TerraGraphics International Foundation (TIFO)
TIFO was founded in 2012 by Margrit von Braun and Ian von Lindern to address growing disparities in environmental health. TIFO is the non-profit successor to the TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering (TG)/University of Idaho International Initiative. TIFO projects are firmly rooted in collaborative approaches to addressing health issues associated with environmental contamination. TIFO’s founders, board members, staff and volunteers all have a fierce belief in a simple purpose: that all people have the right to live and work in a healthy environment.
TerraGraphics International Foundation works on the following program directions:
- Environmental Health & Remediation
- Education & Research
- Climate Change & Environmental Security
- Child & Maternal Health
- Mining & Recycling Communities
- Capacity Building
We are joining our forces to address polluted sites in Georgia and Kazakhstan in 2024. Kutaisi, Georgia is home to a Soviet era abandoned industrial factory that dumped toxic wastes along the banks of the Rioni River, directly exposing residents to contaminated soils and dusts as well as impacting local vegetable and livestock production. Shymkent, Kazakhstan, a city of 1.1 million people, was a major industrial center during World War II and produced 70% of all lead for the Soviet Union. Today, vast areas of the city remain highly contaminated with lead. 90% of children tested in 2011 had dangerously high blood lead levels, and the situation remains unchanged today.
We will work to build a comprehensive understanding of the extent of contamination, develop environmental cleanup strategies, and advocate for funding to address these sites in close collaboration with local and national governments and other stakeholders.
