The Stockholm Environment Institute, or SEI, is a non-profit, independent research and policy institute specialising in sustainable development and

environmental issue Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

s, with seven affiliate offices around the world. SEI works on climate change, energy systems, water resources,

air quality Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

, land-use,

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...

food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...

, and trade issues with the aim to shift policy and practice towards sustainability. SEI wants to support decision-making and induce change towards sustainable development around the world by providing knowledge that bridges science and policy in the field of environment and development.

History

SEI was established in 1989 as an initiative of the Government of Sweden. The name of the Stockholm Environment Institute is derived from the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.

Activities

Programs

Ecological Sanitation Research Programme The Ecological Sanitation Research Programme (EcoSanRes) is a research and capacity development program that aims to develop and promote sustainable sanitation in the developing world through capacity development and knowledge management as a cont ...

* LEAP: Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System * Resources and Energy Analysis Programme (REAP) * Regional Air Pollution In Developing Countries (RAPDIC) * Sustainable Mekong Research Network Programme (SUMERNET) * weADAPT (weADAPT.org) * WEAP: Water Evaluation And Planning System
TRASE Transparent supply chains for sustainable economies.
* SIANI Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (siani.se)

Partnerships

* SEI was one of the organizations who founded the

Sustainable Sanitation Alliance The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) is a loose network of organizations who are "working along the same lines towards achieving sustainable sanitation". It began its work in 2007, one year before the United Nations International Year of ...

in 2007 together with the German Development Organization (GIZ)

Organizational structure

Executive Directors

*1989–1990 Gordon T. Goodman *1991–1995 Michael J. Chadwick *1996–1999 Nicholas C. Sonntag *2000

Bert Bolin Bert Rickard Johannes Bolin (; 15 May 1925 – 30 December 2007) was a Swedish meteorologist who served as the first chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), from 1988 to 1997. He was professor of meteorology at Stockh ...

(interim Executive Director) *2000 Lars Nilsson (interim Executive Director) *2000–2004 Roger Kasperson *2004–2012

Johan Rockström Johan Rockström (born 31 December 1965) is a Swedish scientist, internationally recognized for his work on global sustainability issues. He is joint director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, together with e ...

*2012–2018 Johan L. Kuylenstierna *2018–present Måns Nilsson (Executive Director)

Centres

SEI operates in seven countries: Sweden,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, and Colombia.

Funding sources

The

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( sv, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Swede ...

(Sida) is SEI's main donor. SEI also receives funding from development agencies, governments,

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

, universities, businesses, and financial institutions. For example, the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...

also provides funds to SEI in the area of

maternal health Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In most cases, maternal health encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care in order to ens ...

and in

sustainable sanitation Sustainable sanitation is a sanitation system designed to meet certain criteria and to work well over the long-term. Sustainable sanitation systems consider the entire "sanitation value chain", from the experience of the user, excreta and wastew ...

. At the SEI Science Forum in 2015,

Melinda Gates Melinda French Gates (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American philanthropist and former multimedia product developer and manager at Microsoft. French Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world's most powerful women ...

took part to discuss

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

and

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures us ...

together with SEI staff to help shape SEI's future research.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Environmental research institutes Environmentalism in Sweden International research institutes Research institutes in Sweden Sustainability organizations Organizations established in 1989 1989 establishments in Sweden Organizations based in Stockholm