Somerville Proposal v8 ss 9.05.12 — File 194312

Sept 5, 2012 Proposal for Climate Emergency Summit Submitted by Seed Systems Dear Mr. Lutes, Thank you for your invitation to submit a proposal for facilitation to support your Climate Emergency Summit. Context: As stated in the “Climate Emergency Resolution” submitted to the City of Somerville Board of Aldermen, the CEUCC and concerned citizens of Somerville have clearly stated their goals of: - Effective dialogue about climate change and energy use between the CEUCC, local climate and energy experts, City department leaders, community leaders, and at-large Somerville residents - Climate change mitigation and adaptation at a scale commensurate with the City’s own climate goals for 2012 and beyond, including: o Integrating the City’s climate goals into municipal department planning and decision-making; o Accelerating efforts to comprehensively insulate and air-seal residential properties; o Redoubling efforts to maximize residential, commercial and industrial energy use reduction; o Expediting development of renewable energy, including wind, solar and geothermal; o Transitioning to a more sustainable transportation system.” This proposal lays out a road map to achieve these aims. We propose: to catalyze the creation of an environment in which city officials will integrate climate and energy use goals into all of their decision-making. For the purposes of this proposal we’ll refer to this as seeing the world through the “CC Lens.” The “City” refers to Somerville Municipal Government. Seed Systems’ expertise to lead design, facilitation, coaching, and implementation of this effort comes from our two decades experience in Systems Thinking and Sustainability transformation working in public, private, non-profit and academic sectors. See Appendix

2 D below for our client list. For more about us, including approach, blogs, talks, programs and testimonials, please see www.seedsystems.net. Also, we suggest a face-to-face meeting before agreeing to go ahead with this proposal to get to know each other, see if there is a “fit,” clarify intent, and answer any questions you may have about our approach. Current Reality Assessment (As of summer 2011 when we last met with members of the commission.) • Most city officials do not integrate CC and EU goals into their decision-making • Most City officials are not aware of the pressing challenges that CC presents • The City has pockets of innovation and good relationships, but silos persist as do old, ineffective ways of thinking. • The City is not set up to take advantage of synergies between energy, environment, transportation, housing, social safety net and other key initiatives. • The City is presently in need of a committed, inspired, energized multi- stakeholder Champion body that extends beyond the CEUCC. • Innovations needed are as much social as technical. The process should not only provide technical direction, but also create an entirely different approach to how leadership is taken and how business gets done. Our approach implements Systems Thinking, Working Across Boundaries, Creating Desired Futures as social innovations to achieve the CC Lens aims. It includes a systems analysis of current reality, which in turn informs systemic interventions for results on the ground. We believe these approaches will fundamentally change the way the players in the initiative work together, challenge their own and others’ mental models, and become increasingly creative, proactive and effective about what’s possible. These changes are essential to the success of the work of creating a city that meets its climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. Indeed, to achieve the fundamental changes in energy use required to achieve climate stability, a major transformation is required. This is the approach we bring. Work Plan: What follows is our best advice on a process to support the Somerville CEUCC to achieve its goals for the Climate Emergency Summit: Phase I: Mobilize Core Stakeholders 1. Coming to shared agreement on clear vision and current reality and the gaps to get from here to there. 2. Making the Somerville climate and energy use system visible using the tools of Systems Thinking and causal loop diagramming. 3. This creates a literal shared view of the issues and suggests strategic leverage points for actions to take that will provide the most “bang for the buck” that is, highest impact. 4. Engage in a computer-based simulation of global climate change issues to accelerate our understanding of the problem and catalyze a shift in

3 perspectives necessary to take new actions towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. Using lessons learned from the systems map, identify essential additional stakeholders to bring to the table as well as a process to engage them. Timeframe: 2-3 months Cost: $8,000 Phase II: Engage City Departments to Identify and Create Points of Change This phase is similar in approach to Phase I above, but now the CEUCC team is fully informed and capable of leading their colleagues -- department heads and other key decision makers -- to see with a CC Lens in all they do and thus make decisions, allocate resources with this Lens in mind. II.1 Problem identification II.2 Mapping the system II.3 Identifying strategic points of highest leverage. II.4 Engaging broader group of stakeholders. Timeframe: 2-3 months Cost: $8000 Phase III: Plan for future engagement of a wider community of Stakeholders Building on the work and in partnership with Somerville Climate Action, their Climate Café, and using the systems maps and analysis that emerges from Phases I and II above, we will create a plan to engage the wider community of Stakeholders in Somerville to achieve the CC Lens aims. (This proposal does not include our participation in the implementation of that plan. That would require further funding). Timeframe: 2-3 months Cost $8,000 Total Projected Time 6-9 months Project Fee: $24,000 We look forward to hearing from you and hope to partner with you in engaging in this powerful and essential work. Sincerely, Sara Schley President and Founder Seed Systems

4 Appendix A Benefits of a Systems Thinking approach: Some of the benefits of building learning organizations through Systems Thinking as compared to Business as? Usual: Business as Usual Systems Thinking Approach From à To Silos Systems Parochial Big Picture Short Term, Long Term Leadership from the topdown Leadership throughout the system Fixes that fail, unintended consequences Fundamental Solutions Blame, Finger-pointing Shared responsibility for solutions “Doing the wrong things right” “Doing the right things right” “Tragedy of the Commons” Win-win-win solutions Decisions made in isolation Decisions made with “the whole system in the room.” Fixing problems Creating desired futures.

5 Appendix B Systems Thinking Resources: Selected Resources for Systems Learning • Pegasus Communications: www.pegasuscom.com • Connected Widsom: www.lindaboothsweeney.net • Donella Meadows: 12 points to intervene in a system http://www.sustainabilityinstitute.org/pubs/Leverage_Points.pdf • Creative Learning Exchange: www.clexchange.org • MIT - RoadMaps: http://sysdyn.clexchange.org/road-maps • The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Senge et. al • The Necessary Revolution, Senge et.al • SEED: www.seed.slb.org • Systems Wikki: http://www.systemswiki.org Adapted from and with permission of www.lindaboothsweeney.net

6 Appendix C Seed Systems’ clients in systems thinking and sustainability since 1993 include: BP BSR Boulder County Governance Burlington Chemical California EPA CERES Chrysler City of Fitchburg Coca-Cola Company College of Notre Dame Duke Energy DTE Ford Motor Company Global Aids Alliance Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Harold Grinspoon Foundation Harley-Davidson Motor Company Hewlett Packard Interface, Inc. Missouri Botanical Gardens MIT New York DEC Nike Northeast Utilities Open Society Institute Plug Power PV2 RMI Schlumberger Seventh Generation Shell Oil Strata-gems Sustainability Institute Sustainable Food Lab Unilever United Technologies UTC Visteon Corporation World Wildlife Fund World Bank Xerox