Hardin Tibbs is CEO of Synthesys Strategic Consulting, a UK-based management consulting firm and a GBN Network member. Previously Hardin was a senior consultant with GBN in Emeryville, and he continues to work with GBN on international projects.

Hardin specializes in futures analysis and strategy development, and is an experienced scenario planner. In addition to his strategy work, Hardin has made significant contributions on issues involving technology and the environment. He consults in this field through a subsidiary of Synthesys.

Hardin’s strategic consulting work has spanned a wide range of industries, agencies, and institutions, including electricity, aviation, steel, insurance, household products, food, biotechnology, urban infrastructure, natural resources, taxation, transport, and defense.

Before joining GBN, Hardin was a consultant at Arthur D. Little Inc., the international management, technology, and environmental consulting firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A typical engagement there involved work on the design of a handheld instrument for use by suited astronauts on the NASA space station.

Hardin is the author of Industrial Ecology: An Environmental Agenda for Industry (Arthur D. Little, 1991; GBN, 1993). This seminal paper helped define industrial ecology, a new approach to industrial sustainability. Hardin is also author of The Future of Light (Watkins, 1981) and Light and Man’s Health (LHRC, 1979), which surveyed research findings about the effect of artificial lighting on human health.

Several popular nonfiction books have featured Hardin’s work, including Biomimicry by Janine Benyus (William Morrow, 1997; pp. 239–254), The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken (Harper Collins, 1993; pp. 61–65), Out of Control by Kevin Kelly (Addison Wesley, 1994; pp. 177–181), and The Millenium Whole Earth Catalog edited by Howard Rheingold (Harper Collins, 1994; p. 321).

Before his move to the United States, Hardin was an entrepreneur and consultant in England and Europe. He has an MSc in management and a bachelor's degree in industrial design engineering.