in the Atlantic (Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA))

As we mentioned in a post last Thursday, this peak hurricane threat has a lot to do with the warm ocean conditions that come after months of spring and summer weather. Indeed, Hurricane Rita, the most intense tropical storm ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, formed in September 2005, when sea surface temperatures in the Gulf were above normal. Hitting Louisiana just several weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Rita caused approximately $10 billion in damages along the Gulf Coast.

Since hurricanes can also cause floods and trigger tornadoes, they can be particularly devastating for communities that are ill-prepared for one or all of these potential disasters.  That’s why emergency preparedness is so important for protecting people in hurricane-prone areas like coastal Louisiana.

If your organization or business is involved in hazard mitigation, and you would like it to participate in National Preparedness Month, please make sure to register your group at http://ready.adcouncil.org. Finally, please visit the Ready Campaign's website for more information about NPM events scheduled in your neighborhood.