The Sustainability Laboratory

The Sustainability Laboratory, also known as The Lab, is a New York City-based, not-for-profit research, development and educational organization, established in order to address the urgent sustainability issues facing the planet. Founded in 2008 by Dr. Michael Ben-Eli, The Lab’s mission is “to act as a catalyst for accelerating the transition of world society and its economy to a sustainable basis by researching, developing, demonstrating and facilitating the adoption of breakthrough sustainability practices, thereby expanding prospects, and producing positive, life-affirming impacts on people and ecosystems in all parts of the world.”

The Sustainability Laboratory harnesses worldwide talent and is developing, over time, a portfolio of groundbreaking, model projects. The Lab is being established as a global network of activity centers, mapped onto specific eco-zones, linked by a coordinating core and subscribing to a common set of principles, goals, and operating practices. Two such centers of activity have been established to date, in an arid zone and in the tropics.

To guide its activities, The Lab has developed a unique, design-based, and action-oriented conceptual framework. Its signature approach combines a holistic systems perspective, a pioneering theory of change, and a rigorous set of sustainability principles. Applying its holistic approach, The Lab engages in research, development, and educational activities focused on key sustainability related issues. The Lab’s initiatives feature cross-sector and cross-disciplinary collaboration, encouraging diversity, cooperation, and a commitment to shared values. 

The Lab’s flagship project is Project Wadi Attir, a sustainable development initiative with a Bedouin community in the Negev Desert that demonstrates an approach to sustainable dryland agriculture that leverages Bedouin traditional values and experience with modern-day science and cutting-edge technologies. It also hosts an annual graduate-level sustainability fellowship for young professionals, the Global Sustainability Fellows Program.