Decision makers in the public, private and social sectors are vital to sustainable development. Their ability to understand the links between the environment and the economy, and to manage these complex relationships is critical to any progress towards a more sustainable future.

FIT's Centre for a Sustainable Future (CSF) designs programs and provides managers from all sectors with tools and techniques to meet the challenge of promoting sustainable development. Its central objective is to organize and provide technical assistance and training in sustainable development and environmental management for decision makers who must respond to the growing need to internalize environmental factors into their decisions.

The CSF can provide training and technical support for sustainable development programs in a number of areas:

• program design and evaluation methods
• techniques for conducting environmental impact assessment
• promotion of environmental/resource accounting systems
• instruction in the use of economic instruments for environmental protection
• use of geographic information systems
• adoption of "greening" methods for industrial and business enterprises
• preparation of state-of-the-environment reports
  computer-assisted decision making
• preparation of case studies of "best practice" in sustainable development