VANCOUVER—March 24, 2010—The Entrepreneur's Toolkit, an online tool developed to support the global community of social and environmental entrepreneurs, is being launched this week at the Globe 2010 conference on the environment in Vancouver.

The Toolkit is a joint initiative of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the SEED Initiative.

It provides a collaborative online meeting place for entrepreneurs to share their experiences and learn from each other. Based on the popular Wiki model, contributors can create content, enrich contributions from others, and essentially create an online community.

The Toolkit was created in recognition of the many innovative and elegant projects launched by entrepreneurs, which are creating positive social and environmental impacts in their communities. Some of the most inspiring projects are the work of small groups of people in developing countries, which use an approach that is light on resources and heavy on creativity.

Heather Creech, IISD director of Global Connectivity said: "There are projects underway around the world that are creating prosperity and improving lives in communities. The goal with the Toolkit is to create a peer-to-peer resource that connects these entrepreneurs and allows them to share their experiences."

The site's content is growing daily and contributions are encouraged in all languages.

"The partners' vision is to create a comprehensive, self-sustaining information resource for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs," Creech said.

Globe 2010 was chosen as the Toolkit's launch pad as it is one of the world's most well known and respected forums for the business and environmental communities.

A workshop on the Toolkit will be held at 12 noon, Thursday, March 25, in the Sechelt Room at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303 or Stephan Barg at the conference: +1-(204)-951-0090. 

Visit the Entrepreneur's Toolkit at: www.entrepreneurstoolkit.org.