Dear Steve:

Your concerns for the authenticity of "sustainable" in this context are well-received. We are in the very early stages of a rapid-planning process for this initiative. As such, no clear definitions of what, exactly, the institute will be have been declared. One major tenet of the center that you have left out of your critique, however, is to foster collaboration between all actors within the field of sustainability, from researchers to manufacturers to urban planners. Portland, as a city, is a major hub for intellectual talent in this field and we hope to develop and tap this resource effectively so that we can move forward with more insight, creativity, and concrete action in the field than what national players and individualized efforts can currently offer.

I think you misunderstand our intentions with this post - the sustainability institute is as yet undefined. Therefore, we encourage you to continue to contact us with your thoughts as to how this institute might best be utilized in the community. Why don't you outline your ideal sustainability center so that we can include these concrete ideas in our brainstorming process?