This report now provides a follow-up to the Blueprint and reviews the status of various community efforts throughout the Commonwealth to protect natural resources and enhance both economic health and quality of life. Unfortunately, the Virginia Task Force on Sustainable Development concluded its deliberations without making any recommendations about how the Commonwealth can implement sustainable development. Nevertheless, a number of sustainability projects are already under way in Virginia. Throughout the Commonwealth, a number of individuals, organizations, agencies and communities are pursuing sustainable development. Some do so explicitly, while others employ the concept indirectly as they are accomplishing particular projects.
Some efforts focus on one sector, such as water resources.
Others seek to change the culture of decisionmaking, planning, and policy formulation through more comprehensive sustainable development initiatives. Achieving a sustainable level of development in Virginia is a difficult challenge. It is still too early to determine whether or not the endeavors described here are correcting fundamental social, economic, and environmental problems which are obstacles to sustainability, as described in the Blueprint. Many of the current sustainable development initiatives in the Commonwealth acknowledge that a cultural shift in thought and action will be required to implement sustainability. Some Virginia communities are struggling with the responsibilities that sustainable development imposes.