Sustainability

Client: Issaquah, WA

Cascadia was hired by the City of Issaquah to design and facilitate a process to engage a cross-section of 16 community leaders (the Sustainability Sounding Board) in developing recommendations for measuring progress towards an equitable, vibrant, and sustainable community. Cascadia was tasked to guide City staff on project direction and design, to facilitate the Sustainability Sounding Board meetings, and to prepare the final recommendation for the Mayor on behalf of the Sustainability Sounding Board. Marc Daudon and Michelle Caulfield designed a four-meeting process to move the group from vision to measures. At the first meeting members of the Sounding Board discussed the vision for a sustainable Issaquah in 2050 and, in the process, established a cohesive team for completing the task. In the second and third meetings, the group agreed on a sustainability vision and framework to guide the indicator development and worked in small groups to vet a list of indicators to help the city monitor progress toward sustainability goals. The final meeting in January focused on the recommendation report to the Mayor as well as strategies for communicating with the broader public. The final recommendation package was presented to the Mayor in early 2009.