English version

Institute for Sustainable Development Foundation

 The Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) is a non-governmental think-tank type organisation which was founded in 1990 on the initiative of few members of the Polish Ecological Club. ISD works for the promotion and implementation of the principles and solutions which contribute to Poland’s sustainable development.

Our mission is to:

  • build positive relations between socio-economic development and environmental protection;
  • act in the interest of the present and future generations.

    The activities of the ISD are focused on fulfilling the tasks typical for a think tank.  Accordingly, the organization’s primary success is measured by the number of new ideas and concepts it has disseminated that have gained traction in its environment, shaped discussions, and evolved into independent projects. This aligns with the role of a so-called trendsetter. To date, the ISD Foundation has fulfilled this role very effectively, as an example:

  • Dissemination of the practice and methodology for conducting social awareness studies in Poland, which are now used by institutions such as CBOS and the Ministry of the Environment. The Foundation continues to develop its expertise in specific target groups, such as tourists, students, and local government officials.

  • Development and introduction of the definition of sustainable development into the Environmental Protection Law Act, where the definition remains in force.

  • Promotion of Environmental Education Centers in Poland, including support for establishing a center in Ełk.
  • Development of methodologies for strategic documents integrating sustainable development principles, such as:
    • Regional strategies for the Green Lungs of Poland (1992–2001), recognized nationally and internationally.
    • Alternative Transport Policy (1999).
    • Alternative Energy Policy (2008).
    • Low-Emission Poland 2050 (2012), in collaboration with the Institute for Structural Research and the Warsaw Institute for Economic Studies.
      (All documents elevated national and regional policy discussions on sustainable development.)
  • First ecological footprint calculation for Poland, later expanded to carbon footprint methodologies for Warsaw (2008), the Environmental Protection Bank (2011), and counties (2012).
  • Initiation of discussions on monitoring the ecological impact of EU funds in Poland, now continued by the Polish Green Network.
  • Introduction of „green jobs” into discussions on the economic impacts of environmental policies.
  • Facilitation of NGO collaboration on climate protection, leading to the establishment of the Climate Coalition.
  • Drafting of ecological tax reform proposals for Poland, later advanced by a working group at the Ministry of the Environment.
  • Introduction of new social participation tools in Poland.

ISD Foundation have been recognised as first Polish and Central European think-tank (14th in Europe, 49th in the World) in the field of environment in Go To Think-Tank Index opinion pool of University of Pennsylvania since 2016 [2016 see>>] [2017 see>>][2018 see>>][2019 see>>]

 

The Institute is a member of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), CAN-Europe, Regional Center for Excellence in Sustainability Education Warsaw Metropolitan (UN certified) and takes part in the national NGO coalitions, e.g. the Climate, for EU Funds and Forum for the Animation of Rural Areas.

You can find out a little bit more on the EEB 2016 Annual Conference poster. OPEN PDF

 

Our Projects

 Here you can find information in English about some of our projects:

Flipped Energy Concept to Flip Climate Change (FLIP-EC) (1.03.2025) financed by Interreg Baltic, partners: ISD, Luebeck, Birzai, Smiltene, ARRSA, Eduversum, SIC, LIC, LSTS, Võru County

EUKI-funds2 (1.12.2024-02.2025) financed by European Climate Initiative EUKI, leader – ISD

Mirror measures (1.10.2024-30.06.2025) financed by European Climate Foundation, leader – ISD

ECOADAPTOR (01.09.2024-30.08.2026) financed by The Swedish Institute in Stockholm, leader – Air Pollution and Climate Secretariat, partners: ISD, Poski Klub Ekologiczny (PKE- OP)

 We Have Space for Renewables ( 1.10.2024-30.06.2025) financed by National Restoration Plan (European funds), as a partner of UNEP GRID Warsaw and Fundacja Stocznia

 Together for 1,5 (2022-onwards) as a partner of CAN-Europe (BE), projected own budget: 152 154 EUR, LIFE contribution: 91 292 EUR, own contribution: 60 862 EUR, project duration 3yrs (2022-2025)

Civic-debates on climate as a partner of Field of Dialogue (2021-2023), projected own budget: 11 275 EUR, Norway grant: 11 275 EUR, duration 2 yrs (2021-2023)

 Towards Climate Neutral EU: Efficient allocation of EU funds (2021-2023) as a partner of CEEweb for biodiversity, projected own budget: 65 562 EUR, EUKI contribution: 62 284 EUR,  own contribution: 3 278 EUR, project duration: 2yrs, 3 months (2021-2023)

SPARK (2022-2023), Our role: leader, projected own budget 31000 EUR, duration 13 months (IX 2022- IX 2023). 

 UNIFY (2019-2022) as a partner of CAN-Europe (BE), own budget 271 213,40 EUR, LIFE grant: 149 167,37 EUR, NFOŚiGW grant: 77 018,30 EUR, own constribution: 45 027,90 EUR, project duration 3yrs (2018-2021). 

 City Water Cycles (2019-2022) as a partner of Zuglo (Budapest, HU) municipality, own budget: 158 841,61 EUR, Interreg contribution: 135 015,41 EUR, own contribution: 23 826,25 EUR, project duration: 3yrs (2017-2020)

 ADAPTCITY (2014-2019)
or in the news or project subpage with involvement of Verband Region Stuttgart (DE), our role: leader, full budget: 1 028 362 EUR, LIFE contribution: 514 181 EUR, NFOŚiGW contribution: 462 762 EUR, own contribution: 6 237 EUR, project duration: 5,5 yrs (2015-2019)

 Make Europe Sustainable for All (2017-onwards), as a partner of European Environmental Bureau (BE), own budget: 98 506 EUR, DEAR contribution: 92 579 EUR, own contribution: 5 927 EUR, duration: 3 yrs (2018-2020)

LIFE_WZROST (2016-2018), as a partner of WWF Poland

 Good climate for the counties – DOKLIP (2010-2015) with involvement of Community Energy Plus (GB), our role: leade

 

 

Motto and activities

Foundation works under the motto: …in the interest of future generations

Activities of the foundation focus on 10 themes:

Energy – demand side management, increase of energy efficiency and support for renewable.

Transport – sustainable mobility, treating equally the road, rail, public and nonmotorized modes of transport

Rural areas – promotion of the sustainable development of rural areas with landscape and nature protection as well as non-farming forms of employment on rural areas (particularly through the development of tourism).

Urban areas – improving the living conditions of the inhabitants, controlling of city sprawl and sustainable use of city resources

Jobs – creation of environmentally friendly entrepreneurship and raising the environmental awareness of business

Climate protection – supporting the integration between climate policy and the economic development; working on changes of the public behavior towards more sustainable consumption; adaptation to climate change

Natura 2000 – promotion of the development which protects and strengthens the natural capital together with searching for patterns to use the areas with natural values for environmentally friendly local development – particularly through tourism

Competitiveness – creation of an economy which increasingly takes into account the external costs (environmental and social ones) and intends to phase out environmentally harmful subsidies

EU structural funds and Cohesion Fund – indicating the possibilities of the effective use of these Funds, strengthening of the sustainable development and preventing the excessive consumption of natural resources

Strategic assessments – expanding the scope of using of the strategic environmental assessments as an instrument to integrate environmental policy into other policies

 

Contact details

Institute for Sustainable Development Foundation

E-mail: ine@ine-isd.org.pl

Phone:

tel. +48 511 003 827

tel. +48 507126937

tel. +48507126917 (chronmyklimat.pl)

(00-48) 22 851 04 02,

 Address:

ul. Nabielaka 15 lok. 6

00-743 Warsaw, Poland

Bank account: 53 1240 1024 1111 0010 1422 8655

Registration number: 0000134492

VAT number: 5221006268

 

 

Our Team

Dr. Wojciech Szymalski

President of ISD
Dr. Szymalski graduated from the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Studies in Environmental Protection. He participated in an Erasmus exchange in Deventer, Netherlands (2003), a Deutsche Bundestiftung Umwelt fellowship in Berlin (2008), and the IVLP international exchange program in the USA (2016). Since 2004, he has applied his expertise in environmental protection, regional development, sustainable transport, and social participation within NGOs. A member of the Green Mazovia Association since 2002, he served as its board member (2006) and president (2011–2013).

Since 2009, he has worked with the InE Foundation, focusing on climate protection and became its president in 2015. He coordinated significant projects such as the LIFE+ „Good Climate for Counties” (awarded BestLIFE2018) and the LIFE+ LIFE_ADAPTCITY_PL, which led to Warsaw’s Climate Adaptation Strategy. He continues to lead projects like LIFE_UNIFY and Togetherfor1.5, conducts workshops, organizes conferences, and develops low-emission economy plans. Since 2020, he has moderated online debates for the chronmyklimat.pl portal. He is a prolific author of InE publications and articles.

Dr. Andrzej Kassenberg

Expert in Sustainable Development Policy
Dr. Kassenberg, a geographer and Ph.D. in Technical Sciences, graduated from the Gdańsk University of Technology. He has extensive academic and professional affiliations, having lectured at institutions like the University of Minnesota. He co-founded the Commission on Environmental Impact Assessments and served on the Environmental Council of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Dr. Kassenberg co-founded the Foundation for the Efficient Use of Energy and has participated in global forums like the Earth Summits in Rio (1992) and Johannesburg (2002). A prominent figure in climate protection projects, he has received numerous awards, including the Ford European Conservation Award and the Polish Ecology Man of the Year (2005).

Ewa Świerkula

Project Manager
An alumna of the University of Warsaw’s Faculty of Economic Sciences, Ms. Świerkula has been with the InE Foundation since 2004. She has contributed to several educational and research projects, including the „Alternative Energy Policy for Poland 2030” and the pilot „Low-Carbon Development Program” for Starogard County. Currently, she is involved in the ADAPTCITY project, creating climate adaptation strategies for Warsaw and environmental impact forecasts for municipal projects.

Renata Filip

Office Manager
Ms. Filip, an environmental engineering graduate from Warsaw University of Technology, has managed the InE office since 2008. She oversees administrative functions, technical coordination of IT systems, and supports projects like „Eco-Friendly Energy,” „Eco-Tenant,” and „Climate Senior.”

Hanna Kryszyńska

Chief Accountant
Ms. Kryszyńska holds a master’s degree and postgraduate qualifications in finance and accounting. She is responsible for InE’s financial and HR matters, ensuring compliance and effective management.

Weronika Woźniak

Communication Specialist