About Us
NRI is a specialist institute of the University of Greenwich, registered by the British Standards Institute to ISO 9001 (FS 54723), providing research, training, consultancy and advisory services to underpin sustainable development. Most of our activities focus on the harnessing of natural and human resources for the benefit of developing countries, though much of our expertise has also proved to be relevant to similar resource management challenges in the industrialized nations.
The Institute is located on the Medway Campus and currently has about 80 scientific, academic and technical staff, working in a wide range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences. Current NRI staff have more than 650 person-years experience of working and living in the developing world. As part of the University we have strong links with professionals operating in health, education, humanities, law, business, architecture, engineering, earth and environmental sciences, and chemical and life sciences. This intellectual capital is brought to bear on interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches to improving the quality of life of the rural and urban poor. NRI fully supports the Millennium Development Goals and works with donor organizations to achieve them.
Partnerships are integral to NRI's operation, encompassing the full range of stakeholders in international development from donors to community-based organizations: our partners include research institutes, universities, regional associations, extension departments and NGOs. Virtually all of our work is undertaken through contract funding, most of it secured in open competition. The Institute has evolved from the former scientific units of the UK government’s overseas development organization, now the Department for International Development (DFID). DFID remains an important client for NRI’s services but the Institute now provides its specialist skills to many other customers funding sustainable development programmes and natural resources projects. NRI plays a significant role in relation to capacity building in developing country institutions through its activities in subcontracting research and consultancy to its partners in these countries.
A particular strength of NRI lies in the integration of diverse skills relevant to natural resource management and development, from a range of natural and social sciences. Our grant-funded strategic research underpins the contracted adaptive research that informs our consultancy, training and teaching. Since it joined the Higher Education sector in 1996, NRI has developed specialist postgraduate programmes based on its practical training experience in natural resource management. Increasing collaboration with other Schools and Departments within the University, especially on the Medway campus, is further enhancing its experience as a provider of higher education in the natural resources sector.
For more information about NRI’s research programmes and consultancy services, visit www.nri.org.