Our Purpose

Mission

Advancing a sustainable, prosperous world through actionable, scientific analysis of the complex interactions among co-evolving, interconnected global systems.

The pace and complexity of global environmental change is unprecedented. Nations, regions, cities and the public and private sectors are facing increasing pressures to confront critical challenges in future food, water, energy, climate and other areas. Our integrated team of natural and social scientists produces comprehensive global and regional change projections under different environmental, economic and policy scenarios. These projections enable decision-makers in the public and private sectors to better assess impacts, and the associated costs and benefits of potential courses of action.

Vision

We envision a world in which community, government and industry leaders have the insight they need to make environmentally and economically sound choices.

Toward that end, we provide a scientific foundation for strategic investment, policymaking and other decisions that advance sustainable development.

Impact: What We Do

The MIT Joint Program:

  • Combines scientific research with risk and policy analyses to project the impacts of—and evaluate possible responses to—the many interwoven challenges of global and regional socioeconomic, technological and environmental change.
  • Communicates research findings through our website, publications, workshops and presentations around the world, as well as frequent interactions with decision-makers, media outlets, government and nongovernmental organizations, schools and communities.
  • Cultivates and educates the next generation of interdisciplinary researchers with the skills to tackle ongoing and emerging complex global challenges.