Our Partners
GRAS is being developed in a joint effort of a multidisciplinary team. Partners from Europe, USA and Canada, South America and South East Asia contributed to the development of GRAS, contributing expertise in sustainability, remote sensing, biodiversity and carbon stock assessment, database management and geospatial IT services.
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Meo Carbon Solutions
Meo Carbon Solutions is an independent management consulting company with a special focus and a long working history in the area of sustainability, renewable resources, climate change and GHG emissions. Meo supports decision-makers in companies, politics and administration across the world in defining and implementing strategies with a view to what is practically feasible and effective. Meo has already carried out several consulting projects for public and private organizations regarding environmental and social sustainability issues, sustainable land use and land use change, remote sensing analysis, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity assessments and the implementation of improvement measures. Meo has also initiated and steered the development of ISCC in a multi-stakeholder process.
ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification)
ISCC is one of the leading certification systems for sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions. It was developed through an open stakeholder process involving associations, corporations, research institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). ISCC was the first global certification system that got recognised by a governmental authority. Since the start of the scheme more than 19.000 certificates have been issued in more than 100 countries. ISCC certification can be applied to all kinds of feedstock in the food and feed industry as well as the chemical industry and bioenergy market. During the GRAS system development, ISCC provided valuable practical experience regarding the potential issues of sustainability certification.
DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)
The DLR is the national aeronautics and space research center of the Federal Republic of Germany. This includes the development of environment-friendly technologies for energy supply and future mobility, as well as for communications and security. The DLR’s research portfolio ranges from fundamental research to the development of products for tomorrow. The DLR’s experts had made a strong contribution to the development of the GRAS land use change algorithm.
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
The IfW is an international center for research in global economic affairs, economic policy consulting, and economic education. The institute engages especially in creating solutions to urgent problems in global economic affairs. On basis of its research, the institute advises decision makers in policy, business, and society and informs the broader public about important developments in international economic policy. Within this project, IFW experts provided detailed carbon stock maps.
GXperts
GXperts is an independent specialist for IT services and software with great expertise and experience in groupware solutions and migration. Employing specialists for enterprise search, email and cloud services, GXperts is Google Enterprise Partner and IBM Advanced Business Partner. GXperts is strongly involved in the development of the GRAS Tool.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. TNC achieves its mission through the dedicated efforts of diverse staff, including 600 scientists, located in more than 35 countries as well as the help of many partners such as individuals, governments, local non-profit organisations and corporations. TNC is taking on responsible tasks facing conservation today — from climate change through coral reefs to energy development in a growing world. TNC supported GRAS with the assessment of biodiversity databases in Brazil.
Advisors
Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food (AAFC)
The Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for policies governing agriculture production, farming income, research and development, inspection, and the regulation of animals and plants. The activities of AAFC range from the farmer to the consumer, from the farm to global markets, through all phases of producing, processing and marketing of farm, food and bio-based products. AAFC helped GRAS in conducting groundtruthings in order to validate the results from GRAS’ land use change detection methodology. AAFC also supported GRAS with the assessment of biodiversity and carbon stock information in Canada.
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.
Our advisor, the German Welthungerhilfe, fights against global hunger and for sustainable food security. This incorporates the promotion of agriculture suited to local conditions, access to clean water, the provision of modern, environmentally friendly energy and the improvement of health and education. Welthungerhilfe advised the development of the GRAS social factor and will take part in its further development.
Energy Resources Center (ERC)
The Energy Resources Center of the University of Illinois at Chicago is an interdisciplinary public service, research, and special projects organization dedicated to improving energy efficiency and the environment. The ERC provides expertise in the areas of energy efficiency, distributed generation, utilities billing management, and biofuels and bioenergy. Together with Genscape the ERC developed the split-screen land use assessment tool implemented in GRAS for the USA.
Casa da Floresta
Casa da Floresta is a private environmental consulting, recognized for performing high level projects in Brazil. The 20-year experience company has projects developed in 18 Brazilian states, encompassing terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in five biomes. Casa da Floresta has a team of highly trained professionals who work passionately with environmental monitoring, fauna and flora assessments, GIS, ecological restoration, environmental licensing, socio-environmental education, support for forest certification among other types of studies for energy sector, forestry and other commodities. Casa da Floresta is a member of the FSC International and the HCV Resource Network. Besides, it has several scientific articles published in partnerships with researchers from other companies, educational and research institutes. Casa da Floresta supported GRAS with on-site biodiversity assessments in Brazil.