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Pattern Language, Pattern
Map
(Note: This is what Language Deception looks like with
all its tentacles.)
What does a sustainable
society look like?
On this site, fifty-seven patterns provide a framework
for an ecologically restorative, socially just, and
reliably prosperous society. They are adaptable to local
ecosystems and cultures, yet universal in their
applicability. Together they form what we call a Conservation
Economy.
Together, the patterns form a
visual and conceptual framework that can be used to
inspire innovation, focus planning efforts, and document
emerging best practices. A conservation economy
comprehensively integrates Social,
Natural,
and Economic
Capital to demonstrate that a sustainable
society is both desirable and achievable.
The conservation economy framework
provides the basis for our wide range of Training
and Consulting Services, helping businesses,
governments, and non-profits make a just and viable
transition to sustainability. In order to constantly
test the ideas behind a conservation economy, we also
host an international "open source" Learning
Network which allows people to share their
insights and experiences.
Ecotrust
has developed this framework for a conservation economy
throughout ten years of practical conservation work in
the coastal temperate rainforests of the Pacific
Northwest. We believe that a conservation economy
inherently serves the self-interest of individuals and
communities, and we see our role as providing the tools
for others working to grow it. Learn about the Roots
of Our Work.
Look who's using The
Patterns
The Bowen Island Forest and Water Management Society has
used the Conservation Economy framework to create an
interactive CD-ROM and website for sustainable community
planning. Their work allows citizens to see maps, policy
statements, relevant documents, and conservation economy
patterns through the same advanced browser. Bowen
Island, a small island north of Vancouver, BC, is in the
process of becoming a new municipality. The island hopes
to integrate sustainability into its initial operating
charter.
The roots of our work
Tools for change
A conservation economy is in the self-interest of
individuals and communities. Ecotrust provides tools and
brokers resources for those taking a leadership role in
the conservation economy.
Practical experience in
our home bioregion
Ecotrust is an innovative non-profit organization
dedicated to supporting the emergence of a conservation
economy along North America's rain forest coast, the
region from San Francisco to Anchorage. We work in urban
and rural areas to support entrepreneurs whose work
improves environmental, economic, and social conditions.
We have spent the last ten years building a conservation
economy in the coastal temperate rainforest stretching
from Big Sur, California to Kodiak Island, Alaska. In
this time, we have:
Co-founded an environmental bank, ShoreBank
Pacific
Redeveloped The
Natural Capital Center as a landmark green building
and incubator for businesses and non-profits
Cultivated
local leadership and nurtured institutional capacity
in communities throughout the bioregion
Mapped
and analyzed the bioregion in fresh ways
Whole systems approach
to sustainability
Ecotrust treats land, people, and economy as part of
a whole system. Our work is compatible with the rigorous
scientific framework of The
Natural Step, but also embraces culture, planning
and design, and a strong commitment to social justice.
Simply put, we seek simultaneous ecological, social, and
financial returns: the triple bottom line.
Pattern Language
On this site, Ecotrust seeks to distill its work in
this bioregion into a series of explicit, testable, and
replicatable patterns for growing a conservation
economy. Together, these building blocks form a pattern
language that can be used as a planning and management
tool at all levels of scale, both in this bioregion and
beyond. Pattern
languages have been applied effectively to
buildings, cities, and software for the last thirty
years.
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