Sustainability is the ability to keep going; ensuring that what we do today does not limit the range of economic, social and environmental options available tomorrow. For a community like Charleston, it means growing and developing in ways that protect the environment, promote economic prosperity, and enhance social well being for all residents. In other words, sustainability is maintaining a good quality of life for years to come. While environmental issues are most often cited, sustainability also includes economic and social factors as being integrally important.

States, municipalities, educational institutions and corporate enterprises are now beginning to initiate sustainability plans. Both West Virginia and Charleston are doing a number of things that contribute to the sustainability concept. The mayor's support for FestivAll is a good example of trying to keep Charleston attractive to younger citizens and therefore make our talent pool competitive over time. Commendable and creative steps like this must be integrated into an overall plan if they are to have a long-term impact, however. Without a long-range strategy, we may already be behind other communities.

A sustainability plan is the development of a road map to prioritize, implement and measure sustainable best-practices for a community. It involves a process of identifying and quantifying a set of principles that would guide the establishment of goals and subsequent implementation of strategies to ensure sustainability. In turn, it would provide leadership for staff, key decision-makers and citizens as they work on sustainability efforts.

Here are some examples: Cincinnati is tracking the number of new business startups, the percentage of the workforce between the ages of 20 and 35 and the percent of the workforce earning enough to be self-sufficient. Portland, Ore., is committed to reducing energy consumption in city buildings and increasing energy use from renewable sources. Minneapolis is counting the number of newly planted trees and acres of permeable surfaces. Santa Monica, Calif., is measuring the mix of affordable green housing units. Pittsburgh is measuring and tracking its usage of public transportation as well as the percentage of population at a healthy weight. Whitehorse, Yukon, looks at the sense of community as measured by civic engagement as well as programs to promote intergenerational interaction. Lexington, Ky., has a program to support local food suppliers and Charlottesville, Va., has a specific focus on cultural preservation.

Sustainability plans clearly cut across all city activities and vary in emphasis from locale to locale. There is no single formula for sustainability planning. The key is to create a vision of where the city wants to be with its sustainability efforts; build collaboration of key shareholders; identify and prioritize impacts; set specific goals; develop ways to measure progress; ensure continuous improvement; and communicate results.

In addition, all plans tend to incorporate some sort of strategy to make their residents aware of the need for sustainability and to educate them in ways of participating in the city's programs.

A sustainability plan for Charleston first and perhaps most importantly could help Charleston become more competitive in maintaining its quality of life. It could make Charleston a more desirable place to live and work in the future and offer stiff competition against other cities that are not as forward looking.

Such a plan would also: