One Planet Living® - a sustainability framework by Bioregional (original) (raw)

What is One Planet Living? Watch our new video above

Imagine a world where everyone, everywhere lives happy, healthy lives within the limits of the planet, leaving space for nature. We call this One Planet Living, and we believe it’s achievable.

But globally we are living as if we have more than one planet. In fact, ecological footprinting shows that if everyone in the world consumed as much as the average person in western Europe, we’d need three planets to support us.

Our One Planet Living® framework

Using our learning from the BedZED eco-village, Bioregional created the One Planet Living sustainability framework – comprising ten simple principles and detailed goals and guidance – and developed it together with WWF.

Backed by science and many years of hands-on experience, it’s a highly flexible framework that is helping organisations around the world to achieve their vision of a brighter, better future.

The ten One Planet Living® principles:

Health and happiness
Encouraging active, social, meaningful lives to promote good health and wellbeing

Equity and local economy
Creating safe, equitable places to live and work which support local prosperity and international fair trade

Culture and community
Nurturing local identity and heritage, empowering communities and promoting a culture of sustainable living

Land and nature
Protecting and restoring land for the benefit of people and wildlife

Sustainable water
Using water efficiently, protecting local water resources and reducing flooding and drought

Local and sustainable food
Promoting sustainable, humane farming and healthy diets high in local, seasonal organic food and vegetable protein

Travel and transport
Reducing the need to travel, encouraging walking, cycling and low carbon transport

Materials and products
Using materials from sustainable sources and promoting products that help people reduce consumption

Zero waste
Reducing consumption, reusing and recycling to achieve zero waste and zero pollution

Zero carbon energy
Making buildings and manufacturing energy-efficient and supplying all energy with renewables

One Planet Living is our vision of a world where we can live happily within the Earth’s resources, and a straightforward framework to achieve this
Find out more

If you are a local authority or community group that wants to use One Planet Living to create a better, more sustainable future for your local area check out how we can help.

How does it work?

The One Planet Living framework is designed to support you to create a 'One Planet Action Plan' that acts as a route map towards a more sustainable future for your organisation. It comprises:

• ten simple principles that cover all aspects of social, environmental and economic sustainability
• Detailed goals and guidance documents – these provide advice and ideas on the goals, actions, targets and indicators you could set for your 'One Planet Action Plan' - this is your plan to achieve One Planet Living.

We can give you support, tools and training to create a One Planet Action Plan, and we will endorse the best plans. Find out how to get started.

One Planet Living is different from other sustainability frameworks because:

• It puts people first – it’s grounded in the reality of how people live their lives rather than box ticking
• It’s holistic – nothing will drop through the gaps with our 10 principles
• It’s about true sustainability – there’s no greenwashing
• It reaches hearts as well as minds - One Planet Living is used to inspire people across the world to get involved in sustainable change.

There are now 1.4 million people around the world living in, working at or visiting organisations and communities with a deep commitment to One Planet Living.

Since the inception of the project, One Planet Living has helped us design and fine-tune a unique concept for a tourism resort based upon sustainability.

Marie Balmain, CSR and Foundation Director at Group Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs

What’s really exciting about One Planet Living is its ability to change hearts as well as minds. It’s a fantastic tool for making sustainability accessible to all.

Kevin Hydes, CEO of Integral Group and former chair of the World Green Building Council