LEAD-Europe
Leadership for Environment And Development
Fondation LEAD, Geneva, Switzerland

Last modified: March, 1999

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Introduction

LEAD-Europe is a Foundation concerned with the environment and sustainable development that is established in Geneva, Switzerland.Through LEAD International Inc. it is associated with other LEAD programmes in countries and regions worldwide. These include Brazil, Canada, China, the Commonwealth of Independent States, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Southern Africa .

Purpose and Goals

LEAD strives to create and strengthen leadership in all walks of life that will encourage a form of development, world-wide, which is environmentally sound, equitable and enhances the quality of life for present and future generations. To facilitate the diffusion of research and to improve cross-sectoral cooperation, the LEAD programmes reach out to the middle level in industry, NGOs and government.

All the LEAD programmes share the conviction that there is an urgent need to recognise that the Earth's resources and life support systems are endangered by their careless and profligate exploitation, which is as needless as it is inimicable to their sustainability. Natural resources are depleted; air, soil and water are polluted and degraded; living species are being brought to extinction and climate seems to be suffering irreversible modification.

Society's need to demonstrate continued economic growth has been the excuse for the activities leading to this situation, even though an increasingly smaller proportion of the world's population enjoys the fruits of such growth.

It is now necessary for society to begin to redefine its goals and aim at a more sustainable form of development that is environmentally sound, equitable and allows human rights to be respected to a far greater degree than at present.

To accomplish this, those who move into leadership positions around the world in the next quarter of the century must be sensitive to, and highly schooled in, environmental and development issues. LEAD-Europe  seeks to play its part in encouraging such leadership.

Organisation and Programme

LEAD-Europe is governed by an International Board (Chairman: Prof. Umberto Colombo) and its work is guided by a European Steering Committee (ESC).

LEAD-Europe follows the LEAD model: Each year, promising mid-career, in-post professionals from a broad range of disciplines and professional sectors are recruited to become Associates in a two-year Programme based on the European Curriculum.

This Programme is designed as a combination of distance learning (including the use of the Internet, submitted assignments, consultation with tutors and staff-assigned/self-motivated study tasks) and participation in study-centre training sessions. Two such study-centre sessions take place in Europe and one further afield. These sessions, related to the curriculum, are based on case studies, simulation exercises, study site visits, seminars and informal discussions, and roundtable presentations.

Outstanding LEAD Associates at the completion of the Programme are invited to become Fellows. Fellows contribute, on a longer-term basis, to the LEAD Programme by undertaking projects at the national or regional level, and in assisting in the development of the programme in other ways.

Institutions represented in LEAD Programmes:

World-wide, around 70 Associates come from Federal ministries in major countries as well as Kyrghyz, Altai Republic and Moldova, but also from regional governments from Alberta to Shanghai Municipality and from the Province of the Eastern Cape to the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. Over 110 Associates come from major research and teaching institutions from Bejing University to the Colegío de Mexico, and an equal number of Associates come from NGOs, from the WWF to Physicians for Global Survival.

To demonstrate the diversity of the institutional affiliation, the following tables present the commercial institutions which have encouraged their employees to participate in the LEAD Programme:

A comprehensively searchable database of all LEAD Associates and LEAD Members with position, skills, contact information, etc., is available only through LEADNet at the LEAD International Website.

Contact Information

Staff

Director: Pascale Morand Francis
Assistant Director: Thomas R. Grammig for programmes
Assistant Director: Michael Hanssler
Administrator: Daniela Bruhlmann

Electronic mail

Inquiries and general information: Pascale Morand Francis

Telephone and Fax

Telephone: +41.22.748.1430, Fax: +41.22.748.1439

Postal address

LEAD-Europe
Rue de Varembé 3
Case postale 8
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland

Send any questions and comments about this Web site to: webmaster@lead.ch.

LEAD-Europe
Rue de Varembé 3, Case postale 8, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Tel: +41.22.748.1430 · Fax: +41.22.748.1439
Copyright © 1998 Fondation LEAD