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GDAE
Overview
Background:
The Global Development And Environment Institute
(GDAE – pronounced "gee-day") was founded
in 1993 to combine the research and curricular development
activities of two Tufts programs: the Program for Sustainable
Change and Development in the School of Arts and Sciences
(directed by economist,
Neva Goodwin), and the Center
for Environmental and Resource Policy at
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Directed by
William Moomaw,
a chemist and environmental policy specialist). The
combination creates a center of expertise in economics,
policy, science and technology. The Institute has produced
more than a dozen books and numerous articles, policy
documents, and discussion papers. These materials are
being used in academic settings, to enhance the teaching
of economics and related subjects, and in policy circles,
where GDAE researchers are recognized leaders in their
fields.
Prior to 2000,
GDAE’s largest single project was production of
the six-volume series, Frontier Issues in Economic
Thought. The seven-year effort in which GDAE researchers
selected and summarized hundreds of articles for this
project uniquely positioned the Institute to comprehend
both the limitations of the mainstream economic paradigm,
and also the wide range of creative efforts that have
been and are being made to extend our economic understanding.
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our effort to understand actual and possible trajectories
of economic development, GDAE researchers emphasize
ecological health and the correlation between social
and economic well-being. This requires expanding
our theoretical understanding of economic systems,
recognizing that they are embedded in the physical
contexts of technology and the natural world, as
well as in the social/psychological contexts of
history, politics, ethics, culture, institutions,
and human motivations. Throughout all of its activities,
theoretical advances at GDAE are informed by the
Institute's applied and policy work, while its practical
applications of economics are enhanced by a growing
theoretical understanding of what is required to
promote socially and environmentally just and sustainable
development.
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"…if
you want to fight for the environment, don't hug
a tree; hug an economist. Hug the economist who
tells you that fossil fuels are not only the third
most heavily subsidized economic sector after road
transportation and agriculture — they also
promote vast inefficiencies. Hug the economist who
tells you that the most efficient investment of
a dollar is not in fossil fuels but in renewable
energy sources that not only provide new jobs but
cost less over time. Hug the economist who tells
you that the price system matters; it's potentially
the most potent tool of all for creating social
change." (From the Keynote Address by Bill
Moyers at the Environmental Grantmakers Association,
Brainerd, MN, October 16, 2001) |
Programs:
Responding to the Institute's growth, in 2000 its activities
were organized within two program areas: Research and
Policy, and Theory and Education. While Co-Director
Goodwin works most closely with the Theory and Education
program and Co-Director Moomaw is mainly associated
with the Research and Policy program, there is considerable
interaction and mutual feedback between the two areas.
Theory
and Education, headed by Dr.
Jonathan Harris, is dedicated to developing
a comprehensive, teachable system of economic theory
that will better serve human needs and respond to ecological
realities. The program explores and develops alternatives
to the standard economic paradigm, both in the form
of new economic theories and as teachable curriculum
materials.
Research
and Policy, led by Timothy Wise , carries out applied research
on the effects of economic policies using an analytical
framework that assesses the limitations of market-mechanisms
for addressing social and environmental issues. Research
priorities include energy and climate change, recycling
and materials use, and trade and sustainable economic
integration.
The Institute
also participates in a variety of initiatives at Tufts
University, including:
- GDAE sponsored
on-campus Lecture and Seminar Series, which brings
speakers and panelists to campus to discuss a wide
range of topical subjects: globalism, climate change,
free trade and the environment, and many others
- GDAE remains
connected with Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy through its
Co-director William Moomaw, who is a professor at
Fletcher and directs its International Resource Policy
Program. GDAE researchers also advise and support
the work of Tufts's
Urban and Environmental Policy Program.
- GDAE participates
on the Steering Committee of Tufts
Institute of the Environment (TIE), an interdisciplinary,
university-wide education and research institute which
facilitates and coordinates environmental programs
at the University.
- GDAE supports and promotes the goals of the Talloires
Declaration, a ten-point action plan
for incorporating sustainability and environmental
literacy in teaching, research, operations and outreach
at colleges and universities. The Talloires Declaration
was composed in 1990 at Tufts Campus in Talloires,
France, and was originally signed by 20 university
presidents. It has since been signed by over 300 university
presidents and chancellors in over 40 countries.
Administrative
structure: GDAE is jointly administered by the
Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy and the Tufts
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. It is overseen
by an External Advisory
Board and a Tufts Faculty Advisory Board. GDAE's
work is primarily supported by grants from private and
public funding agencies.
GDAE's
name: Our name reflects our mission. We have
capitalized the "A" of "And" to
emphasize that it is the interrelation between Development
And Environment that is our special focus; studies or
policies relating to either of those terms alone have
too often resulted in one or another kind of failure.
We use the word "Global" to indicate that
we are concerned with the linkages between Development
And Environment in all parts of the world. There are
important differences – as well as some important
similarities – between the meaning and the consequences
of those linkages in the North and in the South. We
are concerned with understanding both the differences
and the similarities, from both the academic and the
policy perspectives.
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