Remembering Barbara Ward: in her own words
More than 30 years after her death, Barbara Ward, who founded the International Institute for Environment and Development in 1971, still has a huge influence on the world of sustainable development.
One of the first to see the need to link development in Africa, Asia and Latin America with a concern for the global environment and the earth's diminishing resources, Ward's work helped to define and establish today's widely accepted concept of sustainable development.
In 2000, she was named one of the 20th century's most influential visionaries by Time magazine, and among the world leaders who sought her advice and whom she counted as friends were two US presidents, John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, plus several UK prime ministers and heads of state from Africa and Asia.
The video above is a compilation of some of Ward's own quotes and interviews, plus quotes and footage of other significant figures to illustrate the esteem in which she was held, and remains so today.
Resources:
- Video interview with former IIED director David Runnalls
- Edited video compilation of Barbara Ward interviews from the 1972 film, Survival of Spaceship Earth
- Video interview with IIED senior fellow David Satterthwaite
- Georgetown University Library newsletter article on the papers of Barbara Ward (page two)
- US President John F Kennedy describes Barbara Ward as "our friend in freedom" in an address to Boston College, where Ward, also known as Lady Jackson, was to be awarded an honorary degree
- David Satterthwaite's book on Barbara Ward and the Origins of Sustainable Development
