Right from the outset we have focused on the root causes and connections between issues such as climate change, social inequality and environmental degradation.

We believe that sustainable development is the big idea for the 21st Century. Learning to live sustainably on this planet is not an option: it’s an imperative that we must all face up to.

However, persuading people and organisations to change is not easy. One thing we are certain of is that change will not come from threatening people with yet more ecological doom and gloom.

We need to show people why their lives will be better and where there are opportunities for responsible wealth creation.
So we take a positive, solutions-based approach.

We work in partnership with public institutions, leading businesses and national and local government to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable way of life.

We offer advice, research, inspiration, capacity building, support and constant challenge.

Looking ahead, we aim to bring to life more large scale, practical examples of sustainability, through work such as our Green Cities Project.

Here are some of the things we have achieved already -

• Our Masters in Leadership for Sustainable Development trains the leaders of the future. Over one hundred of our graduates have gone on to work for organisations from national government to blue chip companies. Some have already started their own successful businesses.

• Green Futures, our magazine, is a leading source of positive debate on how society can make the shift towards sustainability

• We have been instrumental in changing the way leading companies operate. Long-term partners of ours such as M&S, Tesco and BP are waking up to green procurement, ethical marketing and sustainability accounting. We have also identified the emerging opportunities for sustainable business, from the digital revolution to the low carbon economy.

• We have used the insights gained from our partnership work to successfully advocate policy reforms to the government and other public organisations. We continue to work to make sustainability a key part of professional development for the UK’s top professional bodies.

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