Summary
At the International Society for Industrial Ecology’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 25 April 2024, Tom Graedel, an ISIE member since its founding, the first president of the Society, and current chair of the ISIE Development Board, announced that he would match all donations/contributions by ISIE members to the Society made until the end of 2024 up to a maximum total of ten thousand euros.
These contributions can be general donations or they may be made to support one of the funding opportunities identified by the ISIE Development Board for advancing the field of industrial ecology.
These funding opportunities are:
1: Support for Student and Junior Faculty to Attend the 2025 ISIE International Conference in Singapore
2: Providing Industrial Ecology Textbooks to Faculty and Students in Developing Countries
3: Support for two Student Positions to Research, Organize, and Plan for Administration of Pre-College Programs in Industrial Ecology and Global Change
4: Developing a Platform for Sustainability Literacy and Research Dissemination
5: Developing an Industrial Ecology Methods Crash Course
6: Support for a staff position as ISIE Director of Development
7: Support for Development of a Summer School in Industrial Ecology
More information on these funding opportunities is available in the full announcement below.
If you are inspired to take advantage of this generous matching gift and support the ISIE generally or one of these funding opportunities specifically, please visit https://is4ie.org/donate. You can directly make a donation by credit card and learn about other methods of contributing.
Full Announcement:
At the International Society for Industrial Ecology’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 25 April 2024, Professor Tom Graedel, an ISIE member since its founding and the first president of the Society, announced that he would match all donations/contributions to the ISIE made until the end of 2024 up to a maximum total of ten thousand euros.
Here is some additional information from Tom about his gift and his motivations:
“To stimulate a wider realization of industrial ecology and its tools and techniques, and to reach out to those who would benefit from ISIE membership and participation, Thomas Graedel, ISIE’s first president and current chair of the Development Board, has offered to match contributions to ISIE up to a total of € 10,000. Here is why he wishes to do this:
A great many professional societies have a development board, with the mission of raising money to assist the society in funding needed for adequate staffing, to support initiatives such as specialized meetings or periodic awards to members of distinction, and to benefit the society’s general membership in various other initiatives. The ISIE Development Board seeks to stimulate those types of initiatives for ISIE’s benefit.
The ISIE DB of a dozen members from around the world is engaged in developing and/or funding initiatives that can be realized only if financial support can be provided. Over the past year the Board has developed or supported seven such initiatives for which your financial support is requested:
Funding Opportunity Number 1: Support for Student and Junior Faculty to Attend the 2025 ISIE International Conference in Singapore
Project Coordinators: Koichi Kanaoka (Yale University) and Kamila Krych (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
The goal of this activity is to make it possible for students and junior faculty, especially those from developing countries, to attend and participate in the next biennial meeting of the society. Some 800-1000 participants attend a typical meeting, but few are from developing countries due to financial constraints. Providing funding for about fifty such participants would assist them in their efforts as well as expand the reach of ISIE into regions of the world where ISIE’s scientific approaches could be of great benefit. The anticipated budget for such a program is as follows:
Travel per person - € 2000
Lodging per person - € 1000
Meeting registration - € 1000
Total per person - € 4000
Budget for the support of fifty attendees: € 200,000
Funding Opportunity Number 2: Providing Industrial Ecology Textbooks to Faculty and Students in Developing Countries,
Project Coordinator: Lynette Cheah (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia)
The goal of this activity is to provide industrial ecology textbooks for students and junior faculty, especially those from developing countries, in support of industrial ecology instruction where funds are low. The anticipated budget for setting up this program and beginning to provide textbooks to those interested is € 5,000
Funding Activity Number 3: Support for two Student Positions to Research, Organize, and Plan for Administration of Pre-College Programs in Industrial Ecology and Global Change
Project Coordinators: Stephen Levine (Tufts University), Alissa Kendall (University of California Davis), and Roland Clift (University of Victoria, Canada)
The goal of this activity is to support two industrial ecology graduate students to research, organize, and work with local and perhaps regional pre-college and community college instructors to bring industrial ecology and global change perspectives to students interested in industrial ecology, global change, and related topics at an early stage of their educational paths.
Two graduate students working part-time for a nine-month period are budgeted at € 2,000/month, or a total of € 36,000/yr. In anticipation that this effort might be extended to work with those in countries outside the initial test audiences, a three-year effort would cost € 108,000.
Funding Opportunity Number 4: Developing a Platform for Sustainability Literacy and Research Dissemination
Project Coordinator: Max Koslowski (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
The goal of this activity is to provide support for the development of an informational platform on global change and methods for analysis and understanding related to sustainability. The goal is to provide a platform that would communicate industrial ecology goals and methods to the general public: a “wikipedia of industrial ecology”. Setting up the online platform is estimated to cost € 3,000.
Funding Opportunity Number 5: Developing an Industrial Ecology Methods Crash Course
Project Coordinator: Shiva Zargar (University of British Columbia)
The goal of this activity is to develop and implement an online “crash course” focusing on industrial ecology methods (LCA, MFA, TEA, etc.). The goal would be to communicate industrial ecology approaches to institutions, organizations, and industries who would benefit from such a focused platform. The cost to develop such a program is initially estimated to be € 6,000.
Funding Opportunity Number 6: Support for a staff position as ISIE Director of Development
Project Coordinator: Ned Gordon (ISIE)
The goal of this activity is to provide support for a new full-time ISIE staff position to develop and implement plans for fund-raising and dissemination in support of the activities and intentions of the ISIE. The salary and benefits of such a position are estimated to be € 75,000 per year. A stretch goal is to endow this position for five years: € 375,000
Funding Opportunity Number 7: Support for Development of a Summer School in Industrial Ecology
The goal of this activity is to develop and implement a two-week summer school for selected graduate students and faculty to learn about the latest advances and methodologies in industrial ecology. This effort would be modeled after summer schools currently held in specialties such as chemistry and biology. At each industrial ecology school the faculty would consist of world leaders (volunteers) in state-of-the-art industrial ecology, plus two staff members to administer the program and its details. The program would ideally involve a three-year period of development. The estimated cost per year is:
Support for travel and lodging for three faculty instructors and two program staff:
Travel: € 3,000/person, Lodging: € 2,000/person, Salary (staff only, two months preparations and two weeks on site at € 5,000/month): € 40,000
Support for travel and lodging for twenty-five attendees:
Travel: 25 attendees at € 3,000/person = € 75,000, Lodging: € 50,000/person = € 125,000
Total for three summer schools:
Instructors and staff € 495,000
Were all of these seven initiatives to be fully supported, the funding needed would be a bit over one million euros – perhaps a very great challenge, or perhaps we will be fortunate enough to find that we indeed have an ISIE member or a group of members who may be willing to make such a contribution to our society. Although such support may well not be forthcoming, many are likely to find it possible to support at least a portion of one of the initiatives. For example,
- For € 1000 a pre-college semester program on IE and related topics could be organized and carried out
- For € 4000 a student from the global south could attend the 2025 Singapore ISIE meeting
- For € 1,000,000 nearly all of our funding opportunities could be supported
We are, of course, aware that these are not small amounts of money. We are also aware, however, that smaller contributions by several or many members could realize some of these ideas. Let us live up to the model developed by other societies and help make ISIE stronger and its members better supported. The Development Board challenges all of us to be part of this new ISIE initiative.
As an individual donor, Professor Graedel will match donations from other ISIE members up to a total of € 10,000 through the end of 2024.”
