Hou Xueying, a mother from Shanghai, was tired of food safety scares and of a city life disconnected from the land. So she moved her family to the country to learn about sustainable farming. Her parents disapproved; they had struggled to give her a comfortable life in the city — they could not understand why she would throw it away. When she got to the country, she found that the older generation of farmers could only tell her how to grow as they did, using chemical fertilizers, toxic … [Read more...]
Agriculture and Autonomy in the Middle East
Editor’s Note (March 29th, 2018): An earlier version of this article incorrectly described MEM as operating in Rojava. In fact, MEM only operates formally in North (Turkish) Kurdistan, though its goals and principles are also being pursued by groups in Rojava, including the Internationalist Commune of Rojava. In the predominantly Kurdish regions of Syria and Turkey, known respectively as Rojava and North Kurdistan, a groundbreaking experiment in communal living, social justice, and ecological … [Read more...]
An Eco-Farm in Myanmar (Burma): Saving the World with Organic Agriculture
The sun has risen over a misty, damp plain where, not long ago, wild elephants roamed. We have walked home through fallow paddy fields after a hot cup of tea at the little teahouse on the road to the monastery. It is the cool season and we can see our breath in the air of the kitchen as we eat our fried rice. Someone is singing a traditional song – it reminds them of home. Another shoos the ducklings out of the potato plants. A few people have been up since 4:30 AM to light the fire and cook … [Read more...]
Indigenous Knowledge and Global Wellness
Modern medicine has enabled people to live longer lives, but what have we lost in turning our backs on traditional ways of healing? Today, heart disease is the number one cause of death around the world. An estimated 17.3 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2008, representing 30% of all global deaths. Although we often associate these conditions with industrialized countries, and indeed more than a third of Americans are considered obese, surprisingly over 80% of these deaths … [Read more...]
Building a Village: Lessons in Urban Living from South Korea
“This is a very special house. It’s called the House of Happiness through Communication. People live here like a big family.” Our guide was 12 year-old Seon Jae, and we were standing in front of an unremarkable-looking 3-story brick building in Mapo-gu, a district of the high-rise metropolis of Seoul, South Korea. We were there to learn about Sungmisan, an “urban village” that is forging an alternative model of twenty-first century living. Seon Jae is a student at the Sungmisan School, and was … [Read more...]
From Global to Local in India
"The Future is Fast. We are Faster." This ubiquitous billboard for a tech company neatly captures the zeitgeist in modern-day Bangalore, and rapidly-urbanizing India generally. Today, Bangalore’s erstwhile appellation as India‘s ‘garden city’ seems sadly anachronistic. To arrive at the Visthar Academy of Justice and Peace Studies on the outskirts of Bangalore – where we would be lodging for the next three days for the 3rd Economics of Happiness Conference – requires a painstakingly slow creep … [Read more...]
Saving Tigers: local knowledge and conservation
Our Planet Local series travels to Nepal, where guest author Narayan Dhakal explains how local knowledge can help save tigers, demonstrating that localization is a key element of successful biodiversity conservation around the world. Before the creation of parks and protected areas, people were connected with natural resources both intrinsically and materially. Until recently, however, biodiversity conservation focused strictly on species protection without consideration for the humans who … [Read more...]
Towards Alternatives: Radical Ecological Democracy (Part 2)
Local resources, locally managed Localisation, a trend diametrically opposed to globalisation, is based on the belief that those living closest to the resource to be managed (the forest, the sea, the coast, the farm, the urban facility…), would have the greatest stake and often the best knowledge, to manage it. Of course this is not always the case and in India many communities have lost the ability because of two centuries of government policies, which have effectively crippled their own … [Read more...]
Towards Alternatives: Radical Ecological Democracy (Part 1)
The third in our Planet Local series, this article is excerpted from Globalisation in India: Impacts and Alternatives by Ashish Kothari. Kothari will be speaking at the Economics of Happiness conference in Bangalore, India on March 15th. Readers can learn more about Kothari's work by listening to the latest episode of Local Bites, ISEC’s podcast program. If the aim of human society is happiness, freedom, and prosperity, there are indeed many alternative ways to achieve this without … [Read more...]
Planet Local: The Secret of Happiness
The second in our Planet Local-India series, the following article is adapted from a Morning Talk by Sonam Angchuk, founder of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL). It was delivered by Angchuk to students from different parts of Ladakh who participated in a Winter Camp this past December. Angchuk will be participating in our upcoming Economics of Happiness conference in Bangalore, India. Dear young friends, this morning let’s talk about how lucky or unlucky we … [Read more...]