Our Approach

Balanced Approach

The Conservation Fund has a dual-purpose mission to promote economic development and environmental protection. Using market-based approaches, the Fund works with the private sector to provide comprehensive real estate solutions and sustainable technologies.

The Fund's Freshwater Institute program focuses on water as a natural resource asset important to ecological function, cultural heritage and economic opportunity.    

Learn

The Freshwater Institute program staff engages in applied conservation science and research.  We are committed to developing new knowledge and technology that will help communities, our partners and clients solve important problems today and in the future.

Teach

We recognize that communication and outreach are important components of our public engagement commitment.   We provide information through academic and popular press publication, through tours and consultative interactions, as conveners for dialog with the best minds available and through demonstration projects with partners.  Freshwater Institute staff also creates targeted workshops and curriculum for education coursework that provide focused content and high levels of interaction.

Solve

Simply, we work on your problems.  The Freshwater Institute is determined to take on the priority conservation issues of concern to communities, agencies, governments and science.  By design, we want to work on important challenges and we ask our partners and clients to identify and bring them to us.

Partner

We believe in the power of aligned interests.  Partnerships with our clients, funders and stakeholders allow us to engage through complementary objectives, missions and like-minded values.  We blend core competency with the ability to rapidly acquire skills and the best talent available when needed.  We strive for efficiency and effectiveness.  We share risks and understand that a good partnership must find mutual benefit.  We understand that trust is a key partnership ingredient based on common institutional values, but trust is the most valuable when it is shared by individuals working together on common ground.