International Ecocity Framework and Standards Initiative

The International Ecocity Framework and Standards (IEFS) Initiative, a project of United Nations accredited nonprofit Ecocity Builders in collaboration with an international Advisory Committee, takes a down-to-earth approach to establishing and maintaining health of both human and natural systems by understanding and managing human settlements (cities, towns and villages) as "urban ecosystems," where a city's complete urban ecosystem includes its concentrations of people and the built environment as well as the productive ecosystems generating the energy and matter required to sustain the whole. The IEFS is predicated on over 30 years of concept development, research and practice by some of the world's leading experts and practitioners in this arena.