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ALTERNATIVES

Rahul Basu: What the National Mineral Policy 2019 does and doesn’t get right

2nd April 2019

The National Mineral Policy 2019 lays a foundation for the systematic implementation of intergenerational equity in India with reference to natural resources. However, the question is whether it will be implemented and implemented quickly. Will future generations see us as the generation that consumed the planet, or the generation that changed the course of history?…

ALTERNATIVES

The ZAD will survive: Dispatches from Europe’s largest ‘liberated territory’

25th April 2018

It was supposed to be the site of western France’s biggest airport, but instead, it became the center of a utopian experiment. Hundreds of squatters –eco-warriors to some, green jihadis to others– now live in the ZAD, which resisted a eviction operation after a 2,500 strong police unit recently forced their way into the camp….

ALTERNATIVES

Petition: Safeguard our minerals, our children’s inheritance, from theft

5th February 2018

From Change.org: India’s National Mineral Policy is open till Feb 9, 2018 for public comments. Minerals are a shared inheritance. The present mining system in India is leading to enormous losses of our mineral wealth, with only a few cronies benefiting. This must stop. Hence we are sending the representation to the Ministry of Mines….

ALTERNATIVES

Meet the new age Robin Hoods building a post-capitalist Catalonia

5th December 2017

From Shareable.net: An intriguing blueprint for a post-capitalist world is gradually being built in a converted spa in Barcelona, Spain. Founded by dissenter Enric Duran, the Catalan Integral Cooperative is a wide-ranging operation offering diverse services; including a financial co-op, food pantry and open-source tool workshop, all run on its own local currency —the eco….

ALTERNATIVES

15 start-ups in Africa contributing to a greener economy

24th September 2017

From Down to Earth: These locally led green start-ups across Africa are not just promising but also innovative in their approach. From providing clean energy to ensuring safe sanitation and reducing carbon emission to improving public health, the activities of these start-ups in Africa are guided by a common objective: sustainable management of natural resources….

ALTERNATIVES

How to form a global counter-economy

25th April 2017

From Open Democracy: Open cooperativism is an effort to infuse cooperatives with the basic principles of commons based peer production. Here are six interrelated strategies for post-corporate entrepreneurial coalitions. The aim is to go beyond the classical corporate paradigm, and its extractive profit-maximizing practices, toward the establishment of open cooperatives that cultivate a commons-oriented economy….

ALTERNATIVES

Goenchi Mati: A call for environmental custodianship and inter-generational equity in mining

9th April 2017

Rahul Basu writes: Goa Foundation, one of the country’s best-known environmental groups, has proposed a whole new approach to mining that’s designed to tackle the colossal damage caused by rampant corruption and human greed. It can be applied globally to natural resources and commons generally, but starting with minerals as their economic values are clearer….

Conflict/Dispossession

El Salvador makes history as first nation to impose blanket ban on metal mining

5th April 2017

The Guardian reports: El Salvador has made history after becoming the first country in the world to ban metal mining. Cristina Starr, from Radio Victoria, said: “Today water won over gold. This historic victory is down to the clarity and determination of the Salvadoran people fighting for life over the economic interests of a few.”…

The Alternative

ALTERNATIVES

Tribute: Anupam Mishra, the chronicler of India’s indigenous water wisdom

20th December 2016

Noted water conservationist Anupam Mishra passed away at the age of 68 on Monday. Here’s a tribute and a video where he talks with wisdom and wit about the amazing feats of engineering from centuries ago by the people of India’s desert regions to harvest water. These ancient aqueducts and stepwells are still used today….

Conflict/Dispossession

Voices from the global convergence of land and water struggles

4th December 2016

From GRAIN.org: Powerful actors, driven by narrow economic interests rather than long term sustainability are concentrating the political power to determine how resources are to be used, by whom, and for what purposes… The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles is a response to these injustices by frontline communities from all over the world….

ALTERNATIVES

The bright spots: Global examples of a thriving social-ecological future

16th November 2016

There is indeed no lack of stories that document climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality and other examples of unsustainable development around the world. Efforts to envision what better futures could actually look like seldom receive the same attention. But now researchers from the Stockholm Resilience Centre have gathered hundreds of examples of such positive initiatives….

Bookshelf

Bookshelf: Business Interests and the Environmental Crisis

22nd September 2016

Book excerpt: Both corporations and governments alike, who seek to consolidate their land ownership, often push for clearly defined tenurial rights rather than have to deal with messy overlapping custodianships. Many scholars have highlighted the limits of tenurial security in achieving conservation and that a tenure creates willing stakeholders in large scale land use change….

A Warli painting depicting collective life

ALTERNATIVES

Beyond development: The commons as a new/old paradigm of human flourishing

25th July 2016

David Bollier writes: The brute facts of climate change are calling into question models of economic development, transforming the terms of debate, compelling us to mythologies of development and growth, and quickly imagine credible alternative paths. Suddenly, the social economies of indigenous peoples, traditional communities and localized systems seem highly relevant to the challenges ahead….

A view of the Sangatya farm

ALTERNATIVES

Sangatya Commune: An experiment in sustainable living

22nd July 2016

The New indian Express profiles ‘Sangatya’ commune, and its co-founder, Shreekumar a chemical engineer turned organic farmer and activist and Ecologise.in author. Sangatya, located in Nakre village near Karkala in south Karnataka, is experimenting with creating spaces for sustainable living. The commune is also a place to gain hands-on experience in many areas, including community-building….

ALTERNATIVES

The commons: A credible strategy for building a radically different world

29th June 2016

David Bollier writes: How are we to imagine and build a radically different world when the incumbent system aggressively resists change? Our challenge is not just articulating alternatives, but identifying strategies for actualizing them. The commons —a paradigm, a discourse, an ethic, and a set of social practices— holds great promise in transcending this conundrum….

ALTERNATIVES

The Top 10 Sharing Economy predictions for 2016

6th February 2016

Cat Johnson writes on Shareable.net: The sharing economy movement is evolving quickly and in many directions. The growth of platform and worker co-ops, an increased awareness of the commons, the evolution of coworking, an explosion of tech-enabled sharing services, and more are opening up promising if not challenging frontiers. What will 2016 bring? We asked 10 leading experts to offer their predictions.

Letslunch.com

ALTERNATIVES

Top 10 stories on the emerging global ‘Sharing Economy’

2nd January 2016

Way back in 2009, long before the term “sharing economy” was part of everyday conversation, Shareable.net started covering this movement that aimed to connect people, reduce environmental impact, put idle goods to use, and challenge the idea that there’s no alternative to capitalism as we know it today. Here are their top 10 most read articles….

Medium.com

ALTERNATIVES

Something extraordinary is happening, and most of us haven’t noticed

1st January 2016

Gustavo Tanaka writes: A few months ago, I broke the chains of fear that kept me locked up into the system. I now see the world from a different perspective: the one that everything is going through change and that most of us are unaware of that. Here are 8 reasons why I believe this….

Education/Awareness

The International Journal of the Commons (IJC)

16th April 2015

The International Journal of the Commons (IJC) is an initiative of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC). As an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed open-access journal, the IJC is dedicated to furthering the understanding of institutions for use and management of resources that are (or could be) enjoyed collectively. These resources may be part of the natural world…