Past Projects & Brief History

GCI was formed by the North/South Task Force of The Balaton Group after the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Our simple mission at the outset was to implement the ethics of The Earth Charter in local communities. This was to be undertaken through development projects in the global south and through policy changes in the global north.

2002 – 2004: GCI is contracted by the United Nations Environmental Programme’s International Environmental Technology Center in Osaka, Japan to produce sustainable city materials and web site access for the global south.

2002 – 2008: GCI’s first local development project in Diepsloot, South Africa worked with local youth to establish a bicycle shop, repair facility, and youth training program.

2002 – 2004: GCI organized and hosted a global conference on Sustainable Communities in Burlington, VT with over 500 people attending from 74 countries. We featured our new book The Key to Sustainable Cities and its companion workbook Taking Action for Sustainability: The EarthCAT Guide to Community Development. 

2004 – 2006: GCI worked with Goddard College to develop a new master’s program in Sustainable Communities and Socially Responsible Business and prepared regular workshops for the National League of Cities, and training workshops for cities and other municipal associations in the U.S. and Canada.

2005 – 2006: GCI partnered with Natural Capital Solutions and America’s Development Foundation to produce training materials for local economic development staff in Serbia.

2006: The second Sustainable Communities conference is hosted by BALLE (now renamed Common Future), GCI launches LASER: Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal.

2004 – 2006: GCI worked with the cities of Newburgh, NY and Calgary, AB on long-term sustainable city plans. The City of Calgary won an award from the World Urban Forum in 2006 for their ImagineCalgary Plan. 

2005 – 2006: GCI worked with the South African Local Government Association on training for newly elected and appointed local officials.

2006: GCI’s Executive Director, Gwendolyn Hallsmith, was hired by the City of Montpelier, VT as the Planning and Community Development Director. Montpelier adopted their first 100 year plan in 2010.

2006 – 2022: Nicole DiDomenico, founder of the Upendo Mmoja Project in Tanzania, joined GCI to complete an orphanage, vocational training facility, and sunflower oil processing plant in Pommerin, Tanzania.

2009 – 2011: GCI provides online distance learning for the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) on LASER.

2010: GCI and the City of Montpelier participated in the World Cities Summit in Singapore as part of the Expert Panel on Urban Biodiversity and Ecology for Sustainable Cities.

2011: GCI organized the Vermont Council of All Beings in the Vermont State House, convened by the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

2011: GCI created Vermonters for a New Economy (originally the Vermont Monetary Policy Advisory Committee) to work at the state level on monetary reform, public banking, reparations and regeneration. This was done after the publication of Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies. 

2014 – 2015: GCI worked with Michael Schuman and the Post Carbon Institute to develop a workbook for Vermonters who were interested in divesting from fossil fuels – Vermont Dollars, Vermont Sense. 

2016: GCI presented at the World Water Summit in Budapest on a panel about Financial and economic implementation of water related targets in the SDG system.

2019 – 2022: GCI developed online educational materials on Universal Basic Income, Part One and Two, the Economics of Reparations and Regeneration, and Economic Systems Change.

2023: GCI contracted by The Tenure Facility in Stockholm, Sweden, for staff training and a facilitated staff retreat. In September of 2023, our Executive Director, Gwendolyn Hallsmith, received board approval to take a leave of absence to pursue her doctorate. She enrolled in the Geography program at Concordia University in 2023, and then transferred to the Social Innovation program at Saint Paul University in Ottawa in September of 2025. 

In 2024, Gwendolyn received a grant from Concordia University to offer labyrinth workshops in Montreal. This project has concluded, the workshops were listed on our website while they were underway.

GCI has also served as the fiscal agent for these local initiatives:

Earthwalk: An outdoor educational program for elementary schools in Vermont.

Sustainability Centre of Costa Rica: An education and advocacy center in Guacimal, Costa Rica. We also support an initiative they have made with Comunidades, a community association created to foster and develop opportunities for sustainable development in the entire Guacimal District.

Integrated Community Resilience: A wellness program in Vershire, VT