In a meeting held the evening of Jan. 19, community members and Dartmouth faculty and students joined together to map out a long-term environmental plan for the Upper Valley as part of the Valley Vital Signs Project.
The environmental group, one of 14 areas within the Vital Signs Project, is working to develop community indicators that measure water quality, air quality, energy efficiency, energy sources, waste recycling and production and hazardous waste in the Upper Valley.
According to Vital Signs Coordinator Delia Clark, the project intends to use indicators to identify strengths and weaknesses in the community's social, economic and environmental structure.
While the selection of community indicators remains early in its development, current possibilities suggest an Audubon bird species count, drinking water quality, the amount of solid waste recycled and barrels of trash collected per year.
Environmental Studies Professor Diana Wright, a member of the group, said the chosen indicators, to be effective, must "speak to the heart."
"We're trying to make people aware of what's happening, to ask themselves, 'What is the direction we're heading?' and 'Which direction do we want to go?" Wright explained.
Greg Richards '96, in charge of finding an indicator for biodiversity in the roughly 37 townships of the Upper Valley, said the project is "an effort to define the values of a community ... and to track those values over time."
According to Richards, measurement of the indicators will be a "big challenge for the environmental group."
"We need to find indicators tailor-made to the Upper Valley," he said.
Staff member of Environmental Measurement Jennifer Weyner said the project would allow "average people to look at the indicators and see how we're doing."
The individuals involved believe "very deeply in what we're doing. There's a lot a momentum behind it," Richard said.
Weyner said the group's members are extremely motivated and their project has a lot of potential.
"When you have something good you want to take care of it so it lasts. It's our responsibility," Weyner said.
Richards and Weyner said the members of the environmental group included two Dartmouth students, faculty and community high school students, parents and senior citizens.
Clark described the project members as "Guinea Pigs' in what she hopes is a growing commitment to community vitality.
Wright and Richards both pointed out a similar program as an inspiration for their local goals-- "Sustainable Seattle," a successful west-coast project. Richards said the Seattle project has developed accurate indicators for biodiversity throughout the region.
The Valley Vital Signs Project is a regional subdivision of a larger group, Upper Valley 2001. Other topic groups within the Vital Signs Project, selected at a large meeting in October of last year, include "Transportation: Balancing Convenience, Efficiency and Conservation" and "How Our Landscape Looks and Feels: Open Space, Rivers and Villages."
The project "is not just an environmental project," Clark said. "We want to be perceived as listening to all the voices of the community. You can't look at environmental issues without looking at related issues."
