Statement of Intent:
This theme is out to explore how humans have related to the natural environment and what has been and will be the consequences of that relationship. The Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew says “Human attitudes and behavior toward creation directly impact on and reflect human attitudes and behavior toward other people.” As long as human attitudes and behavior indicate it is OK to sacrifice other living things and whole eco-systems for human desires, then any goals such as world peace, civil society, poverty alleviation and social justice will continue to remain elusive.
NGOs, Community Based Organisations and Individuals have a critical role in making citizens aware of the effects of their everyday activities on the health of the earth in all of its living and non-living forms, including our own health and that of future generations. It is important to realize that creating a viable future for planet earth is also creating a viable future for ourselves; knowing the earth is for all, not only for human beings.
This theme will also explore and share the approaches currently being implemented to restore our life-giving bio-diverse eco-systems and ways to create local resiliency. This theme is very broad, including forests, water, biodiversity, small holder permaculture farming, renewable energy, ecological sanitation and locally sustainable communities.
Want to Accomplish:
Participants should have a good overview of why being serious about our climate and environmental challenges is critical for the success of anything else we might do. They should be able to experience that what they are doing to create locally sustainable communities is what the world needs. They should leave with new ways to approach practically the global challenges through the presentations, dialogues and sharing of experiences in the following arenas:
See the conference website for further details at: www.humandevelopmentconference.com
Theme Coordinators:
Shankar Jadhav
icaiindia@vsnl.net
Pamela Bergdall
pbergdall@yahoo.com
Krishna Kumar Shrestha
kk010@hotmail.com |
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Restoring bio-diversity for the future of a healthy planet
- Sustainable small holder farming & Permaculture Ethics to produce healthy food, restore healthy eco-systems and provide a good life for farmers.
- Learning from nature (there is no waste) & how ecological sanitation can be used as a resource.
- How to capture and utilize renewable resources,
- What is the new Myth or Story for how humans relate to the rest of creation
- How to harvest sustainably
- the critical role of local communities and what local resiliency looks like.
Participants will take with them examples of how to approach the masses of people to reinvent appropriate life style.
- Creating practical models/ processes that we all can live in and explore with others.
- Develop practical ways & models to explore with local communities to create local sustainability & resilience.
- The “do” and “do not do” list.
- Long term plan of action that can be shared with anyone anywhere.
Group Process:
The discussions will be participatory in nature, naturally yet focused & facilitated. There will be presentations, individual work, small team work and together as theme consensus making.
Collaborators:
Not yet finalized. Tatwa is searching the permaculture project in Nepal, Pamela is in contact with people involved with permaculture, ecological sanitation and agroforestry projects.
The following articles are back-up resources for this theme:
- Taking issue with the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
http://www.foodfirst.org
- Permaculture (tbd)
- Ecological Sanitation (tbd)
- Local Resilience (Rob Hopkins)
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