South Carolina’s growth is not the question. How we respond is.

We all know South Carolina is growing. The question is no longer whether that growth is coming, but how we respond to it.

More people, new industries and continued investment bring tremendous opportunities for our state. They also bring greater demand for the resources and infrastructure that make that growth possible.

How will South Carolina meet increasing demand while protecting the natural resources that contribute to our economy and quality of life?

How do communities prepare for change while retaining the culture that makes them so special? And who needs to be at the table as those decisions are made?

At Sustain SC, we convene and facilitate dialogue on these exact issues by bringing together decision makers from the business community, state agencies, utilities, nonprofits and more.

While we hold events throughout the year to explore these questions, our annual Sustainability Symposium is where we take a holistic view of the most pressing and challenging issues facing sustainability in our state and region.

SC’s beauty and resources must be preserved as the economy grows. Help us plan.

This year, that focus is on data center site selection, forestry and agriculture and how conservation can be an economic development tool.

This event is the biggest single day where people across sectors will be in the same room ready to discuss and address these challenges.

Too often, stakeholders meet only after positions have hardened or a challenge has become urgent.

The conversations we have facilitated this year — and will facilitate at our upcoming symposium — have shown, and will continue to show, the value of engaging business leaders, conservation organizations, economic developers, local governments, utilities, agencies and communities earlier.

Sustain SC’s role is to increase shared understanding and collaboration for the greater good of South Carolina.

We provide the knowledge and tools needed to make decisions, thus creating opportunities for South Carolinians to better understand the challenges facing our state and the solutions already taking shape.

When leaders are equipped with better information, they can have better conversations.

Complex issues become harder when stakeholders are working from different sets of facts or without enough context to understand one another’s concerns.

Whether the discussion is about energy, water, recycling infrastructure or development, access to reliable data and experts gives decisionmakers a shared starting point, and helps move conversations toward action.

Not everyone will always agree, and that’s what makes Sustain SC such a critical organization. It means that more perspectives and information are part of the conversation before decisions are made.

That is the role we, as an organization, are built to play.

On Oct. 22, we will bring that work together at Sustain SC’s fifth annual Sustainability Symposium in Columbia.

This event is open to the public, and we hope that you will take advantage of being “in the room where it happens.”

South Carolina’s growth is already underway. How we work together and respond to it is something we can do together.