Global Development and Environment Institute
User Profile
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.
In 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.
Website: GDAE Homepage
