The ESSEG initiative is a centerpiece of CEES actively implementing its core belief that local environments, economies, and societies are interdependent, and that none can thrive if all do not thrive. ESSEG initiatives facilitate stakeholders reaching a consensus on how to achieve economic growth that is environmentally and socially sustainable.

All stakeholders - local residents, property owners, local businessmen, leaders of schools and healthcare facilities, farmers and fisherman - must be consulted and encouraged to participate in the creation of short- and long-term goals and strategies that can make sustainable long-term growth and new economic opportunities possible. Through its ESSEG initiatives, CEES brings scientific, economic, business, planning, health, education, legal and other expertise to local stakeholders to facilitate the process of identifying realistic goals given existing environmental, social, and economic capacities and to develop strategies for enhancing these linked capacities.

Today, as the result of decades of scientific study of ecosystems and conservation biology we understand that ecosystems in a single landscape, like a watershed, are interconnected; when one is degraded others soon decline. For example, people living in the Miches Basin, a Dominican Republic watershed, cannot solve the problem of the dying Miches fisheries without addressing upstream forestry and farming practices; the health of marine mammals or coral reefs cannot be addressed without addressing fisheries practices. Therefore, strategies to enhance and sustainably manage the natural capital of the modern landscape of places like the Miches Basin, must take account of the mix of natural, agricultural, and built areas, and their impact on one another.