The GreeningIT directory is part of a larger GreeningIT effort to build up an action research network of policy advocates, practitioners, researchers, campaigners and activists committed to making ICTs work for environmental sustainability. This line of action is the successor of APC's earlier initiative, 'Information Technologies for Environmental Sustainability' (ITES) and falls under one of APC's six strategic priorities for 2009-2012, 'ICTs, environmental sustainability and climate change'.
The online directory is meant to list local, national and international resources and initiatives that currently exist in a relatively isolated manner, and thus establish a comprehensive online compendium of efforts in the fields of ICTs and climate change, environmental sustainability, and the environmental impact of ICTs. The first entries in the directory came in response to APC's widely distributed call in February 2010, generating a snowball effect of uncovering more and more related resources. In the following months the database will continue to grow in order to make relevant information available to researchers and activists that are interested or already working in these areas.
The overarching goal is to spur networking, build linkages and support the emergence of a knowledge community that would play an ongoing role in conducting policy and action research in the field of ICTs and environmental sustainability and climate change. To this end, the database is made freely available for download in .CSV (comma separated values) format. All the information in the directory is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0, meaning that anyone is free to distribute and adapt the data, provided that it is shared alike and it is not used for commercial purposes. In addition, contributions - new entries and relevant resources - are strongly encouraged.
This initiative was started thanks to institutional support to APC from the International Development Research Centre IDRC. 