Balancing Present & Future Needs

Mission

We’re dedicated to helping transform our islands’ capacity for enduring self-reliance by balancing ecological, socio-cultural and economic needs through community education, innovative practice and advocacy.

Values & Principles

We believe in the wisdom of the short and sweet phrase, “Think global. Act local.” To help us think globally, we’ve adopted the values and principles of the Earth Charter. “The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society for the 21st century.” To assist us with local action, we have looked to the indigenous wisdom of the ʻAha Moku system. “The ‘Aha Moku system recognizes the traditional geo-political division of each island into ahupua’a (akin to the present-day concept of watershed areas) and moku (a political district of two or more adjacent ahupua’a).”

This ever-evolving integration of global and local frameworks, called the 21st Century Ahupuaʻa, will guide the implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of our programs and initiatives.

Approach

Nine issues are considered by many to be essential to a sustainable community: sustainable agriculture, clean energy, community capital, green building, zero-waste manufacturing, healthy policy, immersive education, responsible media and socio-ecopreneurship. Collective success demands that each of the core sectors of society (government, business, education, non-profits and community) advance these issues through practical actions. We recognize that transforming our communities’ capacities is a kakou thing. It is also an evolutionary process that requires change within each of the core sectors and, perhaps more challengingly, coordinated change across those sectors.

This knowledge heavily shapes our approach. It is why we first seek to educate about the need and possibility of island self-reliance. Then, we facilitate the identification of priorities, strategic actions and likely barriers to implementation. Finally, we support implementation of innovative solutions both within and across society’s sectors, emphasizing socio-ecopreneurship and supportive policies that can accelerate the spread of effective practices. We also encourage intergenerational collaboration and informed action by engaging in applied research to integrate, design, develop and deploy best-of-breed, local and global solutions.

We’re always looking to have good fun by exploring creative ways to help transform talk story into walk story.

Learn how you can Walk Story too!

Latest News

• Welcome to the new Sustain Hawaii site!

  You will find that we have lots of exciting new programs and have affiliated with BALLE (Business Alliance for a Local Living Economy). In an effort to be effective and efficient, we’re acting as the umbrella organization, managing the tools, … Continue reading →

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