Strategic Priorities
Our approach is flexible – our adaptive capacity helps us to quickly identify and respond to today’s complex and unpredictable challenges, including to spearhead new areas of research for the IIED family.
We are part of IIED’s family of organisations with a focus on Europe as a lever for global change. We build on the extensive experience from IIED to find innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainable development challenges. To deliver our mission, we focus on three strategic objectives.
1 | Understand and influence the impacts of European actors on global environmental and social development
Europe is often criticised for presenting initiatives designed to build partnerships without consultation. In addition, several European Union (EU) policies, developed with the best intentions, are facing pushback from international partners arguing that these policies creates an unfair burden whilst increasing injustices.
In a time of polycrisis (climate change, nature loss and inequality), solidarity and trust are key to successfully tackle the challenges that we are currently facing. We are working with partners to generate and share evidence on the impacts of European actors and policies on global environmental and social development.
By working with their international partners, European actors can align their priorities with Majority World agendas, ensuring that their policies, programmes and interventions have a more positive impact on global development. Importantly, by building trusted partnerships with Majority World countries, Europe can act as a leader in promoting global solidarity and driving global sustainable development.
2 | Forging resilient communities: learning from the frontline
Communities across Europe and around the world are grappling with interconnected environmental and socio-economic challenges — from the impacts of climate change to issues of housing justice. These pressures are taking a profound human, economic, and environmental toll.
In this context of urgency and transformation, communities have much to learn from one another. By connecting across contexts, they can share not only knowledge but also lived experience and practical solutions. At a time of constrained resources and a rapidly changing global landscape, building a shared pool of capabilities and practices is essential to increase the reach and effectiveness of collective action.
We are working with partners to strengthen community resilience by co-generating and sharing knowledge and evidence, building networks of influence and advocacy, raising ambition within European policymaking spaces, and promoting mutual learning and action across diverse contexts.
3 | Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL)
One way that we bring together our strategic objectives in a coherent manner is by focusing on MEL as a cross-cutting objective and core connector. MEL helps us link evidence with action, reflection with strategy, and local experiences with broader systems change.
We work closely with European and international partners to assess not only the effectiveness and impact of sustainable development interventions in Europe and the Majority World, but also their equity and justice dimensions — ensuring that learning processes remain inclusive, context-aware, and transformative.
Translating our ambition into action
Learn more about the various projects at IIED Europe and how they deliver towards our strategic priorities.
UNDERPIN | Addressing critical climate adaptation gaps across Europe.
