stockholm environment institute stockholm environment institute stockholm environment institute, or sei, is a non-profit, independent research and policy institute specialising in sustainable development and environmental issues, with seven affiliate offices around the world. sei works on climate change, energy systems, water resources, air quality, land-use, sanitation, food security, and trade issues with the aim to shift policy and practice towards sustainability. stockholm environment instituteabbreviationseiformation1989typefoundationheadquartersstockholm, swedenregion served internationalofficial language englishexecutive directormåns nilssonbudget 326 900 000 sek (global: 2021)staff 320 (2021)websitehttps://www.sei.org/ sei wants to support decision-making and induce change towards sustainable development around the world by providing knowledge that bridges science and policy in the field of environment and development. history sei was established in 1989 as an initiative of the government of sweden. activities programs ecological sanitation research programme leap: low emissions analysis platform regional air pollution in developing countries (rapdic) resources and energy analysis programme (reap) siani swedish international agriculture network initiative (siani.se) sustainable mekong research network programme (sumernet) trase transparent supply chains for sustainable economies weadapt weap: water evaluation and planning system partnerships sei was one of the organizations who founded the sustainable sanitation alliance in 2007 together with the german development organization (giz) organizational structure executive directors 1989–1990 gordon t. goodman 1991–1995 michael j. chadwick 1996–1999 nicholas c. sonntag 2000 bert bolin (interim executive director) 2000 lars nilsson (interim executive director) 2000–2004 roger kasperson 2004–2012 johan rockström 2012–2018 johan l. kuylenstierna 2018–present måns nilsson (executive director) centres sei operates in seven countries: sweden, united states, united kingdom, estonia, thailand, kenya, and colombia. funding sources the swedish international development cooperation agency (sida) is sei's main donor. sei also receives funding from development agencies, governments, ngos, universities, businesses, and financial institutions. for example, the bill and melinda gates foundation also provides funds to sei in the area of maternal health and in sustainable sanitation. at the sei science forum in 2015, melinda gates took part to discuss sustainability and gender together with sei staff to help shape sei's future research.