Participants collaborate at the Development and Climate Days (D&C Days) in Dubai, 2023 (Photo: IIED)
We reviewed and rewrote our core organisational values to ensure they are fit for the future.
IIED has a collaborative culture that thrives on teamwork and consultation, so we brought this approach to developing this new set of values. The process involved all IIED staff, along with associates, board members and Southern partners.
The result is a set of values that are shaped and owned by everyone, and can be used by individuals, teams and partners. They underpin our ethos and code of conduct, and define our vision for how IIED exists in the world.
Our six values
Care
We prioritise wellbeing and care towards each other, our partners and collaborators, marginalised groups and the planet.
Respect and dignity
We build mutual trust and respect local knowledge. We act transparently and with integrity and treat each other with consideration.
Justice and fairness
We address social, economic and environmental injustices and unfair power dynamics, embedding decoloniality principles in our everyday actions and outputs.
Ethical partnership
We proactively seek to collaborate with others, break down silos and share power with our partners.
Transformative change
We do everything we can to deliver impactful and systemic change that addresses major environmental, economic and social challenges and inequity.
Inclusion and equity
We approach gender justice and anti-racism through an intersectional lens, where equity and inclusion are championed through daily active allyship.
Guiding principles
Each of our six core values has a set of guiding principles that define how they work in practice. Some are focused on the way we treat colleagues, some are particularly relevant to how we work with our partners, and others look to the wider world that IIED was set up to serve.
Examples are:
- Respect and dignity: “Working with sincerity, humility and integrity”
- Equitable partnership: "Respect diversity" and "Inclusive decision-making"
- Transformative change: “Conducting rigorous, innovative, action research to challenge the status quo and catalyse change”
Our values in context
Our values set out how we work together as people and partners. Our policies, based on similar principles, set out how we work as an organisation. They cover areas such as race, gender, representation, the environment, and research integrity and ethics. Read our list of IIED policies
Our manifesto outlines our strategy for the coming years. This strategic work will be underpinned by our values.
