Located in Sussex, England, the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is an international authority on development. IDS serves as a center for research and education on development and offers conferences and workshops, as well as a host of online information about research and publications. Full-text working and discussion papers are available online, as are several special research reports and...

Global System for Sustainable Development (GSSD) is a project of the Global Accords Consortium for Sustainable Development that is "dedicated to internationalization of knowledge access, provision & sharing for 'reducing the gap between knowledge & policy.'" Housed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), GSSD is "a multi-dimensional knowledge networking system" that combines public and...

This online "open" book was edited by world renowned experts Peter H. Raven and Tania Williams and was produced in 2000 by the Committee for the Second Forum on Biodiversity (National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council). Available for browsing only, the document spans nine chapters -- from "Defining Biodiversity" to "Examples of Sustainability."

Over the past few decades, many ideas in the field of planning have become almost buzz-words in the popular press, including Sustainable Development” and New Urbanism. With the increased interest in planning, PLANetizen was created three years ago as "a public-interest information exchange for the urban planning and development community." The site features a host of frequently updated links to...

In terms of human settlement patterns, the world's population is undeniably becoming more and more urbanized. By 2008, over half of the world's population will be living in urban areas, and by 2030, it is estimated that 5 billion people will live in urbanized areas. This is but one of the aspects of the world's population that is discussed within the interactive pages of the 2007 State of World...

Sustainability has become a popular buzzword in the past few years, yet it can be a puzzling term to some who encounter it. In the words of this American Public Media site, "it's about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." They have decided to contribute to the ongoing public conversation about sustainability by using...

Prepared by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Sustainable Development Timeline traces milestones in the shifting relationship between the environment and development from 1967 to 1997. The Timeline is divided into five year blocks, each of which features milestones in four spheres of interest: Public Awareness; Institution Building; Reports and Publications; and...

This US Geological Survey circular offers the idea of using 3-D geological maps as a foundation for understanding the geology of the Great Lakes region with the hopes of applying this knowledge to fundamental sustainable development issues concerning natural resources of the area. The circular represents the work of a coalition of State and Federal Geological Surveys which advocates the use of...

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...