Sustainable Community Development

            St. Mary's County in southern Maryland is rich in biological, historic, and cultural resources.  This fast- growing region boasts economic opportunities in such sectors as high- tech business, tourism, and recreation.  It is also beset by heavy development pressures and undergoing incipient sprawl. For some time we have been been deeply involved in efforts to manage growth better in this region.  Our goal is to engage local citizens and leaders in a broad effort to define core values and aspirations connected to place, and build community consensus and policy around them.  Our methodology's organizing principle is whole systems thinking, as defined and practiced in recent years by the late Donella Meadows and others, and applying this methodology to critical issues in a rapidly evolving community.

            Already, a team of prominent whole-systems thinkers we have assembled has done much to influence the County's top leaders to approach decision-making from a holistic perspective.  Now we are embarking on a pioneering partnership with St. Mary's College, a first-class liberal arts branch of the University of Maryland, to create a model for utilizing local academic institutions to build ongoing community resources to support this type of thinking. 

            The inter-disciplinary River Lands Institute will relate the College's scientific, cultural and socio-economic knowledge to community needs, and build a  "land ethic" rooted in shared values.   Representatives of several academic departments will base research, education, and outreach activities at the Institute.  SDI's team will act as a bridge between town and gown, integrating data, facilitating dialogue, and documenting the outcomes in a book (already under contract) and other print and electronic publications.  The Institute's achievements will clearly show how an academic institution can interact more closely and more creatively with the place that surrounds it, to the benefit of students, faculty, citizens, and community.

            As an initial venture for the Institute, we and the College are focusing on the St. Mary's River watershed as a prototype for future projects at the Institute and elsewhere.  The watershed, which lies entirely within the County and forms the very heart of its ecosystem, is a microcosm of the land-use issues faced by the County as a whole.  For several years College scientists and students have been studying trends in the watershed's water quality and biodiversity.  Our group has launched a systems-based examination of past, present, and future land uses involving an intensive Geographical Information Systems mapping program. Currently we are engaging the community in analyzing these findings, visualizing the consequences of various development options, and conducting watershed management planning activities.  This initiative addresses an important goal of the tri-state Chesapeake Bay Agreement.  It also provides a model for building a community's understanding and stewardship of its unique natural, economic, cultural, and historical resources.

            A book about St. Mary's County's history, culture, and evolution is under contract to the University of Georgia Press for delivery in December 2003.