On December 20, 2013 the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies in honor of Einstein's field equations explicating general relativity. While events, programs, and speakers are planned throughout the year - and across the globe - the website presents excellent resources accessible to anyone. Readers may like to begin by scouting the...

The Brettonwoods Project, founded in 1995, "works to monitor and reform the World Bank and IMF." This London-based organization is particularly interested in the environmental and social impact of these two organizations. Current issues include an update on Social Principles and the Comprehensive Development Framework. The Website also features a broad list of IMF and World Bank briefings, a...

Since the days when John Muir walked across its campus, there has been a keen interest in the environment at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment keeps this tradition alive through its different projects and publications. Perhaps the best part of the site is the Atlas of the Biosphere, which contains numerous maps documenting...

The Compendium of Sustainable Development Indicator Initiatives and Publications site is jointly developed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), Environment Canada, Redefining Progress, and the World Bank. It provides an "information base of indicator initiatives being carried out at the international, national and provincial/territorial/state levels in the context of...

BBC Online presents this six-part special on sustainable development. Created in anticipation of the now concluded Johannesburg Summit, this Web site provides a valuable resource for viewers wishing to learn more about sustainable development and related issues. The Web site consists of an overview and six sections: Population, Food, Cities, Waste, Tourism, and Energy. The sections offer an...

Cosponsored by three prominent engineering societies, the Engineers Forum on Sustainability was founded to "help promote the principles and practice of sustainability." The forum's newsletter can be viewed at this site. It contains information on worldwide activities and developments in the field of sustainability, including educational initiatives, environmental protection programs, international...

The New York Academy of Sciences has so many areas that they investigate that choosing just one to highlight can be difficult. The Environmental Sciences and Sustainability topic is particularly interesting, and there's enough material here to warrant several return visits. For example, the article entitled "Flood-Resilient Waterfront Development in New York City: Bridging Flood Insurance,...

Over the past several decades, the European Union has grown increasingly concerned about their ever-growing amounts of trash and other assorted rubbish. Ever year, the European Union throws away approximately 1.3 billion metric tons of waste, along with approximately 700 million metric tons of agricultural waste. With that in mind, they established a unified approach to waste management and...

As part of the upcoming 2002 Johannesburg Summit, the United Nations report "Global Challenge, Global Opportunity: Trends in Sustainable Development" was issued on August 13, 2002. The report, in part, tells that "if current patterns of development continue, nearly half of the world's people will suffer from water shortages within the next 25 years, the use of fossil fuels, along with greenhouse...

The Green Design Institute is a "major interdisciplinary education and research effort to make an impact on environmental quality through green design." The primary goal of the Institute is to form partnerships with industry, government, and other foundations in order to develop processes that "can improve environmental quality and product quality while enhancing economic development." Located at...