Zoï Environment Network is a non-profit organization that helps build sustainable societies through informed analysis, visual communication, design and action.

Our topics are

Climate change

Zoï staff has been working to combat climate change for over thirty years. Our early warning studies of the Nile Delta and the Uganda coffee crop – developed in the 1980ies – have set the standard in the international community for such research.  Since then, we have focused on demonstrating the impact of climate change all over the world and guide a range of different groups and entities towards climate neutrality. This also includes providing support towards the implementation of the historic Paris agreement on climate change.

Biodiversity

The preservation and management of the earth’s fragile ecosystems under ever-increasing pressure is central to the work of Zoï.  We support the Rio conventions on desertification and biodiversity with well-readable illustrated ‘heavy-weights’ such as ‘Desertification – a visual synthesis’, as well as simple ‘primers’ such as ‘Biodiversity in Central Asia’. Most recently, we have helped the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund to map key biodiversity hot spots in Central Asian mountains.

Chemicals and Waste

Chemicals can not only severely damage the environment but also endanger human health and lives. That’s why we highlight the need for urgent action in our visual products, such as the ‘Vital Waste Graphics’ series produced cooperatively with UN chemical conventions. We provide support to making international legal instruments on waste and chemicals and their priorities better understandable to non-specialists.

Security and conflict

Environmental challenges can cause security concerns both between and within countries. Addressing these risks has been one of central elements of Zoï’s work to-date. Through innovative analysis, participatory mapping and visualization, we have contributed to regionally and globally recognized flagship assessments on the environment-security interface. We are also highly engaged on the ground in addressing the unfolding environmental and social issues, including those concerning mining industry which is often at the source of local conflicts.

Water

In recent years, water use has become a focus in international affairs. Zoï has been part of many activities on the ground trying to understand, explain and improve the management of water concerns, in particular in internationally shared lake and rivers. We have also been working with a range of partners, in particular the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UNECE, to provide analytical and information support to a new type of ‘water diplomacy’.

Our services

Analysis

Zoï’s goal is to provide our partners with reliable tools for informed decision-making. Data availability, information technology and outreach possibilities have fundamentally changed over the past decades, allowing for more targeted policies and greater measurability of project results. Zoï realizes these benefits through scientifically and technically robust analyses that avoid overly complicated analytical frameworks.

In places where information is absent or difficult to obtain due to complex political situations, we facilitate access and collect new data where required.

Communication

Zoï creates beautiful and clear communication products that succeed in engaging audiences across all levels of expertise in environmental and development thinking without compromising on technical or political complexity. Our combination of analytical expertise with creative talent yields custom-made maps, graphics, websites, brochures and videos that multiply reach and lifespan of the contained information.

We are specialized in popularizing ‘heavy books’ like scientific studies, policy papers and evaluation reports. There our work is to extract key findings and messages and to replace insider jargon with easy, well-written text complemented with enlightening data visualization, illustrations, and high-quality photo- or videography. There is no fixed format for how we deliver these contents to our audience, and depending on individual project needs our tailored communication formats may range anywhere from workshop presentations to social media campaigns.

Dialogue

We operate in the background where the purpose of our communication is to support informed decision-making. Our permanent quest is to make complex environmental issues understandable for non-specialists, including politicians and a general public and thus provide a base for acting. Zoï has early on raised concerns about the environment and how it relates to national and regional security. As a result of this insight, we now help develop policies and road maps for decision-makers engaging them at all levels: from households to high office.

Training

Zoï trains decision-makers, local experts and media representatives to make best use of our products and enables them to help others. We insist on the application of international best practice and standards when researching, communicating and addressing environmental challenges. The areas of training include how countries and individuals can recognize environment and security risks, how experts can explain the environment to schoolchildren and ministers, and how enterprises can consult on topics such as climate neutrality.