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Profiles

Great Transition Initiative

The Great Transition Initiative (GTI) is a think tank, online discussion forum and international network hosted by the Tellus Institute in Quincy, Massachusetts in partnership with the Stockholm Environment Institute.[1][2] It is the successor to the Global Scenario Group (GSG).[3]

History

In 1995, Gilberto Gallopín and Paul Raskin formed the Global Scenario Group (GSG) for the purpose of “illuminating the requirements for a transition to sustainability.”[3:1] GSG was organized under the auspices of the Tellus Institute and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and “conducted a series of studies and simulations to illuminate global challenges and possibilities.”[3:2] Its work was “supported by foundations, individual donations, and international organizations,”[2:1] including the Rockefeller Foundation, Steven Rockefeller, the Nippon Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Industrial and Social Progress Research Institute (GISPRI).[4][5]

GSG culminated in the 2002 publication of an essay titled “Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead.”[2:2] The report was authored by Raskin, Gallopín, Tariq Banuri, Pablo Gutman, Al Hammond, Robert Kates and Rob Swart.[4:1] In June 2003, GSG was reorganized as the Great Transition Initiative (GTI).[3:3][2:3]

In 2010, GTI participants discussed the creation of “a more effective and cohesive” global citizens' movement.[6] The idea was subsequently named “The Widening Circle,” which formally launched in September 2010 by a gathering of leaders from 12 organizations.[7][6:1]

GTI was “reimagined and relaunched” in 2014.[3:4]

Organization

GTI has been partnered with The Widening Circle (TWC),[8] and is a supporting organization of the Global Justice Movement (GJM).[9]

Personnel

Name Position Notes
Paul Raskin Director;[1:1] Coordinator[10] Tellus Institute, Our Common Future, Stockholm Environment Institute
Tariq Banuri Coordinator[10:1] Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Stockholm Environment Institute-Asia Centre
Allen White Coordinator;[10:2] Interviews Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Corporation 20/20, Global Initiative for Sustainability Ratings (GISR), International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), Civic Capital, Instituto Ethos, New Economy Network, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Initiative for Responsible Investment (IRI), University of Connecticut, Clark University, Battelle Memorial Institute, Fulbright Program[11]
Jonathan Cohn Managing Editor New Economics Institute, Common Cause, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Baltimore Center for Green Careers[12]
Olivia Kefauver Assistant (former)[13] Small Planet Institute, Land's Sake[14]
Kathy Nguyen Administration -
Orion Kriegman Organizer (former)[2:4] Boston Food Forest Coalition, Egleston Community Orchard, Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition (JPNET), Reflecting on Peace Practice (RPP)[15]
András Rátonyi Webmaster (former)[16] Amnesty International[17]
Rich Rosen Editorial Committee (former)[16:1] -
John Stutz Editorial Committee Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), State University of New York at Albany, Fordham University[18]
Robert Ward Assistant (former)[16:2] U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)[19]

Participants

Officially-recognized “participants” in the GTI include:[20]

  • Julian Agyeman
  • Poonam Ahluwalia
  • Sabine Alkire
  • Franck Amalric
  • Daniele Archibugi
  • Anamaria Aristizabal
  • Nicholas Ashford
  • John Ashton
  • Emmanuel Asomba
  • Tom Athanasiou
  • Paul Baer
  • Jayanta Bandyopadhyay
  • Tariq Banuri
  • George Basile
  • Jem Bendell
  • Elena Bennett
  • Johanna Bernstein
  • Al Binger
  • Michelle Boehme
  • Rolain Borel
  • Nicola Borregaard
  • Grazia Borrini-Feyerabend
  • Andrea Méndez Brandam
  • Halina Brown
  • Aspasia Camargo
  • Leslie Christian
  • Peter Draper
  • Chrisna du Plessis
  • Juan Dumas
  • David Ellerman
  • Paul Epstein
  • Lance Evoy
  • Taghi Farvar
  • Eran Feitelson
  • Fabio Feldmann
  • Anna Fleder
  • Gilberto Gallopín
  • James Goldstein
  • Ken Green
  • John Grin
  • Pablo Gutman
  • Dipak Gyawali
  • Mark Halle
  • Gwendolyn Hallsmith
  • Al Hammond
  • Kate Hampton
  • Singy Hanyona
  • Wendy Harcourt
  • Stuart Hart
  • Hazel Henderson
  • Liisa Horelli
  • Maik Hosang
  • Zosimo Huaman
  • Thomas Jahn
  • Sonali Jain
  • Sitanon Jesdadipat
  • Bob Jessop
  • Zhu Jiangang
  • Susan Joekes
  • Patricia Jurewicz
  • Sylvia Karlsson
  • Sivan Kartha
  • Roger Kasperson
  • Robert Kates
  • Sanjeev Khagram
  • Kausar Khan
  • Ashok Khosla
  • Joy Kim
  • Charles Knight
  • Sally Kohn
  • Smitu Kothari
  • Orion Kriegman
  • Lars Kristoferson
  • Phil Lane Jr.
  • Lailai Li
  • Ian Lowe
  • Nicolas Lucas
  • Roberto Luís de Melo Monte-Mor
  • Manuel Manga
  • David Manuel-Navarrete
  • Manfred Max-Neef
  • Erica Mintzer
  • Ruben Mnatsakanian
  • Bob Monks
  • Ellen Moors
  • María Teresa Morresi
  • Khawar Mumtaz
  • Mohan Munasinghe
  • Brian Murphy
  • Khalid Nadvi
  • Adil Najam
  • Madiodio Niasse
  • Dumisani Nyoni
  • Phil O'Keefe
  • Giok Ling Ooi
  • Josep Lluís Ortega
  • Michal Osterweil
  • Richard Ottinger
  • Robert Paehlke
  • Paulo Partidário
  • Oshani Perera
  • Nicanor Perlas
  • Ramon Pichs-Madruga
  • Laszlo Pinter
  • Istvan Pinter
  • Arthur Powers
  • Carolyn Raffensperger
  • Atiq Rahman
  • Rob Rainer
  • Chella Rajan
  • Kilaparti Ramakrishna
  • Zo Randriamaro
  • Paul Raskin
  • Amulya Reddy
  • Mark Ritchie
  • Gowher Rizvi
  • Karl-Henrik Robert
  • John Robinson
  • Dianne Rocheleau
  • Steven Rockefeller
  • Nancy Roof
  • Rich Rosen
  • Tom Rotherham
  • Ignacy Sachs
  • Adam Sacks
  • Ambuj Sagar
  • Suman Sahai
  • Aliourne Sall
  • Richard Sanders
  • Roberto Savio
  • Johan Schot
  • Catherine Seo
  • Luis Serra
  • Diomar Silveira
  • Carl Smith
  • Rehman Sobhan
  • Susanne Soederberg
  • Youba Sokona
  • Gus Speth
  • Andrew Strauss
  • John Stutz
  • Philip Sutton
  • Rob Swart
  • Dan Swinney
  • Kaarin Taipale
  • Betsy Taylor
  • Philip Thigo
  • Vanessa Timmer
  • Ted Trainer
  • Mary Evelyn Tucker
  • Yvonne Underhill-Sem
  • Rolph Van der Hoeven
  • Achin Vanaik
  • Philip Vergragt
  • Steve Waddell
  • Hans Wahl
  • Allen White
  • Ponna Wignaraja
  • Anders Wijkman
  • Jude Wilber
  • Carol Wills
  • Leanne Wilson
  • Morton Winston
  • Robert Wolfe
  • John Wood
  • Alexey Yablokov
  • Simon Zadek

Publications

  1. Who We Are. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved November 30, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241130015855/https://greattransition.org/about/who-we-are ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Who We Are. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved August 16, 2006, from https://web.archive.org/web/20060816042543/http://www.gtinitiative.org/default.asp?action=57#unit ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Aims and Background. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved November 29, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241129003958/https://greattransition.org/about/aims-and-background ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Raskin, P., Banuri, T., Gallopín, G., Gutman, P., Hammond, A., Kates, R., & Swart, R. (2002). Great Transition: The Promise and Lure of the Times Ahead. Great Transition Initiative; Global Scenario Group. https://web.archive.org/web/20060816042737/http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/Great_Transitions.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. About the GSG. Global Scenario Group. Retrieved December 3, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241203035056/https://gsg.org/about-the-gsg.html#/ ↩︎

  6. Who We Are. The Widening Circle. Retrieved June 18, 2017, from https://web.archive.org/web/20170618090513/http://www.wideningcircle.org/about/index.htm ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. Raskin, P. (2010, December). Imagine All the People: Advancing a global citizens movement. The Widening Circle; Great Transition Initiative. https://web.archive.org/web/20170215090033/http://www.wideningcircle.org/documents/TWC Readings/GTI-Perspectives-Imagine_All_the_People.pdf ↩︎

  8. Home. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved July 3, 2014, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140703120758/http://www.gtinitiative.org/ ↩︎

  9. Supporting Organizations. Global Justice Movement. Retrieved September 6, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20240906052813/https://www.globaljusticemovement.org/index.php/about-us/83-supporting-organizations ↩︎

  10. About. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved December 20, 2003, from https://web.archive.org/web/20031220005150/http://www.gtinitiative.org/default.asp?action=34 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. Allen White. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved November 30, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241130015927/https://greattransition.org/contributor/allen-white ↩︎

  12. Jonathan Cohn. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved November 30, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241130015922/https://greattransition.org/contributor/jonathan-cohn ↩︎

  13. Who We Are. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved September 6, 2015, from https://web.archive.org/web/20150906090152/http://www.greattransition.org/about/who-we-are ↩︎

  14. Olivia Kefauver. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from https://web.archive.org/web/20150910110959/http://www.greattransition.org/contributor/olivia-kefauver ↩︎

  15. Orion Kriegman. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved December 1, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241201000644/https://greattransition.org/contributor/orion-kriegman ↩︎

  16. Who We Are. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved April 5, 2014, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140405235350/http://www.greattransition.org/about/who-we-are ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  17. András Rátonyi. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from https://web.archive.org/web/20150910231611/http://www.greattransition.org/contributor/andras-ratonyi ↩︎

  18. John Stutz. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved November 30, 2024, from https://web.archive.org/web/20241130015922/https://greattransition.org/contributor/john-stutz ↩︎

  19. Robert Ward. Great Transition Initiative. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from https://web.archive.org/web/20150910110301/http://www.greattransition.org/contributor/robert-ward ↩︎

  20. Participants List. (2005, September). Great Transition Initiative. https://web.archive.org/web/20060903091744/http://www.gtinitiative.org/documents/ParticipantsListSeptember2005.pdf ↩︎