Institute at Brown for Environment and Society

Institute at Brown for Environment and Society

Empowering people, driving solutions for a sustainable world

Today’s problems are complex and interconnected, and so are the solutions.

Addressing the 21st century’s most pressing climate and sustainability challenges requires new levels of collaboration and action across disciplines, sectors, and scales of impact. 

Through solutions-focused research and education enabled by deep partnerships across Brown and beyond, the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) aims to be an engine of real-world impact and a training ground for the next generation of changemakers building a just, sustainable world. Backed by a bold five-year strategic plan and grounded in a culture that promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, nimble innovation, public engagement, and equitable outcomes, we seek to bolster knowledge-to-action pathways in Providence, across the nation, and around the world.

About IBES

The Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) is accelerating solutions to the most complex climate and sustainability challenges of our time through interdisciplinary research, teaching and impact.

IBES 101

 

In this short video, discover how IBES brings together scholars, students, and communities to tackle the world’s toughest environmental challenges.

News & Events

Discover what's happening at IBES, where every story is a step towards a brighter, more sustainable world.

Recent News

All News
IBES' 2026 Commencement Forum brought students, alumni, families, and community members together at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs and online for a conversation on the future of ocean science, climate resilience, plastics, and environmental policy.
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Commencement Weekend offered a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2026 and the relationships and sense of purpose that connect the IBES community across generations.
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Through the Swearer Center program, eight students affiliated with IBES will conduct community-engaged research spanning environmental justice, food sovereignty, conservation biology, and Indigenous land stewardship.
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One year after announcing its inaugural set of four working groups, Brown’s Equitable Climate Futures initiative (ECF), led by the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES), has determined a second cohort of awardees, with projects ranging from local environmental justice to Indigenous climate action in the Amazon.
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Contact us

  
Brown University, Box 1951
Providence, RI 02912
 
+1 (401) 863-3449
environment@brown.edu