CALL TO ACTION

Buckminster Fuller challenged us with a bold vision: "To make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone."

Today, the know-how and tools from a rapidly growing design revolution are available to enable all people to achieve a quality standard of living while sustaining the health of our planet's ecosystems. Nevertheless, humanity is on an accelerating course headed toward overwhelming the present carrying capacity of the planet.

It is therefore of utmost urgency that our initiative be directed toward assisting and serving individuals, organizations and communities address the vital and achievable design project that Fuller anticipated and humans now face.

WHAT WE DO

The Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) serves as a catalyst for the design and implementation of breakthrough strategies for achieving a sustainable future. BFI fulfills its mission by offering innovative programs that:

• Utilize BFI's Information Clearinghouse on the pioneering legacy of R. Buckminster Fuller.
• Provide a global perspective on the most pressing issues facing humanity.
• Engage leading thinkers and designers who are demonstrating whole systems solutions to complex problems.
• Provide the opportunity to design and test those solutions in the real world.

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BRIEF HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTE

The Buckminster Fuller Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1983 and inspired by the ideas and discoveries pioneered by the late R. Buckminster Fuller. BFI's constituency crosses disciplinary boundaries and includes people working in the fields of art, architecture, design, education, engineering, information technology, economics, the environment, mathematics, planning, science, and systems theory.

Accomplishment Highlights:

• Produced and recorded a series of all-day public presentations by Buckminster Fuller to over 5,000 in Los Angeles.
• Served as custodians for the Fuller Archive for 16 years, providing access to scholars and researchers, Fuller's exhaustive collection of papers and artifacts.
• Co-produced and provided research for multiple exhibitions from the Fuller Archive, including a 4,000 sq. ft. exhibition that traveled to Europe and Japan for 3 years.
• Co-produced an American Master's film for PBS on Buckminster Fuller, Thinking Out Loud.
• For 24 years, serving the international network of Fuller-inspired innovators through the maintenance of a comprehensive Information Clearinghouse on R.B Fuller, including a detailed inventory of the practices and principles informing Fuller's approach to design innovation; articles featuring contemporary applications of Fuller's approach published in BFI's newsletter, monthly e-bulletin, web-site, and on-line books; audio and video archives; and Dymaxion Artifacts, BFI's online store, featuring educational tools.
• Developed and delivered for Pacific Bell Corporation the Dymaxion Laboratory college accredited course on the principles of breakthrough design strategies, to over 2,000 employees.
• Conceived and developed the EARTHscope™ online geo-story-telling tool and EARTHscope™ Library.
• In 2003 raised seed funding for an emergency shelter pilot project that sent 25 Emergency Shelter units to relief organizations in Jordan, Mexico and Germany. In 2005 raised funding to send two emergency shelters to Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.
• Produced and published numerous articles papers, booklets and maps including three versions of the Dymaxion map and two versions of the Fuller Projection Dymaxion Fold-up Globe.
• In 2005 developed a state-of-the art fully interactive website, BFI.org as a community networking and resource center.
• In 2005, developed a flagship program, Design Science Lab, teaching the comprehensive and anticipatory problem solving methodology of Buckminster Fuller.

In 2004, the Institute moved from Sebastopol, California to Brooklyn, New York. The move capped an intensive strategic planning process in which the organization refined its mission, streamlined its operational systems, and added several new members to its Board of Directors. The move to New York situated BFI at a major urban crossroads with access to leading universities, innovative secondary schools, unparalleled cultural centers and an international community of leading edge architects, artists, designers, engineers, planners and other thinkers. This aspect of the strategy has been critical in accelerating collaborations within concerned and talented communities in academia, business, government and nonprofit sectors.

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