Turning the Tide was organized around the concept of 21st century “guilds”—communities of accomplished, visionary individuals who share a commitment to solving Earth’s most pressing challenge.
In keeping with the Institute’s mission, the guilds serve as a means to connect, inspire, and facilitate ongoing partnerships and action. Face-to-face collaboration occurs at the Institute, as well as through correspondence, virtual meetings, joint project ventures, and other activities.
In the months following Turning the Tide 2010, three guilds in particular built momentum toward forging real solutions for a more sustainable future. Visit our Areas of Focus page for updates on this work >
- Business & Environment: Capitalism Reinvented
With dual crises facing our environment and global marketplace, we can no longer polarize economy and environment. What is the new economic model that strengthens the economy, values the environment, and promotes human capital? How can environmental concerns enter board room discussions, and be a part of the 21st-century business DNA?
- Health & National Resilience: Building New Ecosystems
The health of ecosystems is directly related to the health of human society. Given the new emphasis on the interconnectedness of farm and food policies, the rise in childhood obesity, and growing health threats from pollutants and man-made chemicals—how should “health” be redefined?
- Sustainable Communities: Preserving the Commons
The future of our planet depends on sustainable development that ensures the protection of the environment and local cultures. The “commons”—water, air, forests, wildlife, national parks, and historic places—are resources and spaces owned by no one, but critical to the health of all. Thinking broadly and globally, how do we safeguard our commons for the good of all?
- Next-Gen Legacies: Designing the Future Differently
Young entrepreneurs and leaders, engaged in a variety of imaginative endeavors, gather to discuss the world—and the future—they are trying to shape. How will they make it happen? What will their legacy be?
- Media & Environment
The craft of environmental storytelling must adapt to a new era of information sharing and dissemination. This means that experienced journalists—as well as citizen activists—have to develop new skills to tell the important stories in a complex digital world. Web 3.0 and its many manifestations—blogs, tweets, feeds, zines, podcasts, YouTube, mashups, interactive graphics, audio slideshows, and other technologies yet to be invented—represent the future of environmental journalism.
