[Note: The California Institute of Public Affairs (CIPA) became InterEnvironment Institute in February 2010. CIPA continues as a program of IE. See the home page for details.]

InterEnvironment Institute is different from other California-based public policy institutes in that:

 •  We specialize in making connections that otherwise would be unlikely to happen. These include connections among people and organizations, as well as connections between people and information and ideas.

 •   We have a distinctive style of convening that emphasizes collaboration rather than conflict resolution, and stresses the power of knowledge and creative thinking. [This is explained in a paper on our Web site, Our public policy projects: A distinctive style.]

 •  We use and promote what we call “integrative thought and action,” methods that emphasize synthesis as opposed to analysis. Although both methods are needed, skills in analysis (sequential or vertical thinking) are much more common than skills in synthesis (lateral or horizontal thinking). [This is explained in a paper on our Web site, Integrative thought and action]      

More: Ideas that guide us

Revised 2/2010