The Triple Bottom Line:
A Viable Strategy for Rural Development?

by Cornelia Butler Flora

The term “triple bottom line” originated among investors seeking a way to put their money in enterprises that were socially just, economically profitable and environmentally sound. The premise is that to determine a company’s true value and reduce risk to the investor, one must look at a corporations’ total performance (social, financial and environmental).

A learning network among investors has developed to examine social, financial, environ-mental and governance dimensions of capital investment. It will meet in Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on November 11-12, 2004 (http://www.tbli.org/content/conf_program.html), despite critique of the concept leveled by Norman and MacDonald (2004).

At the Second International Conference on Appreciative Inquiry: Creating Extraordinary Organizations for Business and Society (http://www.aiconsulting.org), the Triple Bottom Line emerged as the way to encourage corporations to engage in innovations that increase the health and well-being of business, society and nature all at the same time, understanding that they are inextricably entwined. This approach tends to build on strengths in order to make weaknesses irrelevant by forming new collaborations and partnerships.

A few governments have attempted to implement the Triple Bottom Line on a government-wide basis. In 2001, when Jan Flora and I were visiting scholars at the Australia Department of Natural Resources and Environment in Victoria, we worked with the Department to put the concepts into practice. Beyond the Triple Bottom Line: Measuring and Reporting on Sustainability (2004) lays out how the entire Victorian government is accountable for measuring and reporting on the three pillars: social, economic and environmental. This is based on the six pillars of sustainability that have been accepted by each Department in the government. The principles are:

1. Sustainability comprises at least three pillars.
2. The pillars are interrelated.
3. Sustainability strives for equity within generations.
4. Sustainability strives for equity between generations.
5. Sustainability uses the precautionary principle.
6. Sustainability conserves biological diversity.

This approach has survived a change of Labor governments in Victoria and has set a context for rural revitalization that is inclusive.

Rogers and Ryan (2001) address how the framework can be adjusted to a rural community context. They argue that a Triple Bottom Line audit is a good way to begin to define new opportunities built on local assets.

A number of efforts in the North Central region take a similar approach, but with less commitment to principles 3, 4 and 5. For example, the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University has adopted the Ecological Paradigm as a model to guide their work in all areas of the College (http://cfaes.osu.edu/paradigm.html?PHPSESSID=561b79f18a0d14db43ad5f2e836ec9ae). They conceptualize it as a pyramid, with production efficiency, economic viability, environmental compatibility and social responsibility as the areas of focus for the model. By making issues of environment, society and economy explicit, research, outreach and teaching investments can be prioritized.

The Triple Bottom Line is not articulated in the public sector in the United States, despite its strong private sector following. This may provide a useful mechanism for deciding on both public and private investments of all the capitals of rural areas.

References

Auditor General Victoria. June 2004. Beyond the Triple Bottom Line: Measuring and Reporting on Sustainability. Ego Press: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/op01_sustainability.pdf.

Norman, Wayne and Chris MacDonald. April 2004. “Getting to the Bottom of the Triple Bottom Line.” Business Ethics Quarterly. http://www.businessethics.ca/3bl/triple_bottom_line_abstract.html.

Rogers, Maureen and Roberta Ryan. 2001. “The Triple Bottom Line for Sustainable Community Development.” Local Environment, 6:3 279-289. http://www.latrobe.edu.au/csrc/aboutus/Publications/4TBL.pdf.

Next Article

Return to Inside this Issue (Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004)

Return to Rural Development News Index

North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Iowa State University
107 Curtiss Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1050
(515) 294-8321, (515) 294-3180 fax

For questions, comments or concerns about the NCRCRD website, contact .

Last updated May 12, 2006 .