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Encouraging sustainable land investments
The surge in farmland and commodities investments is causing widespread concern about ‘land-grabbing’ and the accelerated loss of biodiversity, water depletion, soil erosion, and human rights abuses. These investments are expected to grow substantially over …
Putting family foundations on the map
Trying to change the world through philanthropy without data on what we do is like starting a journey without compass or map. This was the recognition that led to the collaboration between Pears Foundation and …
Moving the tanker
‘We are a tiny, tiny little organization,’ says Bill Gates about the largest foundation that the world has ever seen. He’s right: the Gates Foundation’s annual grantmaking is only a tiny fraction of governments’ budgets. …
Data resources
‘For data to be useful in philanthropy they have to be known, accessible, and compoundable (able to be mixed and combined).’ So wrote Lucy Bernholz in a post on her Philanthropy 2173 blog in July. …
Glossary
Big Data A term used to describe data sets so large that they become awkward to work with using standard database management tools. (Source: Wikipedia) The 40 billion photos handled by Facebook and the 1 …
Interview – Richard Branson
In order to combat climate change, increasing interest is being shown in ‘geoengineering’ approaches. Broadly speaking, these divide into two main categories: the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and solar radiation management to …
The value of calculated risk
Private foundations are investing increasing amounts in efforts to tackle the causes and consequences of extreme poverty in low-income countries, but we are still extremely small players compared to government donor agencies and the international …
A generational opportunity fast slipping away
‘It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity.’ Dag Hammarskjöld 2011 marked a watershed moment for democracy and development around the world. There were radical challenges to sclerotic …
What do others want from foundations?
Partnering with UNDP Najat Rochdi There is no development without risk-taking. If it was not risky, 60 years of working for development would have been much more successful than they have been. So what kind …
Risky business: the survey
A session on ‘Risky Business’ at the European Foundation Centre (EFC) conference this month will explore the relationship between risk and creativity. In preparation for the session, Selim Iltus and Barry Knight surveyed EFC member …