As Leonardo da Vinci observed 500 years ago, “Nature never breaks her own laws.” Achieving sustainable development in the 21st century requires visionary leadership based on a profound understanding of this guiding principle. The Sustainable Development Academy offers inspirational learning and regional networking opportunities for leaders committed to inter-generational responsibility.

In today’s fast-moving, globalised world, the human population is rapidly increasing, consumption is rising, growing numbers of people are travelling further and more often, and metropolitan areas are mushrooming. All of this growth is taking its toll on the earth’s natural resources and climate. In as early as 1972, The Limits to Growth, a report by the global think tank The Club of Rome, brought attention to the consequences of a growing human population and finite natural resources. The report argued that any attempt to reach a state of equilibrium must be based on a fundamental change in values and goals at individual, national and global level.

Although economic growth and environmental protection have traditionally been regarded as irreconcilable goals, a new paradigm is gradually emerging with the concept of sustainability, in which development is redefined as comprising environmental, economic and sociopolitical aspects in the interests of the more rational use and management of the world’s natural resources.

In order to achieve sustainability, action is needed, especially at the political level, to promote the necessary technical counter-measures in response to the devastating impact of our lifestyles on the planet. Firm commitments are needed in order to ensure the implementation of policies, development strategies and plans. Lack of leadership, knowledge, skills, determination and courage must also be addressed through education, capacity building and awareness raising.

In response to this challenge, the Regional Environmental Center (REC) established a targeted programme, designed to build the capacities of key leaders in the fields of politics, public service, business, NGOs and the media while at the same time forging partnerships between these groups and academia. The programme moves the focus of the debate from how to remedy the results of poor management, to how to put in place preventive measures.

The REC has received a generous pledge of financial support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) for an ambitious framework programme focusing on the Western Balkans. A primary long-term aim of the programme is to educate children on how to act in ways that create a better environment, both for themselves and for future generations. Another ...

"Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It's an honour for me on behalf of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe to be in Tbilisi. Tbilisi77 became the landmark of all environmental educators: where to start the journey changing minds for changing the world towards 'the future we want'. The Regional ...

The concept of sustainable development (SD) basically entails three main features: comprehensive, long-term approaches towards solving environmental problems; promoting social cohesion and economic well-being; and minimising global inequality. But what is really necessary to make this concept a reality is a long-term commitment to create high ...

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