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& q How does the GreenStep program define sustainability; what's the vision? Defining the state or condition of sustainability in a city, and the city process of and accomplishments from moving toward greater sustainability - sustainable development - is best done by each city. That said, much has been written about sustainability since the 1980s. For an excellent overview, and a discussion of resilience, see (1) Sustainable Development and Its Discontents (Dembach & Cheever: 2015). GreenStep suggests, as a starting point, that cities consider the MPCA's page (2) "What makes a community sustainable?" and the (3) definition and policy language adopted by the League of Minnesota Cities. The GreenStep program, being based in a state environmental agency, focuses on environmental sustainability but clearly weaves in economic and social issues as well. The city performance metrics of Steps 4 and 5 include a few economic and social sustainability measures but cities are encouraged to develop measures of their own to fully flesh out measurement in these other two core areas of sustainability. The program vision of Minnesota GreenStep Cities is that environmental sustainability becomes the norm for all Minnesota cities. By norm we mean an accepted standard or way of thinking and doing things that most people agree with. Norms tend to take hold and spread when 15-20% of the 'target population' adopt them. Depending on how you categorize the 125+ GreenStep cities - by geographic region, size cohorts - GreenStep feels we are making a measurable contribution to making sustainability the norm in Minnesota cities. (1) Sustainable Development and its Discontents 43 Pages Posted: 23 Jul 2015 Last revised: 29 Jul 2019 Federico Cheever University of Denver Sturm College of Law (deceased) John C. Dernbach Widener University - Commonwealth Law School Abstract Sustainable development (or sustainability) is a decision making fratricwork for maintaining and achieving human \yell being, both in the present and into the future. The framework requires both consideration and achievement of environmental protection, social justice, and economic development. In that framework, environmental protection must be urtegrated into decisions about social and economic development, and social justice and economic viability must be integrated into decisions about environmental quality. First endorsed by the world's nations in 1992, this framework is intended to provide an effective response to the twin global challenges of growing environmental degradation and widespread extreme poverty. Sustainability provides a framework for humans to live in harmony with nature, rather than at nature's expense. It may therefore be one of the most important ideas to come out of the 20th century. In the last two decades, the framework has become a touchstone in nearly every economic sector and at every level of government, unleashing an extraordinary range of creativity in all those realms. Sustainable development is having a significant effect on the practice of law and on the way in which laws are written and implemented. Understanding the framework is increasingly important for law makers and lawyers.