About KATE - Who we are

Realistic Idealists

It started with a shared vision: globalisation with fairness is possible. Motivated by this ideal, the non-profit organisation KATE – Centre for Ecology & Development was launched in Stuttgart in 1997.

Our work is founded upon concern for the global rise in poverty and environmental destruction. In spite of tireless development work, the divide between rich and poor has widened in the past few decades, and environmental destruction has taken on life-threatening proportions. Our society’s exclusive focus on economic values is a move in the wrong direction, placing human rights and the values of civil society in jeopardy.

We advocate the primacy of policy and the mobilisation of social responsibility to guarantee human dignity, justice, peace and the integrity of nature. We want to help change the attitudes and structures which have resulted in the state of global crisis we currently face.

Our definition of sustainability is the interplay of economic, environmental and social action with the goal of conserving natural resources for future generations (intergenerational justice) and creating equitable development opportunities for all the people in the world (global justice).

On that basis, we carry out projects and political initiatives to raise awareness of the problems and motivate people to take action accordingly. We work to turn society towards more democratic and ecological values, and to create opportunities for experiencing global solidarity as a concrete reality.

We seek cooperation with churches and communities and forge active alliances and networks with development partners in Europe and Latin America. Partnerships on an equal footing with partners from the South are of special importance to us.

We see ourselves as an environmental and development-policy organisation rooted in civil society, and as part of a social reform movement for a sustainable society.

To this end we work as an advisory and service organisation, with competence & commitment.