Sustainable Societies and Communities
What are they? And, how to improve the sustainability of a community.Sustainable means doing something indefinitely without any loss in quality and quantity. The 1987 Brundtland Report of the United Nations entitled "Our Common Future" states that“sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Developing a sustainable community involves strengthening the ties and bonds between neighbours and within communities.
Let me tell you about the busy road I live on, Stephens Road in South Brisbane. From 6.30am to 8.30 it gets very busy with traffic, soccer mums dropping off their children at the two private schools on. One of the first things I did when I moved here was to decorate an old dead tree stump and plant a succulent garden around the base using aloe vera, pineapple tops and a few cacti. This had two positive effects apart from beautifying an old dead tree. The first was to create a talking point for people walking by, meaning I have met locals and visitors and when I meet new people from the neighbourhood they all know about the house with the painted tree. The second effect is to create an awareness of the human presence in our street, meaning that some of the cars that use the street do drive slower than they used to.
You can do the same in your street and add a little street art by painting a "guerrilla mural" on the bottom metre of the local electricity poles or reclaiming some of the "Common Land" and planting a guerilla garden. One of the best things to plant is sunflowers because, being so large and bright they draw everyone's attention.
The kids also have an organic orange stall a couple of time a year with produce from the tree in our front yard and from their grandparents. This also serves to give the street a human presence and awareness that children live around here and this also makes our little busy road more friendly.
Knowing your neighbours. This is one thing that is often missing in suburbia, but here we know all our neighbours by their first name. It's easy to say "Hi, my name's XYZ, I live just over there in the blue house with the painted tree out the front". My favourite neighbour is a lovely old Greek great grandmother who wanders into my garden regularly during the summer to pick grape vine leaves which she makes into dolmades and often brings any extras over which we all love to eat. When I have extra produce I take some to her and she returns the favour with her extra produce another time.
Knowing the neighbours also keeps the neighbourhood safe, because when we go away we have people to keep an eye on the house and feed the cat. And if we are late home from work I know there will always be someone I can call on to look after the boys when they get home from school.
Another project which increases a community’s sustainability is a street party/market and barbecue. You don't need to use the road, you can set up tables on the footpath, but you will probably need permission from your local council. Otherwise every house in the street can set up stalls selling over the fence and garage sales. This means the street can still be used without disrupting parking and traffic.
For more information on sustainable communities you can visit the Sustainable Communities Network.
