Michael U. Ben-Eli
Main profile
Michael Ben-Eli is founder of The Sustainability Laboratory, established to develop and demonstrate groundbreaking approaches to sustainability practices, expanding prospects and producing positive, life affirming impacts on people and ecosystems in all parts of the world.
Prior to launching The Lab, Michael pioneered applications of System Thinking and Cybernetics in management and organization. Over the years, he worked on synthesizing strategy issues in many parts of the world and in diverse institutional settings, ranging from small high technology firms to multinational enterprises, manufacturing companies, financial institutions, health care and educational organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and international multilateral organizations.
In recent years, he has focused his work primarily on issues related to sustainability and sustainable development and has been working to help inspire leaders in business, government, community, and youth accelerate a peaceful transition to a sustainable future. Michael is the author of the widely acclaimed Sustainability: Definition and Five Core Principles and is leading development of The Lab as a world-wide network of centers, based at different ecological zones.
In 2016, Michael was inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame and recognized with the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019, Michael received the prestigious Cosmic Fishing Award by the Synergetic Collaborative of the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2022, he received the Environmental Hero Award from the International MY HERO Project.
Michael graduated from the Architectural Association in London and later received a Ph.D. from the Institute of Cybernetics at Brunel University, where he studied under Gordon Pask. He was a close associate of R. Buckminster Fuller, with whom he collaborated on projects involving research on advanced structural systems and exploration of issues related to the management of technology and world resources for the advantage of all.