Working for Sustainable Development
Life International Foundation for Ecology was established in 1995 in Karlstad, Sweden and has since grown into a global actor working for sustainable development.
The key focus areas and expertise of LIFE is in the field of Sustainable Development and we have extensive experience of working in areas including Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Pedagogy, Environmental- and Project Management. As one of the first organisations in the world, we have also developed a training in Sustainable Project Management that gives practical tools on how to implement sustainability in any kind of project.
Background and approach
LIFE Academy was founded as a response to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in the early 90’s, where sustainable development was seriously discussed for the first time. In order to achieve the goals efforts had to be made to spread awareness on a massive scale. The idea behind LIFE Academy was that the most effective way to create change would be to train local, regional and national decision makers who in their turn could influence their organizations in the respective countries. To their support they would have access to a global network where they could find knowledge, inspiration and collaboration. Today, building on this approach, we continue developing our network and extending our reach into new arenas such as working together in various sustainability projects as well as creating new business opportunities in developing countries. Regardless of the type of activity our aim is to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (the SDG’s), 17 goals that were adopted by world leaders in 2015 and are to be regarded as the base for global collaboration to end all forms of poverty. The SDG’s call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income, to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.
Businesses are taking an increasingly larger part of this global transformation. LIFE Academy therefore continues with the strategy to exchange knowledge between countries globally, but we add on tools and methods directed specifically towards businesses in order to speed up the transformation.