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ßÌÌßÝØÓÛÒÌ Ý Planning & Development Planning City of Eugene th 99 West 10 Avenue M Eugene, Oregon 97401 EMORANDUM (541) 682-5485 (541) 682-5572 FAX www.eugene-or.gov Date: March 2, 2011 To: Eugene City Council From: Matt McRae Subject: Envision Eugene Triple Bottom Line Overview Triple Bottom Line Overview The triple bottom line tool (TBL) assesses multiple values and acknowledges that actions have social, environmental, and economic impacts. The assessment is intended to support staff and community members in recognizing potential impacts, both positive and negative, across all three areas of sustainability. By providing a means of exploring issues from different perspectives, the framework informs potential impacts, benefits and trade-offs associated with important choices. What is the TBL tool? The TBL tool is simply a set of questions and prompts to guide discussion, thinking and decision making. The questions focus on potential impacts in three areas: economic prosperity, social equity and environmental health. These questions help to uncover issues that might not have been considered in the process. Often times, the questions in the TBL tool reflect much of what is already considered in the course of work, but in a more systematic and deliberate way. In the simplest terms, the TBL tool is a way to help us have a whole conversation. The TBL tool is : not A tool that makes decisions or tells decision makers which option to choose. A detailed analytical assessment or substitute for cost/benefit analysis, environmental impact statement, or other technical analysis. A guarantee that all impacts have been identified Intended to measure the magnitude or relative importance of various impacts - If that information is needed, additional research and analysis would be required. TBL and Envision Eugene As we conclude the first year of aggressively applying the TBL tool in the City of Eugene, we are adapting the tool to improve its ability to inform discussions. By applying the tool to Envision Eugene, for example, we have discovered a number of new best practices that can be applied in future efforts. Process To conduct this TBL, we invited a mixed group of community members and staff with particular expertise to participate in TBL discussions covering eight of the Envision Eugene strategies. Four different groups met, each spending three hours and covering one to three strategies. Sustainability Commissioners, Planning Commissioners, Human Rights Commissioners, Neighborhood Leaders Council members, and Community i Resource Group members participated. The summary notes, linked here, include a list of participants and their affiliations so you can see the mix of participants. The participants were not expected to provide all possible