Ecothropic
We bring together academic expertise and practical experience to create regenerative, place-based solutions that empower people, honor cultures, and protect ecosystems.
CONSULTING
What we do
We empower for-profit ventures, governments, NGOs, and local leaders to design an implement strategic, effective projects rooted in on-the-ground experience and rigorous academic insight.
By merging social and environmental sciences with place-based insights, our approach ensures projects are context-driven, locally appropriate, and engage communities from the bottom-up.
Our process delivers sustainable, impactful solutions that strengthen and regenerate both people and the ecosystems we depend on.
EXPERIENCES
Travel with us to meet and learn from the community-leaders that are pioneering regenerative solutions to global issues. We offer high-impact accredited travel programs for students, researchers, and people that want to be part of the solution.
Our programs specialize in natural resource management, climate change solutions, the link between people and the environment, nature-based solutions, and sustainable water resource management.
Ecothropic will give you experience and global understandings you need to stand out and lead in the world’s best businesses and organizations.
CHANGE-MAKING MEDIA
We use storytelling, photography, and film to empower people to tackle tough problems.
We have taught photography for National Geographic for over a decade, been featured in publications ranging from National Geographic Traveller India to the Washington Post and The Week.
Our collaborative processes use filmmaking to empower local communities to act, while sharing stories of what works in a time when we are all looking for solutions.
Meet our Founder…
Britt Basel is an environmental social scientist who helps governments, communities, and institutions address complex water and land challenges. Based on Mexico since 2012, she has worked across Latin America, the Pacific Islands, and the Middle East for more than 20 years.
Her work focuses on the space between policy and practice, where decisions made in boardrooms and ministries meet lived realities on the ground. She specializes in water systems, ecosystems, and the social and cultural factors that shape whether climate and conservation strategies succeed. Rather than treating adaptation as a purely technical challenge, she pays close attention to how communities relate to water, land, and governance, and how those relationships influence outcomes.
As founder of Ecothropic, Britt leads projects on watershed governance, flood and drought risk reduction, nature-based solutions, and climate policy. She has supported organizations including UNDP, WWF, Save the Children, DFAT, the Pacific Community, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and the Royal Commission for AlUla.
Her doctoral research at Wageningen University focused on nature-based solutions for addressing water-related hazards. Drawing on social and hydrological sciences, her work identified key considerations for the planning, participation, and long-term governance of nature-based interventions.
Britt is also a facilitator and educator. She designs participatory processes and learning programs for universities, governments, and international organizations, including Harvard. Her visual storytelling work includes 15 years of teaching youth workshops for National Geographic.
Her work sits at the nexus of water, communities, and environmental change, grounded in cultural humility, intellectual rigor, and a commitment to equitable, place-based solutions that work on the ground. She is fluent in English and Spanish, and is proficient in Bislama and Solomon Islands Pijin.
This week is was Britt's turn to hang out with Leander Lacy on the Green Mind. As is every conversation she has with Leander, this one was pure laughter, inspiration, and sharing what WORKS! Enjoy!
