Prosper Sustainably is an official sponsor of this year’s Tribal Lands and Environment Forum to be held at the Mohegan Sun Casino from August 15-18, 2016. During the event, Prosper Sustainably will conduct a 4-hour EPA-Tribal Environmental Plan (ETEP) and Strategic Planning workshop on Tuesday, August 16th and a solar presentation on Thursday, August 18th. Details on both sessions are provided below. Prosper Sustainably will also be hosting a vendor both and will present at the Multi Media Meetup on Wednesday, August 17th.
Developing an EPA-Tribal Environmental Plan (ETEP) and Strategic Planning for Tribal Environmental Programs – 8:00 am – 12:00 pm on August 16th (Shinnecock / Nipmuk)
An EPA-Tribal Environmental Plan (ETEP) can help a tribe achieve its environmental and sustainability goals in the most effective, enduring manner possible. An ETEP can be a strategic work plan that keeps your programs on track and maximizes the use of available resources, and becomes the most important and powerful tool that a tribal environmental program develops and implements. During this session, Josh Simmons will describe what an ETEP is, where it came from, what its purpose is, and what it is supposed to include. He will show a step-by-step process on how to prepare a living, adaptable ETEP and how this approach has been applied at multiple tribal environmental departments. It will also be explained how an ETEP can be used to produce GAP work plans on an ongoing basis, and how an ETEP can be used to guide all other environmental programs and initiatives.
Developing and implementing a strategic plan is perhaps the most important and powerful activity that any organization can undertake. Effective strategic planning and management clarifies an organization’s highest goals, creates and maintains alignment with those goals, and optimizes resources. When done well, strategic planning and management also leads to manageable and proactive shifts in an organization’s direction when circumstances inevitably change. During this session, Josh Simmons will describe the elements and process of developing and implementing a “living” strategic plan that is designed to be utilized on an ongoing basis to guide tribal environmental programs. It will be explained how a strategic plan can be linked to an EPA-Tribal Environmental Plan (ETEP) in a seamless manner, resulting in system that will allow an environmental program to organize, track, and report objectives, performance metrics, resources, and other important information. Josh will share examples of how these strategic planning tools and process has been applied at multiple tribal environmental departments.
The goal is to have all workshop participants spend time working on or revising their Tribal Environmental Plan. To get the most out of this hands-on workshop, participants are encouraged to bring a notepad or laptop and the following documents (click on each to download):
ETEP Strategic Work Plan Document Template (3 copies if printed)
Appendix I of EPA’s May 2013 GAP Guidance: Guidebook for Building Tribal Environmental Program Capacity (only save or print Appendix I)
Prosper Sustainably offers a complete self-paced ETEP and Strategic Planning course that includes of 13 hours of on-demand videos. For more information, please click here.
Solar Projects in Indian Country – 10:30 am – 12:00 pm on August 18th (Shinnecock / Nipmuk)
Solar projects are complicated. Due to sovereign-ty, tax liability, jurisdictional, and other considerations, solar projects in Indian Country are particularly challenging. During this session you will hear about the experiences at the Santa Ynez Chumash and Pala tribes in pursuing, developing, and implementing solar opportunities. Attendees will learn about the factors that make solar development on tribal trust land unique. Josh Simmons will also share strategies for implementing successful solar projects, such as group purchasing initiatives. Josh will cover solar project examples from residential to commercial scale, while also touching upon concepts that apply to utility scale projects.
50% of this session block will also include a presentation on Innovative Strategies and Tools to Increase Sustainable Behaviors by Shannon Judd, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Dolly Tong, USEPA Region 5.
For more information on the Tribal Land’s and Environment Forum hosted by the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, click here.