Starting down the sustainability path

• What does 'sustainability' mean to Ursa Major?
  
• How can we design sustainability into our business in a way that's authentic and adds value for our stakeholders?
• What is the role of business in today's society? How do we define progress?
• How do we measure our progress towards becoming a sustainable business?
• How do we know when we have achieved success?
  

We pondered and discussed these important questions this morning during Ursa Major's first 'sustainability workshop' hosted by Greg Strong, principal of Spring Hill Solutions.

I first met Greg about a year ago at what I recall was billed "Vermont's first carbon management workshop for business", put on by Greg's firm at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

Since then we've met several times (usually over coffee at Stone Soup) to talk about what we can and should be doing at Ursa Major to design sustainability into our brand from the outset.

These discussions have morphed into today's loose collaboration whereby Greg and his firm will hopefully be serving as an inspired guide/partner along our sustainability journey.

We share a conviction that businesses must become net positive contributors to the communities in which they operate after a full accounting of their economic, social and environmental impact.

With this in mind, we'll be drafting a sustainability plan together over the coming weeks, with specific goals for 2010 that should move us towards our longer-term goals. (We'll keep it simple.)

It's exciting to think about the possibilities - even for our embryonic, pre-revenue organization - and we'll be sure to share key insights and lessons learned here on this blog.