Utne Institute: For a Greener, Kinder World
All of ECGS's initiatives are interrelated and synergistic projects of the Utne Institute, a 501(c)3 charitable public foundation, whose purpose is to help make the world "a little greener, and a little kinder." Eric Utne and John Miller are its chief officers.
Mission
The purpose of the Utne Institute is to help make the world a little greener and a little kinder. We accomplish this mission through a variety of activities and offerings intended to promote global understanding and advance an ethic of service. Activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Organizing and hosting educational symposia, conferences, seminars, awards ceremonies, and discussion groups
- Conducting original research and acting as a "think tank"
- Publishing books, magazines, pamphlets, websites, and other media
- Providing undergraduate and graduate-level courses, service-learning programs, and volunteer trainings and placements, and related activities
Examples of activities/projects of the institute
- Organize and produce a Peoples' Peace Prize conference and awards ceremony in conjunction with the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute
- Conduct Earth Corps Trainings, designed to inspire, prepare, and enable participants to choose and secure volunteer assignments with environmental and social justice service organizations
- Organize a global media campaign designed to increase the number of people volunteering for environmental and social justice service organizations
- Organize a network of "Elder Salons" throughout North America to discuss "the role of elders and youth today," and "next steps for America"