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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK Keeping Up - What's New In Sustainability?   By ISSP President and EcoSTEPS Sustainability Partner Julian Crawford of Sydney, Australia   Dear Fellow ISSP Members, As you know, ISSP is the world's leading association for sustainability professionals. Formed in 2007, the first few years were focussed on getting established and building membership, services and credibility.      Julian Crawford Now, with three very successful conferences and almost a thousand members from every region in the world, ISSP is changing gears and stepping up with the development of the global Sustainability Professional Certification program.    ISSP members are actively engaging with the most important global issues facing our societies.  They're upskilling and learning, sharing resources and best practices.  We are also developing ourselves professionally via coaching, job postings and learning events hosted both on-line and live by ISSP. Did you know that ISSP offers an exciting range of online, web-based, educational opportunities for members and non-members?  ISSP's instructors are experts and practitioners in their sustainability fields. Upcoming events include a webinar that I'm hosting soon on the emerging Circular Economy.  We're also travelling to Jakarta, Indonesia in April to conduct a full week of training under the ISSP Educational Certificate Program.     In summary, there is a great deal going on and all members are encouraged to participate!  The COP21meeting in Paris in November is important for all of us.  Maintaining our energy and focus in the months ahead is crucial.  Exciting times.... Book Review: Overfished Ocean Strategy  Written by Nadya Zhexembayeva Reviewed for ISSP by Faye Sinnott The Overfished Ocean Strategy makes a great combination with the work of Bob Willard and The Natural Step. Nadya articulates the "burning platform" that makes both approaches effectively mesh, and then goes on to describe a practical vision of what has to change. In the words of Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, "The economy is broken... it's systemic and it's global. The economy is broken because the principles that make the marketplace thrive will eventually destroy it." Nadya goes on to explain how old management paradigms no longer apply, and how smart companies are organizing to compete in a world of declining resources. She lists five principles, explains what is meant by each, and gives some examples of companies beginning to use them.  The five are: From Line to Circle: Another way of saying Cradle to Cradle (this also addresses waste and toxicity); From Vertical to Horizontal: Going beyond the usual boundaries of one's company to the risks - and opportunities - hiding within the entire system; From Growth to Growth: Not selling more widgets, but selling more value - designing total solutions, unique experiences, and so on; From Plan to Model: Recognizing the limits of planning in the face of extreme uncertainty, and that modelling and scenario planning have greater utility for adaptation; From Department to Mindset: A new way for the entire company to look at the world. Rather than creating fiefdoms and looking for scapegoats, discover value where it was previously invisible and impossible. Nadya shares a number of resources along the way, which are valuable. She has also spent considerable time thinking about why it's so hard to use terms like "green" and "sustainable" to motivate business change. She asks a provocative question: if someone were to ask how your marriage is, and you reply "sustainable," how inspiring is that? She suggests that we need an entirely new language, and we already have its beginnings. Her final chapter gives her thoughts on adaptive and emergent approaches to strategy. She suggests companies cannot analyze their way into new business models; they can only learn and innovate their way in. This book does not give quick fixes. There are none. Nadya speaks about principles, and suggests that each organization is much better off developing their own unique business models for a fast changing world of limited resources.  "The collapse of the linear throwaway economy is not a question of "if" but of "when." Overfished Ocean Strategy: Powering Up Innovation for a Resource-Deprived World, by Nadya Zhexembayeva. 208 pp. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. San Francisco. ©2013 ISBN-10: 1609949641 ISBN-13: 978-1609949648 Back to Top     Updates From The American Sustainable Business Council    ISSP is proud to continue our partnership with theAmerican Sustainable Business Council (ASBC). ASBC's mission is to educate and inform the public andpolicymakers about the benefits of a more sustainable economy, as well as policies and practices that can help the economy become more sustainable. Follow the link for ASBC's updates and policy action calls on federal-level legislation and regulations: Support Clean Water Rules: Clean water is essential to the survival and success of the American economy. Manufacturing, food production and public health all depend on clean water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing new rules - "Waters of the US" - to clarify its jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.  Sign the business letter to show your support for EPA's proposed rules, and help ensure our wetlands, streams and rivers are protected.