Once in a while a book comes along that warrants specific mention. One book that surely meets that criterion is a recently released book edited by Gilbert Silvius and Jennifer Tharp, 
Disclaimer: In this post we will feature two environmental activists. We do this only to show what they've done, what they've accomplished, and the connection to our discipline of project management.
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The Gold At The End of the Rainbow
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Chapter 4 of our book, Green Project Management, is titled, “A Rainbow of Green”. In that chapter, we make what we think is one of the most important points of the entire ‘sustainability in PM’ thought process: all projects need to have sustainability thinking integrated. But we acknowledge that there is a spectrum of projects, some of which don’t have an intuitive sustainability element (perhaps the project of upgrading an accounting software package) and some which have a noticeable sustainability component (perhaps the project of building a new highway segment). Still others are “green by definition” – that is, they are projects dedicated to reducing contaminants, saving species, creating better working conditions, or producing renewable energy. The cover story of UMASS magazine, the magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, has a cover that caught our attention. Their Summer 2013 issue features a major story on “Climate Change: Searching for Solutions, Local and Global. If you’re interested in science, technology, engineering, and/or management, you’ll enjoy the story. As individuals involved in all of the above – plus being on staff at the University level in teaching PM, International Business, Qualitative and Quantitative Decision Making, and of course Sustainability courses, it’s even more intensely interesting to us. We won’t duplicate the story, but we do encourage you to read it. What we would like to do is to underline the connection between projects and sustainability in this story, but before we do we want to warn you that this is at one end of that ‘rainbow’ we talk about in our book. Do not – repeat – do not forget that the aspects of sustainability so obvious in these projects still deserve attention if your project does not (on face value) have any sustainability elements in it. So we recommend you see these intersections as inspirational but NOT as an excuse that your project is exempt. First of all, the word “project” is prolific in the article. The simple fact that the word comes up repeatedly is a reminder of the fact that as PMs we contribute greatly in the efforts at the University level to research, discover, and act on climate problems. To illustrate this, we zoom in on Rick Palmer, Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMass and Director of the Northeast Climate Science Center, of which UMass is a part. We adapt this text from the article: Since coming to UMass five years ago, the head of Civil and Environmental Engineering has gotten involved in several new projects. 1. With the Nature Conservancy, he’s studying the effects of climate change on the Connecticut River. 2. With faculty in Environmental Conservation, he’s helping to design better fish passageways. 3. With researchers at Columbia and Drexel University, he is studying the impact of climate change on urban areas. 4. Recently spearheaded the successful effort to have UMass lead and host the Northeast Climate Science Center (NECSC). 5. His engineering career began with a project calculating the number of drinking water reservoirs needed by Washington, DC to meet its future needs. 6. The CSRC (Climate System Research Center) faculty is working on a project to examine the impact of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. 7. Another CSRC project is to analyze sediments on the Japanese coast to descover the record of fierce Kamikaze Winds which twice destroyed the Mongol fleet when it attempted to invade Japan 1,000 years ago. Project, project, project, project, project, climate change, project, sustainability, climate, project, sustainability. All are incredibly intertwined here. “Our primary goal is to help people come to grips with the changes from global warming, plan accordingly, and make good decisions,” Palmer says. Think about that one powerful paragraph for a moment. Think about the connection to our discipline no matter what type of PM you happen to be. The elements are striking: · Collaboration between diverse organizations · Collaboration even between competitive universities · “Coming to grips with changes” · Aiding managers and policymakers in making good decisions Sound familiar? Isn’t this what you already do on your projects? If not, you may be in the wrong career. But remember – this is a spectrum, a rainbow. As the projects move towards the ‘Green in General’ side, the effort to find the linkages, the integration, the interworking with longer-term thinking needs to increase significantly. And we assert that it’s you – the change-agent project manager that can bring that integration, the gold at one end of the rainbow, to the other side. |
Sustainability Integration for Effective Project Management - A Brand New Book!
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This book contains 24 chapters of current and important information on sustainable project management. It also provides an overview of literature on sustainability in projects and project management and a compilation of references. It a wealth of information. The unique thing about the book is that Dr. Silvius and Ms. Tharp are joined by some of the most influential thought leaders in the sustainability project management world like; Roland Gareis, Ron Schipper, Tom Mochal and Andrea Krasnoff, to name a few,. Those people with other thought leaders in the field contribute chapters to the book. Rich and I were privileged to be asked to contribute a chapter, which we did entitled Project Manager as a Pivot Point for Implementing Sustainability in an Enterprise. Our contribution highlights the “special importance of the project manager with respect to implementing sustainability at their enterprise.” No doubt, it is a weighty tome, physical as well as content. It is 454 pages (large, textbook type format) including the appendices, index and CV of the chapter authors. Again, the chapter author’s list reads like a virtual who’s who of sustainable project management authority. Since we began researching our book in 2007, and ultimately published it in 2010, there have been many books written about sustainable project management, some very good, like Kevin Wilhelm’s Return on Sustainability, How business can increase profits & address climate change in a uncertain economy (Dog Ear Publishing 2009) and as lead author, Dr. Silvius’ Sustainability in Project Management (Gower 2012), and some not so good. The ones that are not so good do not forward the topic, but rather rehashed know concepts. As Sgt. Phil Esterhaus of the old TV series Hill Street Blues was fond of saying “Let’s be careful out there.” There are imitators “out there” with very close titles, so make sure you are getting the real deal! Sustainability Integration for Effective Project Management is the real deal. This book ranks in the highly contributory category, with chapters on stakeholder perspective, significant case studies, practical applications of sustainability to projects, and much, much more. It is well worth the price to add to your personal library or at the least, recommend it for your organization or school’s library. The front cover says “Premier Reference Source” and that it is. If you want to connect with the thought leaders in sustainable project management, all you have to do is review the section “About the Contributors.” I am not saying that all of the thought leaders in the field are represented there, and I am saying that it is a good place to start. Most contributors have websites and/or blog sites that are store-houses of information on sustainability in project management. Anyone of them would be glad to direct you to webinars, seminars and classes for legitimate sustainability in project management training. As with any subject, it is good to have a guide to help you with your decisions for pursuing additional information. Again, any one of the experts listed can help, including me and my partner Rich Maltzman. It is all about forwarding the practice of sustainable project management, or as we say, being “at the intersection of green (or even better, sustainability) and project management.” |
Is recycling a pyramid scheme?
Categories:
Government
Categories: Government
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Question: Did the ancient Egyptians recycle?
Question: Did ancient Egyptians feel the effects of climate change?
Of what do we speak? We’re referring to the Pharaoh Psusennes, pictured above, as told on a recent Public Broadcasting System (PBS) show called ‘The Silver Pharaoh”.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/featured/the-silver-pharaoh-about-this-episode/669/ Here's some of the transcript of the show, adapted a bit for this posting (but not changed in fact or intent): Among the most extraordinary findings about Psusennes was his relocation of the metropolis of Pi-Ramesse to Tanis. Pi-Ramesse was the fabled riverside capital built by Rameses II. Its location had puzzled archaeologists for years until Montet discovered its ruins in Tanis. However, archaeologists began questioning Montet’s assumption since the river Nile often changed course. Using radar scans along a previously discounted delta settlement 12 miles from Tanis, they discovered the foundation of Rameses’ lost city. Historians knew that Pi-Ramesse became unlivable when the Nile became too silted at this location and around that same time, Psusennes took the throne ordering the city be moved stone by stone to Tanis, over 100km to the northwest of Pi-Ramesses. obelisks and statues, the largest weighing over 200 tons, were transported in one piece while major buildings were dismantled into sections and reassembled at Tanis. Stone from the less important buildings was reused and recycled for the creation of new temples and buildings Only a king with matchless power and wealth could command such a colossal task. And only the best project managers, using Microsoft Project 0.00001 or Oracle Primavera 1900BC had a shot at overseeing the undertakings, given the dependencies and scope creep involved. Imagine the change requests coming in from top leadership! Talk about a Work Breakdown Structure- this was a Metropolitan Breakdown Structure – literally. They moved the city to the new branch establishing Djanet (Tanis) on its banks, 100 km (62 mi) to the north-west of Pi-Ramesses as the new capital of Lower Egypt. The Pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty transported all the old Ramesside temples, obelisks, stelae, statues and sphinxes from Pi-Ramesses to the new site. The root cause of this recycling It is now known that the Pelusiac branch of the Nile began silting up c. 1060 BCE, leaving the city without water when the river eventually established a new course to the west now called the Tanitic branch. So as a result of a change in the environment, major projects were triggered. Knowing what we know about ocean level rise, ice melt, increased extreme weather and other effects of climate change, will we be moving Washington or Tokyo or Shanghai or Prague brick-by-brick? |
Keep the change.
Categories:
Activism
Categories: Activism
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Project management is about change. It's literally about change because we try to make projects more effective and efficient, leaving our sponsors with a little bit of change (as in money, thus the image above). It's also about change because by definition, projects are put in place to make a change. A bridge where there was none before. A new release of software which didn't exist last week. A new drug. It's all about change, and so by definition, we are agents of change. When it comes to the environment, this does not mean that we all need to become members of Greenpeace. However, if we feel the inclination to do something about climate change, we have more power (excuse the pun) to do so, and to pull away from that urge to do so, we deny what should be in our own PM DNA. Here are two examples of activism with regards to the environment, which are recent and striking - and also which have been effective. Tim DeChristopher - Bidder 70 Soon, you willl be able to see a movie - a documentary - with this title. It tells the story of Tim DeChristopher, an environmental activist who went to a US Federal Bureau of Land Management auction, and... well, we'd rather let the movie's web page describe what happened: On December 19, 2008 Tim DeChristopher disrupted a highly disputed Utah BLM Oil and Gas lease auction, effectively safeguarding thousands of acres of pristine Utah land that were slated for oil and gas leases. Not content to merely protest outside, Tim entered the auction hall and registered as bidder #70. He outbid industry giants on land parcels (which, starting at $2 an acre, were adjacent to national treasures like Canyonlands National Park), winning 22,000 acres of land worth $1.7 million before the auction was halted. Two months later, incoming Interior Secretary Ken Salazar invalidated the auction. DeChristopher, however, was indicted on two federal felonies with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. Patrick Shea, former BLM Director for Clinton, represented DeChristopher pro-bono. With the threat of prison looming, DeChristopher stepped up his activism and evolved into a charismatic and ingenious climate justice leader. He co-founded Peaceful Uprising, a grass-roots group dedicated to defending a livable future through empowering non-violent action. After two years and nine postponements, his trial began on February 28, 2011. Outside the courtroom, hundreds rallied in solidarity with Tim. Inside, Judge Dee Benson disallowed every defense his lawyers put forth. After a five-day trial, DeChristopher was found guilty. His sentencing was scheduled for summer 2012. Refusing to back down, Tim flew to D.C. in April 2011 to give a keynote speech at Power Shift 2011 in front of 10,000 students. He then led students to occupy the Department of the Interior. Tim wisely avoided arrest, but dozens of others were arrested for this mass act of peaceful civil disobedience. Tim just finished serving his sentence. Here he is on the US talk show, "Late Night with David Letterman":
Ma Jun's new playbook for change in China A recent story in Time magazine shows us another, very different, but equally effective form of activism, this time in China. Ma Jun, who founded the non-profit Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs in 2006, in China, has aimed at cleaning up China's environment. After all (see our post covering the book, The Devouring Dragon) China is responsible for about 25% of global carbon emissions. Ma worked with the government to effect change, not by stopping an auction, like DeChristopher, but instead by the power of data. This snippet from the article makes the main point: Working with two staffers (he now has 10) in a tiny Beijing office suite, Ma found a creative way forward. Rather than overtly pressuring the government--a strategy that rarely succeeds in China--he embraced the government's data as a tool. Ma cut a deal to put China's records about pollution by Western firms and their suppliers online, then used that information to quietly pressure the companies. The results have been remarkable. A 2011 report on Apple, for instance, resulted in a major effort to clean up environmental violations in the company's supply chain. Ma hopes for even more impact with his new action against the huge power and energy companies that are responsible for the lion's share of China's pollution. Because they are largely owned by the Communist Party and funded by state-owned banks, they've traditionally been off-limits for criticism. But buoyed by his wins with Western corporate giants, Ma recently announced plans to compile a similar database on these SOEs. "It's a much more delicate issue," he says with a somewhat nervous smile. "We're not sure yet how it will all work out." Ma's leverage this time is that the government is increasingly concerned about the environment. Leaders know the issue has the potential to galvanize mass protests, bringing out everyone from rural farmers whose land is contaminated by heavy metals to soccer moms worried that their children will get asthma from playing outside their schools in the Beijing smog. The initial goal is to coax the SOEs to grab the low-hanging fruit--retrofitting coal-fired power plants to reduce the worst emissions or stopping overproduction of steel. (China churns out 1 billion tons of it a year even though total global demand is only 1.7 billion tons.) Whether with auction disruptions (like DeChristopher) or increased transparency (like Ma Jun), we see that it's possible to be a change agent in the area of environmentalism. As a project manager, we can be change agents in - and around - our projects. A quick example. We're trying to purchase some supplies for the project and have a choice of two vendors. One has a product which is more environmentally-friendly but consts a little more. How do we justify the more expensive material? Event though the project itself may only use a little in the pilot period, we know that this material will be used in quantity when the product is handed over to operations. We could tie the rationale to the company's environmental purchasing policy. Wait. We don't have one? We can be the change agent that suggests a company policy. Why not? We are, after all... change agents. Have a look at the two stories, see if they inspire you to become that agent of change that you already are. |
Sing of Songdo and Sustainability (Part 2)
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I promised to do another blog posting on New Song Christine Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and Member, International Advisory Board for Songdo City wrote the foreword to the “Green Book.” She says “The rapid growth of suburban sprawl that I observed during my seven years as the Garden State’s governor awakened many in my state to the environmental damage caused by unchecked and uncoordinated development. It is a trend witnessed across the country, around the globe, with the Republic of Korea a prime example. Over the past four decades, Korea has been transformed from a predominantly rural society to one overwhelming urban, and the nation’s ecological footprint has grown so large that it is now among the top 10 in carbon-dioxide emissions in the world.” She further asks “Is the solution to climate change to build cleaner-burning cars? Is it more nuclear energy and other emission-free sources? Does it require more recycling and less energy waste?” She answers that question stating what we, at EarthPM have always believed, that it takes all of those projects and a holistic view, from the design, to the materials, to efficiency of usage, to looking at the end product, cradle-to-cradle, to have a sustainable project. The Green Book also includes the quote from the Bruntland Commission, 1987, a quote we also use in our book to define sustainability; “Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” I also know that, as project managers, we are interested in statistics. Using actual versus potential is a good way to build a business case, in this case for sustainability. Here are a few used in the Green Book Annual green house gas (GHG) emissions of a typical low-density development – 780,000 tons o Potential GHG emissions of high-density New Songdo City – 260,000 tons Annual CO2 emissions from building energy demands 350 buildings, conventional) – 674,000 tons o LEED certified – 250,000 tons Annual CO2 emissions from building transportation demands, typical low-density – 109,200 tons o Non-car dependent - using diesel buses (70% residents )– 17,290 tons o New Songdo City potential using hydrogen buses (70% residents) – 7,740 tons
One thing to remember is that as project managers (and citizens of the world for that matter), we manage the scarce resources of our projects. By extension, and an assertion of ours, the environmental influences of the project is another of those scarce resources. So I’d like to close this installment with another quote from the Green Book. “Our cities, our industries, and our lives today consume far more resources than nature can sustain, causing an extreme imbalance in our planet’s ecosystems. Sustainable design in urban planning and architecture can help to balance the ebbs and flows of these ecosystems with economic and social mechanisms, so that what a city consumes in resources is balanced by the resource recovery efforts leaving ample reserves for the needs of future generations.” This is some food for thought when considering your next “building” project, or for that matter, the philosophy in that statement can be universally applied whenever scarce resources are used. That’s just about anything, right? There is so much more information on sustainability provided in the Green Book that you may be seeing more related posts in the future. Pictured right is the canal walk. (All pictures used with permission.)
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