Who we are
IIED is one of the world’s most influential international development and environment policy research organisations. Founded in 1971 by economist Barbara Ward, who forged the concept and cause of sustainable development, we work with partners on five continents. We build bridges between policy and practice, rich and poor communities, the government and private sector, and across diverse interest groups. We contribute to many international policy processes and frameworks, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the UN conventions on climate change and biological diversity.
People
Jobs and working with IIED
International fellows
What we do
IIED carries out research, advice and advocacy work. We carry out action research — generating robust evidence and know-how that is informed by a practical perspective acquired through hands-on research with grassroots partners — and we publish in journals and maintain high research standards. We advise government, business and development agencies, and we argue for changes in public policy. We focus on bottom-up solutions, stay open to flexible, adaptable solutions and are marked by a tradition of challenging conventional wisdom through original thinking.
Our work
Projects
Media centre
Blogs
Who we work with
Partnerships are key to the way we work at IIED. By forging alliances with individuals and organisations ranging from urban slumdwellers to global institutions, we help strengthen marginalised people’s voices in decision making and ensure that national and international policy better reflects the agendas of poorer communities and countries. Some of our partners are people working in other nongovernment organisations, governments, academia, indigenous people’s groups, global institutes and multilateral agencies such as the UN. Others are alliances that we either steer or work very closely with, often at the grassroots level in developing countries. We also play an active role in international networks, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Partners
Board of trustees
IIED's Board of Trustees is presently made up of 14 representatives from 10 countries around the world.
Leadership
Our leaders are responsible for delivering IIED's strategy and key organisational objectives and meet regularly to make sure we're on track.
Our strategy
IIED's institutional strategy sets out our focus on four globally important challenges.
Finances
IIED has grown over recent years: our income increased from £7.6 million in 2005–06 to £17.6 million in 2011–2012.
Annual report
In 2011 IIED turned 40 years old — our report has been designed to mark the occasion.
Host your event at IIED
The Meeting Place at our London office is a welcoming, flexible and creative venue available to hire.