Author(s)

D. Lach & K. Williamson

Abstract

Using the challenges of diversity for collective learning about sustainability: the Oregon Story D. Lach & K. Williamson Center for Water and Environmental Sustainability, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon Abstract How has the small state of Oregon become a center of sustainability in the US? Why did an extremely partisan legislature unanimously pass a sustainability statute in 2002? What characteristics did the Resource Renewal Institute identify as critical when naming Oregon as the first "Guardian of the Future?Why do people across the state give up evenings and weekends to participate in voluntary watershed councils and discussion groups about sustainability? And what do Oregon companies - Nike, Norm Thompson, and Newlett Packard among them - find compelling enough about The Natural Step that they not only reform their business practices but help other businesses apply the ideas? Using a collective learning model framework, we examine how Oregonians have created a social movement

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