History

The Institute was established in 2013 by a group of engaged professionals from a range of disciplines who share a common passion for educating and sharing best practices in fields that promote well-being, prosperity and a sustainable future.

Vision

From the Institute’s perspective, biophilia means to live in harmony with nature and community in order to achieve well-being, sustainability and prosperity. This principle applies to individuals, the places we live, and the world around us.

The Institute’s vision, therefore, is a world in which individuals take local and global actions that nurture the living, social and economic systems that will sustain future generations.

We need nature in our lives now more than ever. People in the United States, in particular, have spent decades excessively consuming the planet’s resources and adopting unhealthy practices that have led to a myriad of crises, from polluted air and water to an obesity pandemic and increasing chronic health problems. People have gradually adopted more isolated lifestyles because of consumerism and overdevelopment of the natural world, and nature is the only combatant to this physical and social isolationism.

Our underlying philosophy is the simple truth, embodied in the words of environmentalist and professor David Orr, who said “It makes far better sense to reshape ourselves to fit a finite planet than to attempt to reshape the planet to fit our infinite wants.”