Perth-Andover: A Growing Village!

Posted On March 26, 2014

Re-Purposing Perth-Andover: THE Environmental FACTOR

by Francine St.Amand

Environment and Education: both sides of the same coin.
You can’t improve the state of the environment without being educated on the matter. Education here means knowledge and wisdom gained through life experience … being in tune with and developing an understanding of the natural world. And, it can also mean formal education that relates to environmental studies in some way or another.
 
With knowledge and wisdom, you can’t help but want to improve and protect the environment. It’s the only logical thing to do. To consciously keep destroying the environment is irrational, insane. Why would anyone want to destroy his or her own habitat?
 

Perth-Andover is in an opportune position to rebrand itself as an ecologically literate community. It’s small enough that this type of venture could be managed and big enough that it could make its mark in the environmental world. It could help to set an example for other municipalities to follow. I am estimating that the current flood-prone areas that have been left vacant in the wake of the flood of 2012 comprises about 20 acres. A lot of great projects can be developed in these areas without it being overwhelming or unsustainable. The projects could be diverse with the common denominator being that it showcases sustainable environmental and ecological practices as a working and educational site. A Village like this would sure to be a tourist destination and would provide a place for people to be directly involved in its restoration and revitalization.
 

The positive PR this would generate for the village is huge!! It would be a fun place to market because everybody would love the Village for its effort to restore itself in this way.
 

The concept is timely, compelling and positive and gets better over time.
 

There is a growing trend to promote the greening of cities and towns. This type of project helps protect the environment, raises awareness of the importance of our native ecosystems and encourages people to immerse themselves in the natural world around them. ~ Bob Osborne, Cornhill Nursery

 
 

STEEPLED: Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, Political, Legal, Education, Demographics

STEEPLED is an acronym for a conceptual framework/tool used by organizations to plan, measure and evaluate. Starting out as PEST in the 1960’s, the model has evolved with variations over time: STEP, SLEPT, STEEP, PESTEL, PESTLE or LEPEST. It is a tool used to find out the current status and position of an organization or individual in relation to their external environment and current role. This analysis tool is relevant to any project that an organization undertakes. For the purpose of this exercise I am going with a recent variation (2013), STEEPLED. All the factors are very relevant and correspond well to the subject of this analysis.
The concept of using the Village’s flood-prone areas as a multi-purpose Naturalized Park was proposed to the Village Council last fall. Check out these Blackfly articles for more details:
Issue # 37 “Tree Talk: Telling the Story of the Village”
Issue # 39 “Possible Uses for Flood Prone Site on Andover Side of Saint John River”