tsewang rigzin
LEH: “The most effective way to solve social and ecological problems – from climate change to unemployment and ethnic conflict – is to shift economic support away from global corporations towards strengthening local economies. When we localise, we rebuild our connections to one another and to the natural world. This is the ‘Economics of Happiness’, because it resonates with our deeper human needs.”
With these words of renowned activist for localisation Helena Norberg-Hodge in the background, a two-day ‘Global to Local’ workshop organised by Local Futures-also known as International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) began on Wednesday at the Ladakh Women’s Alliance in Leh. Project Director, TISS Leh Sonam Jorgais was the Resource Person and he spoke on various aspects of development in Ladakh region.
The workshop is being attended by people from across the world. The idea of the gathering is to learn about environment and development issues and challenges in Ladakh besides gaining a deeper understanding of the global corporate growth economy, its costs key strategies and systematic change. It is also critically reflecting on the meaning of such concepts as “development,” “progress” and “well-being.” Participants are made to explore the multiple benefits of strengthening local communities and economies and strategies for positive change.
Based on 40 years of experience in Ladakh and decades of international, ISEC endeavours to offer alternative analyses of the causes of today’s global crisis, together with meaningful strategies for effective change through workshops.
Helena Norberg-Hodge, who has not come to Ladakh for the first time, is the founder and director of Local /ISEC and a pioneer of the ‘new economy’ movement, as she has been promoting an economics of personal, social and ecological well-being for more than thirty years, mainly in Ladakh as ‘The Ladakh Project’ started more than thirty years ago in Ladakh.
The organisation initially focused on supporting Ladakh’s indigenous culture by bringing information to balance the idealised images of the consumer culture flooding into the region through tourism and development. In 1986, Helena Norberg-Hodge won the Right Livelihood Award (or ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) for groundbreaking sustainability work in the region.
Helena also received the 2012 GoI Peace Prize for contributing to “the revitalisation of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.”
