Begin by opening your learning journal for this activity.

Part 1 - The Problem

Minneapolis was founded in 1852 at the site of a thundering sixteen foot waterfall on the Mississippi River. The waterfall gave the city its name, which comes from the Greek and Dakota words meaning 'city of waters'. A model sustainable energy source, the falls powered the city's flour mills for decades.

Just outside of the downtown area in Minneapolis lives the most culturally diverse community in Minnesota. More than 100 ethnic groups are represented in the Phillips neighbourhood. More than half of the 17,500 residents are members of minority groups, and 24% of these people are Native Americans.

For over a decade, the city and county have wanted to build a large county garbage transfer station in the Phillips neighbourhood. Residents were against this project from the beginning, for several reasons:

	They believed it was an inappropriate land use for a residential neighbourhood.
	The site was one block away from six restaurants, a nursing home, and residential homes and two blocks away from a high school.
	The Phillips neighbourhood had already experienced heavy environmental impacts, as evidenced by the high percentage of lead poisoning cases in children.
	The Phillips neighbourhood could not tolerate an increase in truck traffic. Every year, several children were hit by trucks or cars because a main truck route passes through Little Earth of United Tribes, a public housing project, which was five blocks away from the proposed site.
	The transfer station would provide only three jobs, which most likely would not be held by neighbourhood residents.

Residents attempted to negotiate with the city and county, but got nowhere. When the county began to demolish 27 homes to clear the proposed site, the residents banded together and filed lawsuits to stop the project. The people saw this as a case of 'environmental racism'. They believed that their neighbourhood was being chosen to carry an unfair burden because of its large minority, low-income population.

A series of meetings was held in the spring of 1992 by the community group, People of Phillips, to discuss what to do next. The group could not come up with a workable plan. When an outside adviser to this group asked, "And what will you do with the land once you win the battle?", the residents had no response.

Q17: As a member of the community group, People of Phillips, what actions would you suggest to keep the garbage transfer station out of your neighbourhood?

Q18: What would you propose be done with the garbage transfer station site if you won?

Q19: What type of use of that land would most enhance and help your community?

Q20: What processes should your community use to decide what to do with the land?

Part 2 - Solutions For Local Sustainability

Soon after the series of meetings in the spring of 1992, the community received a response to the adviser's question in an unusual way. One of the residents had a dream in which she saw a vision of 'windmills, banks of trees, and wildlife surrounding a glass building with solar panels on the roof.'She told the other residents about this dream, and together they began to work to make it a reality.

The dream marked a change in the community's focus. Instead of working against something bad, they now put their energy into working for something good. They named their project the Green Institute, set up a committee to organise it under the auspices of the People of Phillips, and began to look for funding. In June 1993 they opened their office in rented space.

Community members decided that the Green Institute would be an eco-industrial park with a number of components, including: an 'incubator' for new environmental businesses, a job training site, a research and development centre for environmentally sound technology, an environmental learning centre, and a place where new ideas for the Phillips neighbourhood could be generated.

In all of its endeavours, the Institute would be committed to the principle of sustainability. Its design would include 'energy conservation systems, solar technology, wind turbines to demonstrate the harnessing of wind for energy, and environmentally friendly materials and design principles.' And because of the community's diverse population, the work of the Institute would be guided by the values, principles, and processes of the ethnic groups involved.

Six months after the Green Institute opened its office, the county gave up on its plans for the garbage transfer station. Instead, it decided to add on to the existing garbage incinerator located in downtown Minneapolis.

The Green Institute made a commitment to eliminating garbage from the waste stream by opening a building materials exchange, called the ReUse Centre, to handle construction materials that otherwise would have ended up as garbage.

By the end of 1996, the Reuse Centre had eliminated over 50 tons (45 metric tons) of garbage from the waste stream and created 12 new jobs with a commitment to hiring neighbourhood residents.

Today, the Green Institute has over 40 staff and a $3.3 million budget. A combination of public and private funding has established a $6 million eco-industrial park which has won many business, social and environmental design awards. It has the potential of adding 200 jobs in the Phillips neighbourhood.

Q21: Identify the principles of sustainable community development that were followed in Minneapolis.