The Hoffmann Centre for Global Sustainability has several active research projects being undertaken by staff members and students at the Graduate Institute. The Centre gives priority to projects at the frontier of academic research on environmental issues, with an emphasis on international dimensions.

Outputs are disseminated via multiple channels including lectures, seminars and practitioner briefings; succinct in-house publications targeting specific audiences; academic journal articles; longer contributions in its Studies in Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding book series (Routledge); online databases; and curriculum development for training modules.

The CCDP systematically seeks to promote knowledge transfer between research and practice, and between the global North and South.