The Process Pathway uses the structure of the Process Circles figure. It provides a guide for practitioners in negotiating the process of making a significant impact upon a designated locale, such as a city, a town or an urban region. Linked to guidelines for each of the stages, the Pathway provides a broad management overview that can be used for small or big projects. It can be used to guide a focussed and discrete project or to frame a general sustainability plan that includes many sub-projects. The Process Pathway is in this sense a meta-tool — a toolbox for organizing the relationship between our other tools.
The Process Pathway logically begins with ‘commitment’ and then ‘engagement’, but the Pathway can be entered at any stage. Each of the seven stages is divided into a series of four phases, organized in a logical sequence of activities as part of the broader Circles of Social Life approach. The various phases of the Process Pathway are linked to associated tools and methods. These tools are designed as part of an integrated, cross-referenced set that can be used as a comprehensive guide or as singular tools, each of which can be taken out of the toolbox and used with or without reference to the other tools.
Click here for a downloadable PDF (2.9 MB) explaining the Process Pathway. Linked to the Process Pathway there is a software system — the Circles of Sustainability Assessment Tool — developed through support from the Australian Research Council. The software provides a means for assessing a project against the four domains of the Profile Circles, and for choosing issues and indicators to measure a sustainability project over time.
Follow this link to view the beta version of the Assessment Tool. Please note you will directed to another address and asked to register to use the tool.
Stages and Phases
Process Pathways are organized in an iterative process with defined stages of activity: commitment, engagement, assessment, definition, implementation, measurement, and communication. Each of the seven process stages is divided into a series of four phases, organized in a logical sequence of activities as part of the broader Circles of Social Life approach. The various phases of the pathway are linked to associated tools and methods. These tools are designed as part of an integrated, cross-referenced set that can be used as a comprehensive guide or as singular tools, each of which can be taken out of the toolbox and used with or without reference to the other tools.
