Presaging the movements of political ecology, "smart growth", sustainable development and other trends of the past three decades, R. Buckminster Fuller remains one of the most misunderstood Renaissance individuals of the 20the century. Today, Mr. Fuller is most well known for inventing the geodesic dome, which he hoped would become a model for low-cost housing across the world. Over his life, Mr....

The very productive Earth Institute at Columbia University has a number of centers within its ambit, including The Center for International Earth Science. Their specialty happens to be on-line data and information management, along with spatial data integration and training and interdisciplinary research related to human interactions in the environment. From their homepage, visitors can learn more...

These two sites should be useful for urban planners or anyone interested in the issues surrounding development and "sprawl." The first, a report from the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the US Department of Agriculture, covers the "forces driving development, its character and impacts on agriculture and rural communities, the means available to channel and control growth, and the pros and cons...

Created in 1992 during the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the UN's Commission on Sustainable Development provides documents, news, links, and information on upcoming agendas and regional consultations for Rio+10: The World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. The site links to the upcoming conference's Website and also offers complete copies of...

More and more people are beginning to return the sometimes neglected field of geography to understand the world of environmental change (and degradation). In the process, the skills of highly trained cartographers and geographic information specialists are in great demand. Organized as an official United Nations Environment Programme centre, the GRID-Arendal group provides public policy officials,...

Tracing its historical genesis to the Marshall Plan, the U.S. Agency for International Devlopment (USAID), was officially established on November 3, 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. With this act, USAID became "the first U.S. foreign assistance organization whose primary emphasis was on long-range economic and social development assistance efforts." New visitors will want to begin their browsing...

The World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) and its Committee on Technology outline on this Web site the roles of engineers for sustainable development. There is specific attention given to environmental protection and restoration with respect to energy use, natural resource extraction, and transportation. Worldwide progress toward sustainable development is considered, especially...

The World Bank works to combat poverty and to increase development opportunities around the world, but they also have selected six strategic themes that focus in on global development. First-time visitors to the site can listen to World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick talk about these themes, and they may also wish to follow along with the accompanying slideshow. Themes include global public...

The goals of the World Resources Institute (WRI) are to reverse existing environmental problems and avert future ones, foster active public and private involvement, and make environmental improvement compatible with economic growth. Their Website contains countless documents sorted by (worldwide) geographic location as well as subject area, including sustainable development, biodiversity, climate...