Water Footprint Newsletter

September 7th, 2010

Water Footprint at the WorldWaterWeek in Stockholm

Sep 7 – morning: Seminar: Water Footprint and Public Policy: What can Governments do to Reduce Humanity’s Water Footprint?

Sep 9 – whole day: 2nd Annual Water Footprint Network Partner Forum (for WFN partners only).

Detailed session programmes at www.waterfootprint.org  – see the agenda.

Upcoming Water Footprint Training Courses

1. Beijing Oct 2010: Regional Water Footprint Training Course.
2. Amsterdam Nov 2010: International Water Footprint Training Course.

Registration forms available at www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/agenda

Burning water: The water footprint of biofuel-based transport

Transport per train or electric car using bio-electricity (8-19 and 11-13 litres per passenger km) is more water efficient than transport by car driven by bio-ethanol (36-212) or by airplane using bio-ethanol (65-136 litres per passenger km). Download report: www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report44-BurningWater-WaterFootprintTransport.pdf

The projected water footprint of road transport in 2030

The transition to a larger share of biofuels will lead to a larger WF for the global transport sector. It is expected that the global annual biofuel WF will increase more than tenfold, from about 90 km3/yr today to 970 km3/yr in 2030. The USA, China and Brazil contribute most, together consuming approximately 54 percent of the global biofuel WF in 2030. Download report: www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report41-WaterFootprintCentralAsia.pdf

Water footprint of paper

The water footprint of printing and writing paper is estimated to be between 300 and 2600 m3/ton. That is: 2-13 litres for an A4 sheet of paper. Substantial savings can be achieved by increasing the recovery percentages worldwide. Download report: www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report46-WaterFootprintPaper.

Water footprint of our bread

Global wheat production requires 108 billion cubic meters of water per year. This means 1830 m3 per ton on average. 70% comes from green water, about 19% is blue water; 11% is grey water (pollution). Local-specific data are shown on a grid of 10×10 km2. The Ganges and Indus river basins together account for 47% of the blue water footprint related to global wheat production. Download paper: www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Mekonnen-Hoekstra-2010-waterfootprint-wheat.pdf.

Water footprint of rice

The consumption of rice products in the EU27 alone is responsible for the annual evaporation of 2,279 million m3 of water and polluted return flows of 178 Mm3 around the globe, mainly in India, Thailand, the USA and Pakistan. Download report: www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report40-WaterFootprintRice.pdf.

Water footprint in Central Asia

Water-intensive, low-value crops such as rice, which requires 7000 m3/ton in Turkmenistan, would use half that amount if grown in less arid conditions and more clayey soils in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. Better option maybe: import from outside the basin. Shifting some crops, such as grains, to rain-fed areas or areas with more rainfall could substantially reduce the volume of irrigation water consumed in the Aral Sea basin. Download report: www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report41-WaterFootprintCentralAsia.pdf. 

Educational materials

• Download training materials: www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/TrainingMaterials
• Info graphics: www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/InfoGraphics

Growing Water Footprint Network

The Water Footprint Network continues to grow rapidly. The Network currently consists of 122 partners, from all sectors, from all continents.

• Overview of partners: www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/OverviewPartners
• Why become a partner? See www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/WFN-mission
• How to become a partner? See www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/HowToBecomePartner

More information

Website: www.waterfootprint.org Contact: info@waterfootprint.org

Tags: Water Footprint Network
Posted in Seminars | No Comments »

Handbook on Trade and Environment

September 7th, 2010

Handbook on Trade and Environment
Edited by Kevin P. Gallagher
Edward Elgar, 2008

The related crises associated with global finance, energy, climate change, and food have brought new urgency to debates over international trade and sustainable development.  Increasingly, policy-makers, advocates and academics are looking for solutions to these crises that allow the economy to prosper without triggering undue environmental degradation.  The Handbook on Trade and Environment serves as a comprehensive overview of thinking and policy on the trade and environment nexus.   The volume features articles by GDAE researchers Kevin P. Gallagher, Timothy A. Wise, and Lyuba Zarsky,  members of the GDAE-sponsored Triple Crisis blog Frank Ackerman, Alejandro Nadal, James K. Boyce, and other distinguished authors such as Michael Rock, Jennifer Clapp, Robert Stumberg, Nicholas Ashford, and more.
Find out more about the Handbook on Trade and Environment, and order information.

Read more on GDAE’s Globalization and Sustainable Development Program

Tags: Edward Elgar, GDAE, Kevin P. Gallagher, Trade and Environment
Posted in Books | No Comments »

Fall Courses for the Certificate in Environmental Sustainability and the Psychology Department

September 7th, 2010

The Earth Institute is pleased to share with you the following information on fall courses:

Center for Environmental Research and Conservation: Certificate Program 2010 Fall courses:

************************************************************

Course 1: Introduction to Ecology

Dates: Tuesdays, 6-8PM – September 7, 14, 21, 28, October 5

Instructor: Jenna Lawrence, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University

This course examines ecological hierarchy, from the species level through populations, communities, and ecosystems. Key ecological principles are then illustrated with applied examples that provide students with the tools to evaluate environmental issues.

************************************************************

Course 2: Market-Based Approaches to Conservation

Dates: Tuesdays, 6-8:30PM – September 8, 22, 29, October 6

Instructor: Richard Weihe, Managing Director, Karbone

This course introduces students to the primary market-based methods used to address pollution abatement and conservation targets. To further develop an understanding of the potential of environmental markets, students will explore the feasibility of creating new markets to address existing pollution and other environmental conditions.

************************************************************

Course 3: Water and Sustainability

Dates: Wednesdays, 6-8PM – September 9, 16, 23, 30, October 7

Instructor: Michael Puma, Research Scientist, NASA / Goddard Institute of Space Studies, Center for Climate Systems Research (CCSR), Columbia University

Ecosystems provide many water-related services ranging from water supply to flood control. These hydrologic services are interrelated to other essential services (e.g. air quality, CO2 sequestration, and soil generation) in dynamic and complex ways. The objective of this course is to examine these interactions in order to understand the impacts of human activities and climate change on hydrologic services.

For individual course enrollment, please contact Desmond Beirne at djb2104@columbia.edu.

Complete Fall 2010 Course Calendar and Descriptions: (www.cerc.columbia.edu/?id=certificate)

Overview of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation

(CERC)- Certificate Program:

With 14 years of experience, CERC’s executive education program teaches the science behind environmental issues and provides graduates with practical tools for environmental problem solving. CERC’s Certificate in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability trains professionals to critically think about the environment and its intersection with public policy, the economy and society.

CERC’s Certificate program accommodates the working professional:

• Courses are scheduled from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. at Columbia University in New York City
• Courses typically meet once a week for five weeks and field courses are optional
• Opportunities to network with alumni and sustainability leaders at Earth Institute events
• Rolling admission deadlines each semester
• Candidates from all professions can enroll, no prior knowledge is required.
• Earn a Certificate and official transcript from Columbia University after completing 12 courses in as little as 9 months or as long as 3 years, depending on personal time constraints

Successful completion of the Certificate s fundamental courses is recognized as preparation for two Columbia University graduate programs: the M.P.A. in Environmental Science and Policy and the M.S. in Sustainability Management.

For inquiries, contact Desmond Beirne at djb2104@columbia.edu or 212-854-0149.

THINKING AND DECISION MAKING (3 points) Psychology W2235 section 001

Instructor: Elke Weber; Tuesday Thursday 10:35am-11:50am http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/subj/PSYC/W2235-20103-001/

Course Overview:

The goal of this course is to explore the psychology of thinking and decision making. We will learn about different theories of decision making, factors that influence decision making, the process of decision making, decisions by individuals and groups, and real-world applications.

For additional details, please download the syllabus:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/courses/2235/2235_S10.pdf

CERC is a consortium of five world-renowned partnering institutions:

Columbia University, the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Botanical Garden, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Wildlife Trust

Contact: Columbia Univ. School of Int’l & Public Affairs, 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10027

Tags: CERC, Columbia, Environmental Research & Conservtion
Posted in Short Courses | No Comments »

International Journal of Sustainable Society

September 1st, 2010

Proposal for a special issue of the “International Journal of Sustainable Society”. 18 August 2010

Topic

“The contribution of protected areas to sustainability”

Editors

1. Michael Getzner, Professor of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Vienna University of Technology (Austria)
2. Michael Jungmeier, lecturer, consultant and planner, E.C.O. Institute of Ecology, Klagenfurt (Austria)
3. Getzner & Jungmeier are also directors of the international, postgraduate M.Sc. programme “Management of Protected Areas” at Klagenfurt University (Austria)

Aim of the special issue

The aim of the special issue is to highlight the significance and importance of protected areas for sustainability, not only in an ecological sense but taking into account the economic and social dimension of sustainable development. This includes the economic impacts of protected areas (e.g. provision of vital ecosystem services for local communities), as well as social implications (e.g. participation of stakeholders in establishment and management of protected areas). The special volume aims to present the most recent developments in the scientific debate, in the form of empirical and policy oriented papers on which general conclusions for the role of protected areas for sustainability, as well as for the management of protected areas, can be drawn.

Subject coverage/contributions

• Protected areas as “islands of sustainability” – is this concept “sustainable”?
• Participation and civil society in protected areas (including community and capacity building)
• Management of protected areas: multidimensionality, interdisciplinarity, sustainability
• Livelihood and regional development based on protected areas
• Evaluation of protected areas: sustainability and participation
• Education and information in protected areas – prerequisite for sustainable life styles?
• Benefits and costs involved with the establishment and management of protected areas, including the distribution of benefits/costs among stakeholder groups
• Valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in protected areas – connections to management and financing of protected areas
• Case-studies on sustainability in protected areas
• Tourism in PA regions – PA tourism: Which is to be preferred from a sustainability viewpoint?
• Innovation for sustainability as triggered by protected areas
• Planning protected areas as an intervention towards sustainable development (intervention theory)
• Function of protected areas as model regions to test (new) concepts of sustainability

The reviewing process is organized by the editors with the help of the editorial office. Reviewers are chosen based on the papers submitted.

Deadlines

1. Abstract submission for paper proposals: 15 November 2010
2. Acceptance of abstracts until 30 November 2010
3. Submission of full paper for review: 31 January 2011
4. Review results communicated to authors: 15 March 2011
5. Final revised papers due on 15 April 2011

Submission of abstracts/papers as well as all communication regarding the special issue has to be sent to Prof. Michael Getzner at the following email address: ijssoc@ifip.tuwien.ac.at

Tags: International Society of Sustainable Society, Michael Getzner, Michael Jungmeier
Posted in Call For Papers | No Comments »

International Association for the Study of the Commons

August 31st, 2010

FIRST CALL | IASC European Meeting

September 14-17,2011

Hosted by the Agricultural University Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Organised in collaboration with

• Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT), Germany
• Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO), Germany
• Bodø University College, Norway

Theme: Shared Resources in a Rapidly Changing World

The regional meeting of the EU branch of the IASC will have as its theme “Shared Resources in a Rapidly Changing World”, reflecting the emphasis on the currently well recognized fact that many if not most resources (e.g. natural resources, social capital, knowledge) require a shared management regime. This is due to complex socio-ecological inter-dependencies, which do not stop neither at national boundaries nor private properties. But a multitude of combined and mixed governance regimes is necessary to manage these resources in an efficient and sustainable way. Accelerated change creates a particular threat to joint management regimes; however, as we are currently in a period of fast change, the conference puts an emphasis on the implication of this fact.

The aim of the European Regional Meeting 2011 is to strengthen the network of European researchers who are investigating those shared management regimes. The conference site, one of the conference themes and the field excursion will highlight in particular the special challenges of (natural) resource management regimes in the post-socialist countries.

Besides the regional focus of Eastern Europe, the conference is open to all European scientists and actors active in the policy domain who work on property regimes and who contribute to discuss new modes of governance for shared resources.

The conference is organized in 4 subthemes:

Multiple Drivers to Change in Common Management

In recent years we experience a rapidly evolving new category of drivers for new modes of governance in shared resources’ management. In comparison to the past, where of course institutional change always took place and was triggered by various determinants, current drivers such as climate change or the perception of groundwater depletion have certain particularities. They require precautionary actions, i.e. ex-ante, anticipatory, planned adaptation strategies in resource governance in order to avoid irreversible damages at a later stage. This theme comprises theoretical but also empirical studies which deal with the development of such drivers, their relationships to other drivers as well as the direct or indirect impact of these drivers on the management of the shared resources.

Post Socialist Commons: the Road Ahead

This theme examines the actual shifts in the management of shared resources in Central and South-Eastern European Countries and the Western Balkans, including the new member states: those which recently entered the European Union in 2007, those which started negotiations, and those not yet formally affiliated to the EU. The socialist legacy and experience of two decades of transition phase led to specific requirements for coordination mechanisms, particularly self-governance management solutions.

Methods Investigating Complex Common Property Regimes

This theme focuses on new methodological developments for investigating shared resource systems in a rapidly changing world. Methods range from laboratory experiments to field experiments. Apart from rational maximizing behavior, people follow rules of thump, behave reciprocal or altruistic or follow any other behavioral rule. This behavioral diversity can e.g. be captured by agent based modeling. Thus, for understanding common property regimes and for performing institutional analysis, we need to move far beyond either classical case study or large n-study research, and methodological diversity will lead to the best understanding.

Multi-level Governance

Particularly looking at shared resources and the management of such socio-ecological systems, often a multiplicity of governance levels is required for regulating a resource. Therefore this conference wants to deal explicitly with this inherent complexity. This complexity on various levels leads to a so far unknown multiplicity of drivers of change in commons´ management. The European post-socialist countries are particularly interesting examples to study multi-level governance due to their necessary institutionalizations on various levels. In that respect, the theme will also analyze how far the polycentricity concept is applied already in European shared resource management. In a polycentric system, each unit exercises considerable independence to make and enforce rules within a circumscribed domain of authority for a specified geographical area.

We welcome proposals for organised sessions and individual papers relating to the four subthemes of the conference.

Organized Sessions

Submit a proposal to organize a 1.5 hour concurrent panel session (3-4 speakers and session chair). Proposals include an abstract of the goal and topic of the session (maximum of 400 words), include names and affiliations of the organizer and individual presenters, and provide abstracts for the individual papers (maximum 400 words). Proposals for organized sessions are due February 18, 2011.

Individual Papers

Submit an abstract to give a 20-minute oral presentation. Abstracts should be a maximum of 400 words. Include the name, title and affiliation of each author. Abstracts will be peer reviewed and are due February 18, 2011. Confirmation of acceptance of the abstract as paper or poster presentation will be sent by April 15, 2011. Full papers are due July 15, 2011.

Conference Proceedings

All submitted papers will be made available online and provided to the International Library of the Commons. All conference paper submissions will be peer reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board, and a selection of the papers will be considered for a special issue of the International Journal of the Commons.

Submission of abstracts

All abstracts must be submitted electronically via the conference website: http://www.iasc-europe2011.de

Tags: Bodo University, IAMO, IASC, Leibniz Center, Tropical Marine Ecology, ZMT
Posted in Conferences - Others | No Comments »

Bard Center for Environmental Policy

August 31st, 2010

C2C / National Climate Seminar

The National Climate Seminar begins our fall schedule of conference-call seminars on September 8th, with Bill McKibben discussing his most recent book, EAARTH:

"The momentum of the heat, and the momentum of the economy that power it, can’t be turned off quickly enough to prevent hideous damage. But we will keep fighting, in the hope that we can limit that damage. And in the process, with many others fighting similar battles, we’ll help build the architecture for the world that comes next, the dispersed and localized societies that can survive the damage we can no longer prevent."

"My point throughout this book has been that we’ll need to change to cope with the new Eaarth we’ve created. We’ll need, chief among all things, to get smaller and less centralized, to focus not on growth but on maintenance, on a controlled decline from the perilous heights to which we have climbed." 

Join us at noon eastern, on the 8^th as we confront our future on a hotter planet. Later in the semester: David Orr, Michael Mann, Juliet Schor and more. Call in: 712-432-3100; code 253385.

How to"keep fighting?" Bill’s organization, 350.org is sponsoring a national day of action on 10/10/10. Get involved.

You are also invited to join me at the launch conference for C2C on 9/24 at Williams College. Building on our work with the National Teach-in’s, C2C is a national network of faculty, staff, students and citizens fighting for policies that can stabilize the climate, and create a just, prosperous and sustainable future. Economist Juliet Schor, author of Plentitude, will keynote. To register for the conference, please contact jofrench@bard.edu. There is no charge to attend.

Following the launch conference, on 9/29 at 3 PM Eastern, join us for a National C2C Webinar. To register or for more information, send an e-mail to climate@bard.edu. We need your ideas on how we can build a permanent and growing national organization, including tens of thousands of faculty, students and staff, in regular dialogue with key decision-makers on climate.

This is the fight of our lives. Thanks for the work you are doing.

Eban Goodstein

Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy

*******

Please mark your calendars for this fall: The National Climate Seminar has a terrific line-up! Calls this year will be Wednesday at noon eastern. Assign the half-hour calls to your students, for a chance to hear top scientists, analysts and political leaders discuss climate and clean energy solutions.

• Bill McKibben, author, Eaarth  8-Sep
• David Orr, Environmental Studies, Oberlin College   22-Sep
• TBD 06-Oct
• Bill Snape, Senior Counsel, Center for Biological Diversity  20-Oct
• Michael Mann, Dir., Earth Systems Science, Penn State 03-Nov
• Bryan Walsh, Journalist, Time Magazine  17-Nov
• Juliet Schor, Economist and author, Plentitude  1-Dec

**************

The National Climate Seminar, a twice-monthly discussion featuring top scientists, political leaders and policy analysts, is sponsored by The Bard Center for Environmental Policy, and made possible by a grant from The Clif Bar Family Foundation.

Forty Percent of Car Trips are within two miles of your home: Take Clif Bar’s Two-Mile Challenge and ride or walk instead!

Books & Videos For C2C

Recent books of note: Auden Schendler’s Getting Green Done; Gary Braasch’s Earth Under Fire; and Gary and Lynne Cherry’s How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming, Michael Mann and Lee Kump’s Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming, Amy Seidl’s Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World, Eban Goodstein’s Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction, and Ignition (Isham and Waage)

Tags: Clif Bar Family Foundation, EAARTH, Mann, McKibben, National Climate Seminar, Schor, Snape, Walsh
Posted in Short Courses | No Comments »

System Dynamics Research Officer

August 18th, 2010

Ecological Economics Research New Zealand (EERNZ), a research centre at Massey University, is looking for a system dynamics modeller with quantitative research skills to enhance the team of researchers and external collaborators working on funded projects in the areas of:

1. Urban Sustainability
2. Coastal Ecosystem Services
3. Freshwater Ecosystem Services (see www.eernz.ac.nz).

A PhD in an area of research relevant to Ecological Economics is required. Demonstrated experience using systems dynamics software (STELLA, Vensim, or relevant modelling software) is required. Beyond model building, the tasks are varied and require the ability to work both independently and in a team, as well as across disciplines. The applied nature of this position requires an affinity for action research. Some travel within New Zealand is required.  For more information see http://jobs.massey.ac.nz/positiondetail.asp?p=6535

Tags: coastal ecosystem, dynamics modeller, Ecological Economics Research New Zealand, EERNZ, freshwater ecosystem, Massey University, STELLA, System Dynamics Research Officer, urban sustainability, Vensim
Posted in Jobs | No Comments »

2010 Environmental Studies Catalogues

August 7th, 2010

2010 Environmental Studies Catalogues

The UBC Press and our Publishing partners, Earthscan and Island Press 2010 Environmental Studies Catalogues are now available online!  In an effort to conserve paper and preserve the environment, we are now making our catalogues available electronically in PDF format.  Please click on the below links to view the catalogues online:

UBC Press 2010 Environmental Studies Catalogue [PDF 2 MB]
Earthscan 2010 Environment Catalogue [PDF 2.6 MB]
Island Press Fall 2010 Catalogue [PDF 2.1 MB]

Our goal is to reduce the amount of paper that we consume by decreasing the number of catalogues that we print. At the same time, we would like to ensure you receive the catalogue in the format that best suits your needs.  Should you wish to continue to receive catalogues by mail, please respond to this email with your current mailing address and we will be sure to mail you a copy.

UBC Press and our publishing partners’ books are distributed in Canada by University of Toronto Distribution Services, located in Toronto:

UTP Distribution
5201 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3H 5T8
Phone orders: 1 800 565 9523 or (416) 667 7791
Fax orders: 1 800 221 9985 or (416) 667 7832
email – utpbooks@utpress.utoronto.ca

To view all of our catalogues: http://www.ubcpress.ca/books/catalogues.html

To order books online (including exam and review copies): http://www.ubcpress.ca

To sign up to receive catalogues by mail: http//www.ubcpress.ca/notices/mailinglists.html

Tags: 2010 Environmental Studies Catalogues, Earthscan, Island Press, UBC Press
Posted in Education | 2 Comments »

Gender and Green Governance

July 29th, 2010

The Political Economy of Women’s Presence Within and Beyond Community Forestry

Bina Agarwal
Director and Professor of Economics, Institute of Economic
Growth, University of Delhi, India

Economists studying environmental collective action and green governance have paid little attention to gender. Research on gender and green governance in other disciplines has focused mainly on women’s near absence from forestry institutions. This interdisciplinary book turns that focus on its head to ask: what if women were present in these institutions? What difference would that make?

Would women’s inclusion in forest governance – undeniably important for equity – also affect decisions on forest use and outcomes for conservation and subsistence? Are women’s interests in forests different from men’s? Would women’s presence lead to better forests and more equitable access? Does it matter which class of women governs? And how large a presence of women would make an impact? Answers to these questions can prove foundational for effective environmental governance. Yet they have hardly been empirically investigated.

In an analysis that is conceptually sophisticated and statistically rigorous, using primary data on community forestry institutions in India and Nepal, this book is the first major study to comprehensively address these wide-ranging issues. It traces women’s history of exclusion from public institutions, the factors which constrain their effective participation, and how those constraints can be overcome. It outlines how strategic partnerships between forestry and other civil society institutions could strengthen rural women’s bargaining power with community and government. And it examines the complexities of eliciting government accountability in addressing poor rural women’s needs, such as for clean domestic fuel and access to the commons.

For a copy of the flyer and order form click here.

Tags: Bina Agarwal, community forestry institutions, critical mass, Ecological Economics, forest conservation, Gender and Green Governance, India, Nepal, participation
Posted in Books | No Comments »

President/CEO, New Economics Institute

July 28th, 2010

Position description | President/CEO, New Economics Institute

July 2010

1. Outline

The Board of Directors of the New Economics Institute is seeking an exceptional and inspirational individual to assume the job of President/CEO of what will be a leading U.S. think tank dedicated to shifting the economic consensus toward a system that puts people and planet first.

The Institute was formed in order to bring new economic approaches into the U.S. mainstream. It is not a new organization but the broadening of an existing one. In June the 30-year old E. F. Schumacher Society transitioned into the New Economics Institute, with an expanded board ready to meet the challenge and opportunity of its new mission and with the added support, expertise, techniques, and experience of the New Economics Foundation in London, which will provide model programs new to the United States.

The New Economics Institute is designed to provide a combination of cutting-edge economics and innovative communications that can build a new economy appropriate for its essential purpose of providing fulfilling and healthy lives for all people while nurturing the social and natural systems on which the economic system depends.

The central role of a new President/CEO is to lead the organization in forging a narrative and theory of this new economic system; show how it is possible to get from here to there; and raise the funding necessary to do so.

It is anticipated that a new office for the Institute will be established in New York City. The existing Library, publication, and educational programs will continue at their Berkshires site with current staff. The President/CEO will be expected to develop the New York City office and will also be expected to spend some time in London working alongside our partner organization, the New Economics Foundation, to gain a good working understanding of its projects, goals and personnel.

2. Background:

Despite the uniquely twenty-first century problems we face, mainstream policy-makers, businesses, and even reformers are still prisoners of old economic assumptions. This tragic impediment is prolonging the damage caused by outdated economic policies and delaying the emergence of the new economics the world so desperately needs.

We need a way to bring new-economy organizations, intellectuals, and innovators together to frame a common story, to tell it in multiple voices, and to work together to fill in the gaps. We need to develop the vision and tools and take the essential steps to make the transition to a fair and sustainable future. 

3. Position-Specific Challenges:

The President/CEO reports directly to the Board of Directors.

As the most senior staff position within what is a newly reshaped organization, the President/CEO will be responsible for the strategic leadership of the organization, making sure it is relevant, effective, credible, and viable. Key challenges are to:

• build the new Institute as a leading and authoritative voice in the debate about economics and the future;
• build a small but effective staff team, integrating it with an outstanding board, loyal and involved funders, and an engaged wider membership;
• provide inspirational leadership in dealing with different media and addressing multiple audiences in the national debate;
• build relationships with funders to raise enough money to develop the organization, as set out in the Board-approved business plan;
• promote and execute projects capable of raising funds and shifting debate as well as set up consultancy projects to put the findings into practice more widely;
• maintain and build in the Berkshires the projects and library that are the 30-year legacy of the former E. F. Schumacher Society, now the New Economics Institute in co-operation with an Education Director;
• build a long-term partnership with the New Economics Foundation that is capable of using the expertise of both organizations to make the maximum impact.

4. Recommendation

If you know of anyone who might be interested in or should be approached about this position, please contact a member of the Search Committee or encourage that person to apply by sending a statement of interest in the position, strengths offered, and a resume before August 15th to:

hr@neweconomicsinstitute.org

Questions and preliminary statements of interest are welcomed. New Economics Institute is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds.

Appreciatively,

Search Committee of the New Economics Institute
Will Raap, willr@gardeners.com
Gus Speth, gus.speth@yale.edu
John Fullerton, jfullerton@capitalinstitute.org
Jessica Brackman, jbrackman@aol.com
Richard Norgaard, norgaard@berkeley.edu

Tags: E.F. Schumacher Society, New Economics Institute
Posted in Jobs | 2 Comments »