Istituto Oikos is a non-profit organisation that operates in Europe and developing countries to safeguard biodiversity. It promotes a responsible management of natural resources and the widespread adoption of more-sustainable lifestyles as tools for social and economic development and for fighting poverty

Oikos is an independent, non-religious organisation. It was founded in 1996 in Milan.

Since then, they have devised and developed over 200 projects in Italy, Europe and eleven countries across Asia, Africa and South America.

Oikos’s VISION

A future in which ecology, economy and equity come together to reconcile the needs of man and the environment

Oikos’s MISSION

To contribute to preserving ecosystems and supporting development through professionalism, innovation and participation

THEIR VALUES, THEIR TOOLS

They have an integrated approach.
They work on different levels that all form one coherent framework. They also use a variety of tools that strengthen each other: analysis, collaborative planning and management of natural resources (forests, wildlife, water, soil, energy), awareness-raising, training, projects aimed at strengthening the economic self-sufficiency of disadvantaged communities and the role of women.

They promote and manage development projects, cooperation programmes and partnerships between organisations in the North and South of the world, activities for the creation of micro enterprises in the environmental sector, and educational initiatives promoting sustainability.

THE WAY THEY WORK

Regional plans, wildlife monitoring, responsible tourism programmes, aqueducts and photovoltaic plants: all their interventions in all fields share one common objective to make city dwellers, rural communities and public institutions more aware about environmental protection.

One thing is certain: careful attention to the preservation of "natural capital" is at the basis of any development process. In the rural areas of the global South, poverty and inappropriate, unsustainable management of natural resources are directly related.

Istituto Oikos strives to operate using integrated, long term programmes in a number of natural areas where it can rely on good knowledge, on solid and lasting partnerships, on the possibility of monitoring the success and sustainability of its activities in the long term.

The Alps in Italy, the Maasai Steppe in Tanzania and the coastal area of Myanmar are a few examples.

UNDERSTANDING THE SITUATION; ACTING TO CHANGE IT; SPREADING AND MONITORING THE RESULTS

Their work can be divided into three parts. In the learning stage, they acquire the basic elements needed to develop their work together with the local communities. The operational stage involves a number of investments and concrete actions. The critical analysis of results stage is supported by careful work on indicators and culminates in the spreading of good practices.

They mainly work in fragile environments which are exposed to climate change and growing, poorly controlled anthropic pressure. At the same time, these environments are valuable in ecological terms due to their rich biodiversity or the services that the ecosystems offer in terms of climate stabilisation, water drainage and the supply of raw materials.

They always work together with the local population and cooperate with local, national and international institutions and organisations.

They develop projects based on innovation and experimentation as well as on concrete, sustainable actions, scientific rigour, the principles of equity, solidarity and interculturality.

AN ONGOING JOURNEY

The future demands increasing commitment and a continuous critical review of the instruments they use.

Their priorities include:

Strategies for action

• - Continue to operate as a small NGO that interacts with its partners to achieve successful experiences based on shared inspirations, innovation, an ability to invest and a willingness to put the best competences into action.
• - Find a method of work that guarantees increasing effectiveness and efficiency and is based on careful monitoring of results.
• - Constantly strengthen the role of their partners and local technical staff, maintaining their strong commitment to vocational training and raising awareness on environmental issues as essential tools that help beneficiaries to get out of poverty without having to rely on others.
• - Support the micro-economies of informal local groups, built upon their knowledge of traditional cultures and the local areas built also upon their knowledge of traditional cultures and of the territory..
• - Give priority to the areas where they can make the most of their expertise: areas of significant environmental value that require protective measures or areas in which they have been implementing long term projects and can rely on in-depth knowledge and stable, lasting relations with their partners. .

Organisation

• - Strengthen their strategic and organizational side.
• - Make a concentrated effort to prepare a Position Paper for each of their strategic sectors: water, sustainable agriculture, energy, environmental monitoring.
• - Improve internal communications between their main office and those in the countries they operate in, as well as between the various sectors (scientific, communication, cooperation) .

Communication

• - Foster a greater openness to the public, contact and direct collaboration with citizens, starting with citizens in the Milan area.
• - Strive to create a community of responsible, aware citizens with whom to share thoughts, projects, dreams and expectations.
• - Be more open to forms of volunteer work and active participation in their projects.
• - Establish relations with private organisations, including companies, who may have a valuable contribution to make.

Change towards sustainable lifestyles

• - Increase their networking skills and improve communication with those who, like them, aim at putting environmental protection at the centre of the development process..

They work hard towards defending the values which have helped them develop. They want to be able of reacting to changes and strengthening their experiences before coming up with new ideas or convincing theirselves that they can improve those of others. Cooperation means, above all, establishing relations in which all the parties involved offer and receive something, based on their strength, ability and intelligence; it means making the most of the many resources with which the cultures in the global south, despite poverty, can help the West.

All their projects reconcile environmental protection and man’s needs.
With an integrated approach: several tools, one coherent framework.
Analysis and participatory planning of natural resources, awareness-raising, training, projects that strengthen the economic autonomy of disadvantaged communities and the role for women. Cooperation between organisations in the North and South, the creation of micro enterprises in the environmental field, education projects that promote sustainability.