Dancing with the Tiger: Learning Sustainability Step by Natural Step (Conscientious Commerce)

Making social and ecological change happen is not easy. At both the planetary and organizational levels, it is a dance that is fraught with danger for both the change agents themselves and their organizations. It is like dancing with a tiger.

For corporations, communities and other organizations, the choreography of the dance toward sustainability has been systematized by The Natural Step: a framework that provides the science, analysis, methodologies and tools to use in the quest for sustainability. Dancing with the Tiger presents the stories of individuals, teams and organizations learning about change and sustainability, and then acting on that learning. Case studies include some of the most successful companies and communities in North America:

Nike: its struggles, victories and setbacks on the road to sustainability
Starbucks: the tension of modeling corporate responsibility with alarming growth
CH2MHill: its gradual evolution from environmental to sustainability engineering
Whistler: grappling with the paradox of sustainability in a high profile resort town

— as well as Home Depot, Norm Thomson Outfitters, the municipalities of Seattle and Santa Monica, and others.

Following on the success of The Natural Step for Business, this book takes a deeper look at the real business impacts of sustainability. It will be of special interest to business people, government officials, and students of business, organizational development and the environment.

Marketing Plans:
• Review campaign to the business press
• Print and on-line advertising in ‘green’ business journals
• Direct mail and course adoption campaigns

Brian Nattrass is a lawyer, CEO, Chairman of Earth Day International, and author of a book on corporate finance. Mary Altomare is a academic administrator at Yale and Duke universities, and consultant with the World Bank and US AID. Both are now practice leaders for The Natural Step in North America.

Also available by Brian Nattrass and Mary Altomare
The Natural Step for Business
TP $16.95, 0-86571-384-7 • USA