The Northwest Environmental Training Center presents:

Triple Bottom Line Reporting
Measuring Environmental, Social and Economic Performance
Course ID: SUST - 404
May 22-23, 2008, 9:00 A.M. to 5 P.M. (2 Days)
REI Downtown Seattle
Second Floor :: South Room
222 Yale Ave N :: Seattle, WA

Instructors: Laura Musikanski, Senior Consultant Sustainability, ENTRIX, Inc.
Richard Gelb, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks

& Burr Stewart, Strategic Planning Manager for the Port of Seattle

Register Online | Course Catalog | Directions | Course Brochure PDF | Accommodations

Description: There is a growing trend of governmental agencies and non-profit organizations issuing triple bottom line reports.  Accountability for environmental, social and economic impacts of a company is increasingly becoming a part of every manager or governmental official’s job.  However, there is much uncertainty and inconsistency in the field.  

Triple bottom line reporting is emerging as an important and necessary part of an organization’s disclosure. Two main issues addressed are 1) what a triple bottom line report is and 2) the areas addressed in a triple bottom line report. The first issue involves establishing an understanding of the triple bottom line and a structure for accountability. The second issue deals with identifying boundaries, a methodology for reporting and development of an understanding of the issues around subject areas in reporting.
           
The first day of this class will focus on defining triple bottom line (TBL) accounting: a brief discussion of the linkages between sustainability, corporate social responsibility, regulatory compliance and TBL reporting, the frameworks, performance areas and indicators for a TBL report, examples of TBL reports.  The second day will cover boundaries, drivers, risks, liabilities, and stakeholder issues relative to triple bottom line reporting in theory and practice using examples from triple bottom line reports. The class will end by identifying factors for successful implementation of triple bottom line accounting and criteria for the quality of a triple bottom line report.


Course Topics:

Defining Triple Bottom Line Reporting
Linkage to sustainability, corporate social responsibility, regulatory compliance and TBL reporting
Frameworks and subject areas for TBL reports
Indicators for subject areas and for industries
Boundaries within performance areas and for an organization
Drivers, risks and liabilities
Stakeholder issues: relevance, monitoring, verification
Success tips for implementation of TBL accounting
Criteria for quality in TBL reports

About the instructor: Ms. Laura Musikanski is a lawyer with an MBA and Certificate in Environmental Management from the  University of Washington. Laura focused her business and legal education around the sustainability movement.  Over the last 5 years she has written sustainability reports and consulted to non-profits, governmental agencies, and small, medium and large enterprises. She is on the board of Sustainable Seattle, serving as Vice President and Treasurer.  Currently Laura is the sustainability practice leader at ENTRIX, Inc., a national environmental and natural resources consulting company.

About the guest speakers:
Richard Gelb is the performance manager for King County DNRP, where he helps determine success measures, tracks progress, and reports on achievements. Program areas he supports include wastewater, solid waste, parks, and water and land resources. He serves on the Countywide Performance Management Workgroup and coordinates the infrastructure committee for King County’s Green Building Team. In a prior role, he served as the Sustainable Building Coordinator for Seattle Parks and Recreation and as an advisor for the Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment. Richard has a BS in Business Administration, a Masters in Environmental Science, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Burr Stewart is a transportation and environmental planner with 30 years experience, mostly with the planning and management of Seattle – Tacoma International Airport for the Port of Seattle. Before that he worked nationally in railroad and energy conservation planning. He currently works on strategic planning at the corporate level of the Port of Seattle, focusing mainly on sustainability strategies and developing a portwide climate change program. Burr has been active in industry groups at all levels, and is the founding chair of the new subcommittee on aviation sustainability at the Transportation Research Board, as well as membership on the strategic management and transportation sustainability committees. He also chairs the Airport Cooperative Research Program Synthesis Program Advisory Panel. At the Airports Council International – North America, he co-chairs the environmental committee’s sustainability work group. In his local community, he is active in several sustainability collaboratives including the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce business sustainability committee and chairs the Seattle Rotary environmental committee. He holds an FAA private pilots license, a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Masters in City & Regional Planning from Harvard University.

Case study: For several years, King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP) has successfully used performance information to enhance service delivery, improve program effectiveness, and maintain public accountability. In 2007, DNRP updated its mission and goals to better enable a Triple Bottom Line approach to performance management and reporting. Additionally, DNRP is advancing a Triple Life Cycle Assessment framework for its infrastructure developments to help optimize and report on benefits realized through these investments. In this session, participants will review and critique DNRP’s 2007 performance report and explore how TBL principles can applied in the planning phase to inform business decisions that help drive organizations toward more sustainable practices.

Intended audience: Managers, business owners and government officials interested in managing and measuring environmental, social and economic performance and/or in issuing a triple bottom line report. Anyone interested in understanding triple bottom line report formation.

After completing this course participants will be able to:

Understand the frameworks and performance areas of triple bottom line reports
Identify and access indicators appropriate to their organization for a TBL report
Understand the drivers, risks and liabilities in issuing a TBL report and ways to manage for them
Identify boundary issues and a rational for defining boundaries
Understand stakeholder issues and how to identify and determine a methodology for determining which stakeholders to engage
Understand factors for successful implementation of a TBL report
Determine the quality of a TBL report

Prerequisites: None.

Course materials: Each participant will receive a copy of the course proceedings including notes and reference material on the first day of the course.

Continuing education units: 1.3 (13 hours of certified study)

What to bring: Mechanical pencil, coffee mug and water bottle (to reduce waste). Please wear comfortable clothing appropriate for the prevailing weather. Coffee, tea, breakfast pastries, drinks and snacks will be provided each day. Lunch on your own.

Parking:
$2.00 all day parking for this event (REI garage).
We will give you a parking sticker as you register in the morning.

REGISTRATION:
$295 business / $250 government rate / $195 Native American Tribes, Student & Non-Profit Rate
PLEASE PRE-REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE, WALK-INS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED.

Cancellation Policy: Registration fees are fully refundable up to 30 days prior to the event and 50 percent refundable thereafter up to the day prior to the event. Registration may occur up to the day prior to the event provided that space is available. You may register via the registration link or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center at 206-762-1976.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST | REQUEST OR SUGGEST A TRAINING COURSE | OTHER PROGRAMS OF EOS ALLIANCE

To find out more about NWETC's programs send us email.

Northwest Environmental Training Center
A nonprofit 501(c)(3) program of EOS Alliance
650 S. Orcas Street, Suite 220, Seattle, Washington 98108
Phone: (206)762-1976, Fax: (206)762-1979
www.nwetc.org