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This
project was made possible through the generous support of Barnstable County.
In particular, we thank the Cape Cod Economic Development
Council and the Barnstable County Commissioners for contributing Cape
and Islands License Plate funds for a part-time project coordinator.
We thank the Cape Cod Commission for providing planner Tana Watt who assumed
the role of project coordinator: a position Tana embraced with much enthusiasm
and competence. These contributions demonstrate the County's leadership
on the issue of sustainability and its commitment to public/private partnership
as a tool for regional action.
| Introduction: |
| This
report presents information tracking Cape Cod’s progress toward
sustainability. It was prepared by the Sustainability Indicators
Council, a group of community leaders representing a variety
of sectors and regions of Cape Cod who have volunteered their time
and knowledge out of a deep-seated love and concern for Cape Cod.
The report is designed to be a decision-making tool for use
by individuals, educators, business leaders and local and regional
officials.
Sustainability
was first defined in 1987 by the UN’s Bruntland Commission as “meeting
the
needs of the present without endangering the ability of future generations
to meet their needs”. The definition spoke not only to the
prudent use of social,
natural and economic resources today, but also to the long-term
impacts that exist and the responsibility we bear to future generations
for the management of those resources.
An
indicator is something measurable that highlights where we are,
where we want to be, and how well we are achieving that goal.
A good indicator helps track the health of all of our systems: economic,
social and environmental, and can be measured (many potentially
good indicators must be eliminated from consideration because data
is unavailable). The indicators in this report are based on
the shared values of Cape Codders, and contain linkages, or synergies,
to one or more other systems where a change in the status of one
system will affect the status of another. Synergies are interactions
among two or more agents or forces whose combined impact is greater
than the sum of their individual effects. In other words,
an improvement (or decline) in one area contributes to an improvement
(or decline) in connected ones.
Our
previous two reports,
the 1999
Cape Cod Sustainability Indicators Report
and the 2003 Report, An
Uncertain Future, were
based around three topic areas: A Safe and Nurturing Social
Environment, a Healthy Natural Environment, and a Thriving, Diverse
and Sustainable Economy. Within each topic area, there were
a number of Indicators, such as Civic Vitality, Population Access
to Health Care, Preventive Health and Substance Abuse, and Youth
Wellness. Most of the Indicators contained many individual
measures of data. These two sustainability reports, although
containing much data and information, were limited by the printed
format from fully exploring the synergies and connections between
the various goals and indicators.
With
Cape Cod 2020, the third sustainability report
for Cape Cod, the Council hopes that the web-based format will allow
us to more fully explore these synergies. We have organized
the website by the goals that define the characteristics of a sustainable
Cape Cod – Valued Ecosystems, Integrated Infrastructure, Good Health,
Directed Growth, Sustainable Creative Economy, Continuous Education,
Balanced Demographics and Accessible Services. Many individual
indicators contribute to each goal and are linked to the goal in
the text. Because each indicator may relate to more than one
goal, it may therefore be found under multiple goals, once for each
of the goals that it relates to. In this way, the Sustainability
Indicators Council hopes that this web-based format will increase
our understanding of sustainability in principle and in our actions
as residents, employers and employees on Cape Cod.
In
addition, for each goal, the Report provides individuals, communities
and decision-makers with recommendations for positive actions they
can take toward making our region sustainable. These recommendations
were complied during the Visioning
Workshops that were conducted by the Sustainability Indicators
Council in the fall of 2004 and the winter of 2005.
By connecting individual indicators to economically, socially
and environmentally sustainable outcomes, these recommendations
suggest areas where concerted action might yield progress on several
fronts.
Having
worked together since 1998, the Council is an effective example
of communication and cooperation by and among individuals and groups
with divergent viewpoints, ideas, and approaches, who have come
together to embrace the concept that measuring present trends is
the key to determining our future. The work of the Council
and other contributors brings together social, environmental and
economic issues of concern under the overarching umbrella of sustainability
and provides a framework to determine where directed action will
yield the most effective results. It is our sincere hope
that decision makers of all kinds will find ways to utilize the
findings and recommendations in this report in their daily activities.
These
indicators were compiled by members of the Council with significant
assistance from the organizations, community representatives and
individuals identified in the “Acknowledgements ” below.
They present data about today’s Cape Cod. In many cases,
they also include historical data. But in cases where historical
data are not available or is difficult to attain, this report will
serve as a baseline resource.
Much
background information is contained in the 1999
Cape Cod Sustainability Indicators Report
and the 2003 Report, An
Uncertain Future, and is not repeated in this report.
Please refer to them for additional information.
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| Acknowledgements: |
|
This
project was made possible through the generous support of Barnstable
County. In
particular, we thank the Cape Cod Economic Development Council and
the Barnstable County Commissioners for contributing Cape and Islands
License Plate funds for a part-time project coordinator. We
thank the Cape Cod Commission for providing planner Tana Watt who
assumed the role of project coordinator: a position Tana embraced
with much enthusiasm and competence. These contributions demonstrate
the County's leadership on the issue of sustainability and its commitment
to public/private partnership as a tool for regional action.
The
Council gives special thanks to:
Ernest Duquet,
Past President, The Cape Cod Center for Sustainability, for his
many years of unending support for sustainability efforts on Cape
Cod.
The
Council thanks the individuals and organizations who participated
in the 2004-2005 Visioning Sessions, which provided valuable direction
for this report:
Elizabeth Aldred
Ron Bergstrom
Jesse Bermel
Christine Bevacqua
John Bologna,
Coastal Engineering
Stephanie Brady
Brian Braginton-Smith
Cecilie Brown,
Elder Services
Tom Cambareri,
Cape Cod Commission
Judy Cicero
Heidi Clark,
WHOI, Woods Hole Group
Beverly Costa-Ciavola
Jim Crocker,
Cape Cod and Islands Board of Realtors
Rachel Crosby
Mary Jane Curran,
Cape Cod Community College
Eugene Curry,
Cape Cod Connect
George Davis
Karen Davis
Danielle DeLuca
Henry Di Giacomo,
Cape Cod and Islands Board of Realtors
Kathy Enos
Jacqueline P.
Fields
Christine Gault,
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Maggie Geist,
Association to Preserve Cape Cod
Conrad Geyser
Joe Gill
Jon Gilmore,
Orleans Citizens Advisory Committee
Helen Helfer,
Author
John Howard,
Cape Cod Compact (Yarmouth)
Don Howell
Christine Jacques
Claire Jantz
John Johnson
Don Keeran,
Association to Preserve Cape Cod
Kathy Kilduff,
Cape Cod Regional Technical School
Nancy Larkham
Tina LeBeau,
CC & I Gov't Affairs
Gigi Ledkovski,
Past President of the Cape Cod Arts Foundation
Erin Linsky
Ashley Look
Elizabeth Lynch
Lev Malakhoff,
Cape Cod Commission
Ed Mangiafico
Lauren McKean,
National Park Service
Jim Miller
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Spyro Mitrokostas
Robert Mumford,
Cape Cod Commission
Sean O'Brien
Brian O'Malley
Carol Pacun,
Chatham Alliance
Ben Pearson,
National Park Service
Gwen Pelletier,
Lower Cape Cod CDC
Cody Peterson
Lynne Pleffner,
Chatham Planning Board
Kilparti Ramakrishna,
Woods Hole Research Center
Jari Rapaport
Allison Robb
Karen Robbins
Paul Ruchinskas,
Cape Cod Commission
Steven J. Scannell
Kathy Schatzberg,
Cape Cod Community College
Sally Sears-Mack
Jon Seward,
Community Design Partnership
Leah Smith
Tom Stone, Woods
Hole Research Center
Jim Tobin,
President of the Homebuilders Association
Albert Wild
Pat Wild
Dr. George M.
Woodwell, Founder and Director Emeritus, Woods Hole Research
Center
Kathleen Wright
Richard York,
Mashpee Shellfish Department
Mary Zepernick
and any other contributors
whom we may have inadvertently missed.
Cape
Cod 2020 was prepared with contributions and/or data from the following
individuals:
Cape Cod Commission:
David Aron,
Transportation Department
Gabrielle
Belfit, Hydrologist
Tom Cambareri,
Cape Cod Commission
Marilyn Fifield,
Research Analyst
Donna McCaffery,
Water Resources Project Assistant
Heather McElroy,
Natural Resources Specialist
Scott Michaud,
Hydrologist
Bob Mumford,
Transportation Program Manager
Gary Prahm,
GIS Manager
Anne Reynolds,
GIS Department
Paul
Ruchniskas, Affordable Housing Specialist
Clay Schofield,
Transportation Engineer
Ben Smith,
GIS Department
Greg Smith,
Waste Management Planner
Deborah
Converse, Housing
Assistance Corporation
Maggie Downey,
Cape Light Compact
Kevin Galligan,
Cape Light Compact
Maggie Geist,
Association to Preserve Cape Cod
John
Grant, Cape Cod Community College
Terry
Huff, ACCESS Program
Gigi
Ledkovsky, Past Executive Director, Cape Cod Arts Foundation
Michael
Lemieux
Tomas K.
Lynch, Barnstable Housing Authority
Susan
Miller, Cape Cod Community College
Wendy
Northcross, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce
Rick
Presbry, Housing Assistance Corporation
Laura
Shufelt,
Warren
Smith, Barnstable County Department of Human Services
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