Tellus Institute

The Tellus Institute is a non-profit research and policy organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its mission is to advance the transition to a sustainable, equitable, and humane global civilization. The Tellus Institute was founded in 1976 by Paul Raskin, Richard Rosen, Stephen Bernow, John Stutz, and David Nichols for the purpose of research on resource and environmental strategies. Dr. Paul Raskin is the President of the Institute. Initially called the Energy Systems Research Group (ESRG), the Institute adopted its current name in 1990.

History

Since 1976, Tellus has conducted over 3,500 resource management and environmental strategy projects throughout the world.^[1] The Institute is well known in the environmental strategies domain for its many studies on state and municipality recycling programs,^[2]^[3]^[4] including its 1992 Packaging study,^[5] the 2008 Assessment of Options for Massachusetts' Solid Waste Master Plan,^[6] and the Preliminary Analysis of the Costs and Benefits of Bottle Bills study done for the US EPA.^[7]

Through the years Tellus has created numerous scientific tools and reports in many different areas, including energy, water, sustainable communities, corporate social responsibility, and climate change; however, since 2005 the Institute has shifted its focus to developing a Great Transition vision for a sustainable future.

Research and programs

The main body of Tellus' current research specializes in the application of quantitative analysis to the development of possible future scenarios.

Tellus has also launched a number of subsidiary working groups and research programs:

The Global Scenario Group (GSG) was convened in 1995 in order to compile a set of possible scenarios for global development in the twenty-first century. Its goal was to identify a sustainable and equitable future within this set of scenarios and to isolate the policies, actions, and human choices required to achieve this scenario. Its findings indicated that an environmentally sustainable, socially equitable future —which the GSG termed a "Great Transition"—was possible. The GSG’s work culminated with the 2002 publication of Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead.^[8] Paul Raskin led the GSG, which consisted of more than 20 environmental scholars from throughout the globe. Scenarios developed by the GSG have informed the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook series,^[9] as well as other international and national vision studies.
The Great Transition Initiative (GTI) was formed in 2003 to re-channel the momentum of the GSG. Its mandate is to continue scenario development, disseminate the Great Transition vision to a larger audience, and build a network of GTI members. It was relaunched in April 2014 as an online journal and discussion network devoted to vision and praxis around a progressive global transformation.
Corporation 20/20 is an initiative of Tellus focused on corporate social responsibility. Its mission is to develop and advocate the redesign of corporations so that business is guided by social purpose as well as financial gain. Co-founded in 2004 by Allen White, Vice President of Tellus, and Marjorie Kelly, co-founder and former editor of Business Ethics magazine, Corporation 20/20 hosts a forum of leading thinkers, practitioners, and advocates who work to construct alternate visions of the corporate structure, which it then disseminates into the corporate community.
The Global Reporting Initiative, founded by Ceres (organization) and Tellus Vice President Allen White, had the goal of developing and disseminating a standardized framework for sustainability reporting. Now an autonomous organization based in Amsterdam, the GRI's framework has become the de facto international standard used by over 1,200 companies for corporate reporting on environmental, social and economic performance.
The Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (GISR) is an initiative launched by Ceres and Tellus in 2011 whose goal is to develop an independent, standardized framework for sustainability ratings.
Boston Scenario Project was initiated in 2005 as a process for developing local scenarios for the Boston metropolitan region that mirror the global-scale scenarios described in the Great Transition essay. The project seeks to reconcile worldwide effects with local actions in order to envision a future of sustainability, pluralism, justice, and global responsibility for the Boston region, which would also contribute to worldwide sustainability and equity. The Boston Scenario Project is coordinated by James Goldstein, Tellus Senior Fellow.

Tools

Tellus developed and uses a series of software programs in its research. These programs were designed for strategic planning and scenario analysis, allowing the user to create, evaluate, and compare alternative futures based on current data and hypothetical trends. LEAP software facilitates energy-environment planning; WEAP, water planning; WastePlan, solid waste planning; and PoleStar, sustainability planning.

Selected publications

Gerst, Michael, Paul Raskin, and Johan Rockström. "Contours of a Resilient Global Future." Sustainability 6, no. 1 (2014): 123-135, http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/1/123.
Raskin, Paul. "A Great Transition?: Where We Stand." Great Transition Initiative. October 2014. http://www.greattransition.org/publication/a-great-transition-where-we-stand.
Raskin, Paul. "Game On: The Basis for Hope in a Time of Despair." GTI Perspective Series. Boston: Tellus Institute, 2013. Available at http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/GameOn.htm.
White, Allen. "Chapter 7: Reinventing the Corporation." State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2012. Available at http://www.tellus.org/tellus/publication/reinventing-the-corporation.
Raskin, Paul. World Lines: Pathways, Pivots, and the Global Futures. Boston: Tellus Institute, 2006. Available at http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/PDFFINALS/16WorldLines.pdf.
Raskin, Paul, Tariq Banuri, Gilberto Gallopín, Pablo Gutman, Al Hammond, Robert Kates, and Rob Swart. Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead. Boston: Stockholm Environment Institute, 2002. Available at http://www.greattransition.org/gt-essay.

References

↑ http://www.tellus.org/
↑ "Economic & Environmental Benefits of Beverage Container Recycling: The Case for Updating Massachusetts' Bottle Bill" (PDF). Retrieved 14 May 2013.
↑ "Comparison of System Costs and Materials Recovery Rates: Implementation of Universal Single Stream Recycling With and Without Beverage Container Deposits - Draft Report" (PDF). Retrieved 14 May 2013.
↑ "Michigan Bottle Bill - A Final Report to: Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund" (PDF). Retrieved 14 May 2013.
↑ Tellus Packaging Study - P2 InfoHouse Reference Collection
↑ "Assessment of Materials Management Options for the MA Solid Waste Master Plan Review" (PDF). Retrieved 14 May 2013.
↑ "Is a National Bottle Bill Worthwhile?". Retrieved 14 May 2013.
↑ Paul Raskin, Tariq Banuri, Gilberto Gallopín, Pablo Gutman, Al Hammond, Robert Kates, and Rob Swart, Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead (Boston: Stockholm Environment Institute, 2002), http://www.greattransition.org/gt-essay.
↑ "Global Environment Outlook Scenario Framework: Background Paper for UNEP's Third Global Environment Outlook Report" (PDF). Retrieved 15 May 2013.

External links

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