EcoVentures International

"For decades, environmentalists have been warning that human economic activity is exceeding the planet's limits. Of course we keep pushing those limits back with clever new technologies; yet living systems are undeniably in decline. These trends need not be in conflict-in fact, there are fortunes to be made in reconciling them."

Margaret Wheatley is one of the most innovative and influential organizational thinkers of our time. This book is a collection of her practice-focused articles, where she applies themes she has addressed throughout her career to detail the organizational practices and behaviors that bring them to life.

"... this book shows how a growing wave of 'social entrepreneurs'- individuals with initiative, creativity, savvy and determination- are reshaping the world for the better."

Michael McNulty, Chemonics, 2005. 
Investigates the applicability of microfinance to youth in conflict-affected areas.

An article from Lighting Magazine, in which the autheor spoke to a number of visionary people working in underdeveloped communities about how they are creating safe and reliable lighting systems at a grassroots level.

United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative, 2004.
Presents the business case for financing renewable energy and makes strong policy recommendations for further action.

United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative, et al, 2005.
Highlights the importance of private sector participation in the water sector for the benefit of water sustainability.

Arun Agrawal and Kent Redford, Wildlife Conservation Society Working Paper No. 26, March 2005.
Examines the conceptual discussion around poverty and biodiversity and analyzes three such interventions.

University of Oxford, November 2005.
From the Cooking and Carbon Expert Workshop, with a focus on generating carbon credits from cooking.

Dr. Arnulfo F. Itao, Office of Private Education Commission.
Highlights initiatives in Thailand to introduce entrepreneurship elements into the education system, both before and after the 1999 Education Reform Act, and compares these experiences with those in other countries.

Claudia Ulrike Gminden, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, 2003.
A manual highlighting successful Women's Enterprise Promotion strategies that are replicable and applicable for practitioners.

Zoe Chafe, Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development and The International Ecotourism Society, 2005. 
Summarizes the findings on trends shaping the ecotourism industry and informing debates about sustainable development certification.

Why not challenge the belief that human industry must damage the natural world?  Why not take nature itself as our model for making things?

by David Korten, 2006.
"We are a species with the power of choice, and at this defining moment in history, humanity faces both the opportunity and the imperative to choose our future in a conscious collective manner."

Environmental Education and Communication Project (GreenCOM)
Explores how lessons learned from successful behavior change programs could be used to help develop sustainable environmental solutions.

Lester Brown, guru of the global environmental movement, argues that the next challenge is to restructure the global economy, replacing our fossil-fuel based one with a new one that is environmentally sustainable, which he then models.