Circles of Sustainability Methodology
The Circles of Sustainability approach offers an integrated method for practically responding to complex issues of sustainability, resilience, adaptation, and liveability. It is being used to guide Hobart through the difficult process of responding to complex or seemingly intractable problems and challenges associated with building long-term sustainability.[1] The approach builds upon the strengths of a research program developed in association with Metropolis, the UN Global Compact Cities Programme, World Vision and a number of other key international organizations. It was developed through practical engagement in cities around the world including Berlin, Melbourne, Milwaukee, New Delhi, Porto Alegre, San Francisco, and Valletta, to name a few.[2]
The Circles of Sustainability profile process is intended as a way of developing an interpretative description of the sustainability of an urban region and its immediate hinterland. Here sustainability is understood in relation to local, national, and global processes: ecological, economic, political and cultural. The Circles of Sustainability process is considered part of the more general Circles of Social Life assessment process, which includes considerations of vitality, productivity, relationality and sustainability (including resilience and adaptation).
The sustainability profile template is intended as way of developing a more comprehensive understanding of an ‘urban region’—in this case, Hobart. By responding to the questions in the Urban Profile Question it is possible to generate a clear and simple graphic representation of the sustainability profile of that region.
Urban profiles for each of the three Antarctic cities have been developed following the Circles of Sustainability Approach.
The profile process uses a systematic series of qualitative questions organized around a four-domain model. By answering these questions across the full range of the social practices and meanings it is intended that a simple figurative representation can be developed of the complexity of a given situation at a given time. To develop the profiles of the three cities, 150 experts have been involved thus far.