Reliable Prosperity

Ecotrust, a Portland, Oregon based nonprofit doing some excellent work for over 20 years in support of viable local economies in coastal regions of western North America has taken a breath to look back.. and to look ahead... To this end, they asked for feedback from their members and have adopted "Reliable Prosperity" as a guiding principle.

The term, Reliable Prosperity comes form Jane Jacobs, who in her last book, The Nature of Economies wrote, "human beings exist wholly within nature as part of the natural order in every respect. . . This is difficult for many ecologists and economists to accept. . . . readers unwilling or unable to breach a barrier that they imagine separates humankind and its works from the rest of nature will be unable to hear what this book is saying." Ecotrust has adopted these values as part of their mission to "inspire fresh thinking that creates economic opportunity, social equity and environmental well-being."

What an elegant, simple and inspiring approach to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Beyond that, there are concrete organizations Ecotrust links to that support this vision. The Reliable Prosperity website does a great job of illustrating what the new green economy that is now in the mainstream news will look like (this website builds and expands from the original Conservation Economy website... with some practical applications that add to its relevance).