We work to achieve a healthy environment through three core strategies: we engage Oregonians, we find common ground, and we create strong environmental policy. By coordinating these strategies, we believe we can leverage even greater results.

We engage Oregonians by developing and implementing projects that help them act on their environmental values in their basic roles as parents, homeowners, consumers, drivers, and citizens.

We find common ground by bringing diverse interest groups together, building common understanding, and developing creative strategies that help everyone be part of the solution to Oregon’s environmental challenges

We create strong environmental policy by holding decision makers accountable and by leading broad coalitions of individuals and stakeholder groups in support of environmental progress.

VALUES IN ACTION

Our mission is to bring Oregonians together for a healthy environment, and our values are directly reflected in the way that we work to achieve environmental health.  Our actions are grounded in these values because we believe they are essential to success – as well as being the right thing to do.

We bring Oregonians together

All Oregonians can play a role in achieving a healthy environment, and we provide leadership to help Oregonians reach that goal.  However, our leadership style is focused on serving and empowering others.  We help Oregonians articulate a vision, frame issues, set priorities, ensure everyone is heard, manage a constructive public dialogue, and achieve results.  We do not build or use power for its own sake, or to impose our will on others, but rather to help Oregonians achieve their goal of a healthy environment.  We believe our power flows primarily from being credible, honest, and focused on achieving our common goals.

We respect diverse interests and viewpoints

We believe Oregon’s major environmental challenges require the active participation of a broad range of interests and stakeholders, all of whom have important information, perspectives, and ideas to share.  No single individual or organization has all the answers.  We listen first, often, and actively.  We work to fully understand the complexity of any issue we seek to resolve.  We take the time to understand different perspectives and concerns, in order to develop strategies that will have broad ownership and lasting impact.  We begin with the presumption that all Oregonians want a healthy environment, and thus we seek to avoid alienating potential allies unnecessarily.  Some narrow special interest may seek to avoid change or maintain adversarial battle lines; we work around them to achieve results.

We find creative solutions to problems

We believe there are creative solutions that allow Oregonians to enjoy economic prosperity, good health and environmental quality, and we focus on finding and implementing these solutions.  Our challenge is to make it easier for Oregonians to do good things by removing barriers and creating incentives.  We work to help individual Oregonians act on their values, and we help Oregon businesses, farmers, and other organizations thrive economically while contributing to environmental improvement.

We act with honesty and integrity

We always tell the truth.  We are transparent and open about our goals, plans, decision making processes, and our own internal operations.  We are straightforward, and we seek to avoid ever surprising any one with whom we work.  Even when we disagree with others, we do so openly and respectfully.  We encourage others to hold us accountable to our values.  We actively seek feedback that may be critical of our work, and see criticism as a learning opportunity.  When we make mistakes, we admit them.  We are gracious and polite during short term victories and defeats.  We treat everyone we work with respectfully, mindful that we are building long term relationships. 

We achieve measurable environmental results

Our ultimate goal is measurable progress toward a healthier environment for all Oregonians.  We define measurable environmental outcomes for our work, measure proposed projects and policies against those outcomes, and hold ourselves accountable for those results.  In many cases improvements may take decades.  We are serious and disciplined about beginning with the end goal in mind and maintaining our focus.