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Informal housing — buildings most often found in slums and other poor areas — often lack water and sanitation, which puts inhabitants at risk for disease.

Also, many of these structures are built with insubstantial reinforcements, which make them vulnerable to collapse, particularly in the wake of storms or earthquakes.

Photo Credit: World Health Organization

Achieving sustainable development is the primary mission of the Earth Institute. More than 800 scientists are applying their expertise to reducing hunger, disease and environmental degradation, particularly in nations ravaged by global pandemics, climate change and extreme poverty.

Training new scientists to meet these challenges is also a part of the Earth Institute mission. The Earth Institute Fellows program is the premier program in the world for those dedicated to a better understanding of critical scientific and social issues related to meeting global sustainable development goals.

Earth Institute experts also teach and advise in a number of education programs at Columbia University, including the M.A. in Climate and Society and Ph.D. in Sustainable Development.

Below are just a few of our research projects related to sustainable development. You can also visit our map tool and browse over 300 research projects taking place around the world.

The Millennium Villages Project

The Urban Design Lab: Sustainability and Environmental Justice in New York City

Reducing Arsenic Exposure in Bangladesh

The Global Disasters Hotspots Report

Center for Sustainable Urban Development: Pilot Project in Nairobi/Ruiru

Scaling up Services in Rural India.