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b. Cambridge Civic Forum - Cambridge, Massachusetts



The Tufts University Consortium for Regional Sustainability (CRS), led by Elizabeth Kline, developed the report, Defining a Sustainable Community. They identify 4 major "pathways" or categories of sustainable community: economic security, ecological integrity, quality of life, and empowerment with responsibility. These pathways were used later to create their Sustainable Community Indicators report, which broke the pathways down into measurable indicators. The indicators were determined through literature reviews, interviews with Cambridge government officials, community activists, nonprofit representatives, and the general public as well as through consultations with other community indicator projects. Researchers also evaluated the indicators for their relevance and practicality.

These documents served as a basis for the public forums run by the Cambridge Civic Forum (CCF), a coalition of city representatives, nonprofit organizations, community activists, educators, and residents. The forums run by the CCF act as a "laboratory" for sustainable indicators, where different groups use the indicators to guide their work. The Civic Forum uses an interesting technique which they have termed "reaching in." This technique involves going to community group meetings to find out their specific concerns and ideas. It is based on the idea that participants feel more comfortable within their "home-base" and are better able to voice concerns and ideas specific to their community than to create an abstract vision of sustainability based on the larger Cambridge area.

As Elizabeth Kline states, "This process is not a substitute for a community-driven indicators project. Rather it is intended as an educational tool to give people better clues about what needs to be measured; how to know whether or not they are on track with their efforts; and how to hold themselves and others accountable for actions."5 Though not a community-driven project, the Cambridge indicator project did allow Tufts to further recognize itself as a member of its community, and to serve as an important resource. In addition, the collaboration between the CRS and the Cambridge Civic Forum strengthens the connections between the university and surrounding community. Next, these communities need to learn how to use this indicator project as a resource to improve programs and policies. Currently, the project lacks a specific "objectives document" that would prioritize policy and planning reforms.