About Us

“Individuals are ingenious when it comes to dealing with complex systems—when we learn our first language, when we handle our cars in traffic, or when we play chess or the piano—whereas groups of people are often dumber than the dumbest participant of the whole group. The reason is that groups often fail to scrutinize the overall rules of the system and to agree on what they actually want to achieve before they act. If, on the other hand, a group does those two things–scrutinizes the rules and agrees on the goal—the group can perform better than any individual. With such a framework, the group can make use of having a higher collective knowledge than any of its individual members.”
—paraphrased from Karl-Henrik Robèrt, founder of The Natural Step

The Natural Step Monona (TNSM) is a grassroots organization committed to leading and accelerating our city’s transition to an environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable community. Through education, a participative process, and an upstream approach, The Natural Step framework helps businesses, organizations, school, municipalities, and individuals develop sustainable practices.

Our educational programs inspire people to make enlightened choices that will preserve our resources, stop the degradation of our natural systems, and even reverse the negative impacts of previous harmful practices. TNSM advocates for factoring in the social and economic benefits of our sustainable choices–for seeing the long-range benefits sustainable practices contribute to the physical and financial well-being of everyone. Like you, we want a healthy, vibrant Monona that will meet our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

You are the roots in our grassroots. You can and must be part of the process of creating a Monona that not only survives in the future, but thrives in the future. The Natural Step is a participatory framework. We need your voice, involvement, and opinions on the best course for our city. Please make the choice to learn about what you can do to join your friends and neighbors as we journey toward sustainability.