Consumer cooperatives, local business alliances, transforming towns, permaculture projects, local finance initiatives and more will come together on June 21, 2022, to celebrate the third World Localization Day.
Helena Norberg-Hodge, Convenor of World Localization Day, explained that grassroots organizations are emerging around the world and proving invaluable in communities impacted by climate shocks and coronavirus-related supply chain failures.
read: A Conversation with Helena Norberg-Hodge About Ladakh, relocalization and our dysfunctional economic system.
Norberg-Hodge launched this day on June 21, 2020 to celebrate and strengthen the movement and to inspire others by making it more visible. The event grew in 2021, when 80 organizations hosted events in 30 countries on six continents.
systemic
Recent crises, including the blockade of the Suez Canal against the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have highlighted the need for greater regional self-reliance.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that reliance on global supply chains is risky, especially for basic needs. At the same time, the climate crisis calls for an immediate exit from the resource-intensive, polluting global economy – also creating a widening gap between the rich and the poor. Reasonable economy,” she said.
“In this context, localization — a way to bring the economy home — is a systematic way to solve our most pressing global problems,” she added.
inspiration
Examples of localisation movements from around the world include the Danish island of Samsoe, the first island in the world to be powered by 100% local renewable energy, more than half of the island’s 21 wind turbines are owned by local farmers, and the entire The community collectively owns the decisions on where the turbines are.
In Colorado, USA, the Mountain Roots Food Project conducts several projects to strengthen the food system, including a small farm; a multi-farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program featuring farmers from the region; community gardens, members Working together, sharing the harvest; and a food rescue program that connects food-insecure families with excess produce from backyard gardens and farms.
In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the Deccan Development Association created its own seed bank, millet processing unit, local food stores and restaurants, and by pushing the state government to divert public subsidies from mass-produced rice and wheat, and their indigenous, adapted Climate, nutrient-rich organic crops.
support
Seeds are exchanged, not bought and sold, allowing women to escape the volatility of the market in which the company operates.
More than 5,000 women have adopted millet-based agrobiodiversity farming methods and have preserved nearly 100 native and drought-resistant seed varieties.
Norberg-Hodge said World Localization Day will feature online and in-person events throughout June, including talks, debates and workshops at local food feasts, festivals and community celebrations, providing system solutions to a “global system in crisis” .
The event has garnered support from the Dalai Lama, Professor Noam Chomsky, environmentalist Jane Goodall, social commentator Russell Brand, journalist Naomi Klein, author and activist Wandana Shih Watts and well-known personalities such as psychologist Gabor Matt – all of whom are involved in the World Localization Day Program.
this author
Catherine Early is a freelance environmental reporter and lead reporter ecologist. she is on twitter @Cat_Early76. For more information visit this site.
