Thriving too

Social Spaces: Why Pie?

When the lovely people over at Westminster Hub asked us to hold some sort of event for their Changemakers’ Fayre on the 27/28^th October we thought long and hard about what sort of event we could do that would fit with the Hub’s ambitions to seed thousands of new conversations during the Fayre … and also our own ideas and work.

Our first thought was to shape an event that brought together some of the amazing people we know to share some of the research, strategies, and other transdisciplinary emergent community stuff our heads are currently immersed in.  Which of course would have been lovely… and we hope to be doing a lot of that sort of event in the coming months.

But instead we decided to do a PieLab event for the whole day on the 28^th  – thanks to some bright thinking from Laura Billings.  This means that we will just to be hanging out at the Hub, sharing free pie and chatting to everyone that wants to pop by.

In all our workshops we talk about PieLab in Greensboro Alabama – one of our most inspiring projects.  The Changemakers’ Fayre gives us an opportunity not only to talk about PieLab, publish books about PieLab … but to actually ‘do’ PieLab.

We talk about PieLab for two very important reasons:

There are no short cuts

PieLab is a brilliant example of how a project can (and should) start from the smallest point of contact between people.  When we look at the Theory of Change and assumptions that people are working to on many existing community projects we often see that a common ‘failure to engage’ is often caused by a ‘failure to start small enough’.

And with so much talk around at the moment about taking over community buildings and services, and even social enterprise, it is easy to see how in our haste we could forget that absolutely nothing happens in communities without the relationships that drive any ideas and projects forward. 

PieLab started by holding free pie events, with the simple proposition that ‘life can be bad, free pie isn’t’ …. And now have permanent premises in the high street out of which they still produce pies, but also have created an amazing community space through which all sorts of enterprising initiatives have emerged – from BikeLab to apprenticeships …

Below is the PieLab piece that they wrote for  the Hand Made so you can read their story for yourself.

Social is Social Change

So while we might see that building on relationships can be a great strategy for developing bigger more transformative projects, for many people the social can be the social change they really need.  We spent some wonderful time last week in Oldham, Manchester with a group called the Friends of Stoneleigh Park, that had started by focusing on their local park (which is beautiful), but now hold a lot of events for the community more widely.  We found that the level of care that this group are showing as they plan their events really inspiring – right down to picking elderly people up from their homes to attend a coffee morning or book swap… and even making sure they had someone they knew to sit next to.  Bringing people that might otherwise be isolated or lonely into enjoyable and comfortable contact is vital and valuable social change in itself.

Noel Hatch mentions the PieLab in his post here, quoting Toby Blume's post 'Food is Love' "If the ultimate act of love is to nurture another human being, then how can providing nutritious and delicious food be anything other than a hugely caring and generous deed?

My friend in the US, Jack Ricciuto in this interview extract  talks about exactly this point – saying that when you have a lot of money you can be preoccupied with scaling up as fast as possible, but when you want to engage people in the community it is the ‘small acts’ which really make a difference.

Invitation to PieLab

On Friday myself and Laura Billings will be bringing lots of pies (some we will even have made ourselves) to the Westminster Hub and we hope that many people will stop by and talk to us about their ideas and plans for social change – what they think community is all about and how we can all ‘do’ community in our own places and spaces.

A Big Thank You

We also wanted to give a big thank you to Tim, Alice and Indy at the Hub for letting us loose on their formally pristine greenhouse meeting room to bring in our This is Community installation - pics here and here.  Thanks for the confidence and trust… and above all the sense of creativity and fun you’ve allowed us… and of course to make something beautiful, visual and tangible out of our ideas and work.

And thank you also to all the lovely folk over in the US who created PieLab from the beginning – especially Megan Deal and Amanda Buck  who have wished us a lovely day on Friday and have always been so supportive of the Social Spaces project!

 

Update: Nice commentary piece by David Wilcox reporting the event

 

Open publication - Free publishing - More community

Social Spaces: Urban Farming Tools

"Urban farming tools is a set consisting out of five tools and a backpack. The tools can be stored inside, while the handle of the bigger tools can be taken off and mounted on the side of the backpack. Like this you can transport everything nicely on the way to your plot. Urban farming makes sense in so many ways: It is good for your health, fitness, the environment and since you grow your own food locally even for your budget."

You Are Hungry

 

An edible tour of Hackney...

Led by Mikey Tomkins, bee keeper and PhD student at University of Brighton, we wandered round Hackney's hidden growing spaces. Actually, some were very much on view once you knew what you were looking at - with stretches of fencing covered in courgettes and beans (above) and elaborate living marquees called 'dudhi cages' for the dudhi or bottle gourd (below).

Mikey also runs Capital Bee and keeps bees on top of the Space Gallery on Mare Street, so we started the morning with a little taster. Light and full of elderflower and lime - matching the bees local diet. Did you know that 90% of the beehives in the southeast are in the Greater London area? And we've p lenty more rooftops that could become honey making bee farms...

Something else that was interesting to learn, was that most current urban growing plots like the ones we were viewing, are using tradition growing methods in whatever green space people have access to. So needing lots of soil, and flat space. And it isn't productive enough to really feed people fully. But what Mikey found people were valuing, was less the size or quality of the crop, per se. But the opportunity to reclaim  and reuse public land together.

We had an interesting debate about the untidy nature of growing, and how this often seems at conflict with the neat perfection of bricks and concrete. And also what happens when the growing pioneers take up lots of space and it's harder for newcomers to join in. Then we wandered past a little patch of strawberries on a front lawn, and having to work things out didn't seem like a reason not to try in the first place.

Space Gallery: You Are Hungry
Mikeys' edible maps

 

Eat the Scenery

 

Waiting for the bus  isn't my favourite pastime, but if I lived on Landor Road in Brixton, it might soon be, thanks to a group of local residents getting together to create... the edible busstop!

A door drop with 400 leaflets brought out over 40 people to tend for a piece of neglected land, and you can see the resulting bloom here: www.theediblebusstop.org

Excitingly, the guys behind this project are branching out (!) into Park(ing) day which is an internatinoal campaign to reclaim the roads and put real parks in parking bays. Visit Southbank on 16 Sept to see it in action! www.parkingday.org

Social Spaces: Real Time Farms

There are many social media driven platforms out there which are are going to waste... but Real Time Farms has enormous potential to drive proper change around food production - both perceptions and behaviours ... and works with the whole chain - from grower, to markets, restaurants, cooks, to consumers.  Look forward to this one spreading!

Social Spaces: Loving Everything in Rotterdam

I have been off the blog for the last few weeks - mostly enjoying a break and working on Hand Made 2 (much excitement once again!)

But before all that I had 3 heavenly days in Rotterdam plotting and planning with Maurice Specht.  We spent a lot of time in his shared office space (pic above)... but also a fair amount visiting projects and talking to people working on local projects.

One of the unusual and beautiful observations in Rotterdam are the hollyhocks growing between the halls of the houses and pavements... and not by accident either.  It is a project called Stokroostegel and has been created by Patrick Kruithof (pic below) who describes himself as a designer, writer and explorer.  Patrick has designed and manufactured special bricks which replay normal paving stones - the new ones designed to all the plant to gorw through and the rain water to reach the roots.  Brilliant!

He told us all about the project and their hopes to continue making Rotterdam a more beautiful place to live.  It was interesting to Maurice and I that during the conversation it was clear that social engagement hadn't yet become a priority yet for the project - but we discussed quite a lot about how local schools in particular could become showcases for the idea. 

More on Rotterdam projects to come!

Herbaceous

 

I am surround by chocolate mint, purple basil, feathery fronds of fennel, meaty sage and tons and tons of basil. Where else could I be but a derelict plot of land by Brentford Lock in west London?

Thanks to Cultivate London (supported by Pathways, with land use provided by ISIS Waterside Regeneration) there are polytunnels full of herbs grown in pallets, ready to supply local shops and restaurants, and training opportunities  in horticulture for young people. And much like the Kings Cross skip gardens, then are designed to be portable, so they can move around the site as it gets developed.

We were well fed with mini grilled mushroom burgers covered in bright green pesto from the basil, and the chocolate mint was scrummy on a soft yellow lemon curd tart. And the PA for the talks was provided by some high energy pedalling!

The farms aren't normally open to the public, so you'll have to get in touch to come and visit. Or you can find out where the herbs are being sold on the website if you want to support the project and sample them yourself...

Read more:
Food production. Skill development. Job creation. www.cultivatelondon.org

 

Together With Love We Will Make This Citadel Glorious.

A theatre company in Birmngham is explosring the small things it can do to make the city better, 

On a microcosmic level, how can an individual improve life for the collective whole? What small change can one person effect that touches the lives of many? What if, in this City of a million people, everyone took just one minute each day to tidy, dust, mop or polish a square of communal space. How would our citadel shine then?

Stan's Cafe has been looking around its home City and spotting small things that could make it a better place. Realizing how easy it would be to step in and take on a few of these little tasks the company is under taking a series of performances to improve things.

On 24th May the company will position itself at the Arrivals Gate at Terminal 1 of Birmingham International Airport to provide a warm welcome for visitors and valued citizens returning home.

On 25th May the company will be providing a friendly concierge service for the taxi rank at Snow Hill Station during peak periods.

These are the first two in a planed sequence of actions. If you would like to help either by volunteering your time to this project or by submitting your suggestions for future acts of improvement we would be delighted to hear from you.

Together With Love We Will Make This Citadel Glorious.

N.B. As of the end of September Stan's Cafe will cease to be funded by Birmingham City Council.

Interesting.

 

"Society is buzzing with ideas" - an interview from the Grassroots Channel podcast

First published here.

Meet Rinske van Noortwijk and Corian Hugenholtz-Sasse - they make wishes come true.

To listen to them talk please click here. (find the Grassroots Channel in iTunes)

I met them both in Rotterdam, invited through the wonderful Maurice Specht to speak to the Association of Initiative Brokers ( @inimakelaar ) in Holland, organised by Rinske. Two days before, Tessy Britton and I had been in The Hague speaking to senior civil servants from Dutch central government.

They kept asking us what they could do to help citizens do the simpler things that made sense in their communities. Scale-ability was constantly on their lips. I was urging them to be careful. Stepping back, getting out of the way is one way government can help citizens just get things done. Find simple ways to give people small amounts of no string attached help was the other - what I call "learn how to slip someone a quiet tenner".

Militant Optimists and New Radicals

Tessy wanted something more practical. She wanted government to support the people who have the skills to nurture community, to connect people, to amplify what is possible in communities. The people David Barrie calls Militant Optimists, the sort of people who appear on the Grassroots Channel and Tessy brings together through Hand Made. She wants government to recognise and support the people who follow here 12 rules for new radicals. here are the first three compared with older form of community organising:

RULE 1

Alinsky (Old/Conflict): "Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have." Power is derived from 2 main sources - money and people. "Have-Nots" must build power from flesh and blood.  

Britton (New/Collaborate): “Power involves creating spaces where ideas, energy and people are connected together from within all sections of the community and local government to create positive communities” This involves careful facilitation and creating safe spaces where everyone can share their opinions and contribute positively. There is no enemy in a community.

RULE 2

Alinsky (Old/Conflict): "Never go outside the expertise of your people." It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone.

Britton (New/Collaborative): “Always reject ignorance in favour of building skills and knowledge.” There are many new ideas and methods that result in creative solutions that make people and communities stronger.

RULE 3

Alinsky (Old/Conflict): "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.

Britton (New/Collaborative): “Whenever possible, instigate dialogue, so that everyone shares the same knowledge base to design solutions.” Look for ways to increase security, trust and responsibility.

Rinske and Corian are just those sort of people: militant optimist, new radicals: For nearly a decade they have been running Greenwish:

Greenwish means more space for sustainable initiative. We encourage people to implement their sustainable ideas. If people do what they really care about, people are very passionate. It is this force that will really accelerate sustainable development. Greenwish promotes the interest of government, civil society and business in social initiatives. We want to see more cooperation and more is learned from social initiative. Greenwish support promoters with advice and contacts. We represent the interests of promoters to policymakers and politicians. Greenwish advises government, civil society and business in what they can do for initiatives and vice versa

Originally they were funded to connect community ideas to the people who can help make those ideas happen. Sometimes they might connect a citizen to a government programme, sometimes to a private supporter, sometimes to another citizen - often to all three. Each year these brokers make around 200 things happen that would otherwise have gone by the wayside. They know people, have ideas, are networked and like finding the easiest ways to get things going.

"Society is buzzing with ideas"

Listen to them talk about it here:

• We met many people with good ideas to contribute to the community who need a little bit of help. We ask them waht do you need to make your next step and can we help you.
• We're interested in what gets people enthusiastic and why they are doing it.
• Government funded for some time, now in transition.
• Value is being known and trusted by people government wants to work with, it is still difficult to find government that works that way.
• It can take patience to make an idea real. Over time enthusiasm builds
• 200 initiatives supported, health, food, energy, participation
• Common currency is passion, it is always a struggle.
• People in places always have ideas - we get ideas easily. "Society is buzzing with ideas."
• We are the first believers for anyone with a crazy idea to help society
• Looking for new concepts for making our added value clear to the government, Tessy Britton gave me new ideas of how we should make that more clear. Big Society is a new way for government to stop thinking for citizens, instead allow citizens to think for themselves.
• There are so many ways to make what is happening visible through social media without having to push the information. Ask them to make themselves visible.

 

Kefir Shepherds

I am now the proud guardian of a bubbly kilner jar of kefir grains. They are sitting on the kitchen top in the sunlight, bobbling up and down through the milky water like a lava lamp. I will feed them sugar and wash them twice a week and I feel somehow slightly more responsible than I did yesterday.

The gifted kefir is part of an art project by Synnove Fredericks, and is being run from the FARM:shop in Dalston. The idea is to cultivate the kefir, and as it expands, portion off small jars to give to people who want to experiment and grow their own (small donation for growing instructions leaflet). They then get marked on the map, and report back with pictures and stories.

Kefir grains are a mix of bacteria and yeasts, and can be used to make all sorts of fermented foods that are good for digestive health, such as yoghurt drink, ginger beer or kimchi pickled vegetables. I'm addicted to the yoghurt kefir from the Russian shop up the road, with a slightly tangy flavour and little creamy lumps (bordering on fizzy when open for a while). Perhaps it's an acquired taste, but I'm looking forward to making my own when my little grains have multiplied enough.

Synnove is an artist and designer interested in our interaction with natural surroundings, and is currently looking into nomadic agriculture. More on her website.

If you would like to see the installation come to FARM:shop. If you want a jar of the next batch, email Synnove.

Big Society: Braddock and Levis - Inspiration or Cautionary Tale?

Braddock is a town in the 'rust belt' in Pennsylvania, US.  It has lost 90% of its population due to the collapse of the steel industry.  The town is empty and derelict. Levis have chosen Braddock as a place where they have introduced a complex mixture of brand building and community philanthropy.  They have launched a range of adverts featuring residents of Braddock, evoking images and words of American pioneering spirit and giving $1 million to the community for a community centre, library and urban farm.

In some respects this is a case study in corporate and community partnerships for mutual benefit - the sort of thing we might expect to see happening in the UK with the Big Society agenda. Urban revitalisation and the sorts of projects we featured in Hand Made are in many ways ideal for corporate involvement because they are so positive and largely don't delve too deeply on more difficult social problems which need some sort of remedial, individual, interventions best left to social workers and other professionals.

But there has been a dual reaction to this case.  

Some feel that there is something exploitative about how the Levis is using the town and it's residents in the adverts - associating the brand strongly with working class people, and some say even glamorising poverty. Questions about where Levis produce their clothes, and in what conditions, are also being raised - where are their factories and why, if they care about Braddock so much are they not bringing enterprise there rather than or in addition to donations? And how long will their commitment last?

Others feel that this is genuinely wonderful.  There are certainly people in the town who want to work with Levis and see this as a proper partnership - giving townspeople some proper assistance to transform their community.

And if you watch some of the mini-documentaries, such as the one below, you might find them inspiring, as I have done.

But I have had a double reaction myself, no doubt in part due to the slick, emotive adverts, with stirring 'child' voice over, ending in the line 'Go Forth', example below, which are in strong contrast to the real mini-documentaries.

Even if ultimately we would like to see more people taking charge of their communities, putting all their valuable and inspirational talents to revitalising, it really seems to matter whose voice shouts the 'call to action'. If it is citizens rousing citizens it feels completely different, than a brand or politicians doing it. Or does it really matter in the long run?

Is this basic principle of brand/community partnerships the way forward?  I can see lots of reason to think that there are so many positive ways this could work, and it develops some new territory for companies to look at charitable giving in the context of the communities that might be their customers too.  So there is scope here for some deep and honest thinking around mutual benefit and corporate responsibility. Levis have even partnered with Good on this project and I imagine that some amazing stories will emerge.

Have Levis got this right?  Or is the over the top sentiment they have create around their project weakened their community effort?

What do you think?

 

Living Concrete + Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture

Living Concrete is a cross-institutional dialogue with Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture, an initiative of the Department of Architectural Sciences at Ryerson University in Toronto and is running from 1 October until 15 December 2010. 

Carrot City demonstrates how increasing public interest in agriculture, food supply, and food security is influencing urban design and how design can facilitate a more robust urban food system. This wide-ranging survey of Canadian and American cases examines projects at multiple scales – the city, community and knowledge-building, home and rooftop projects, and a range of products.

Included in the discussion is the newly launched Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn.

And the Vacant Lot - a project started by What If projects.  One of my favourites is their Food Factories which was part of the London Festival of Architecture in 2008.

Slowly but surely it feels like we are getting a proper visual of the future, it is collective, creative, handmade ..... and beautiful!

Home Farm

Hello again y'all. Apols for the extended absence while I sent my life in another direction...farewell to the Fellowship Dept at the amazing RSA, and hello membership and groups at Slow Food UK*!

So in line with my submersion in all things food, this weekend I have been getting covered in paint in Dalston with the FARM:london crew. As part of the Art in Empty Spaces initiative with Hackney Council, Andrew, Paul and Sam are asking the question "How much food can we grow in London?".

There will be tilapia fish in ponds, chickens and bees on the roof, pigs and raised vegetable beds in the backyard, mushrooms in the basement, a library, a cafe, meeting spaces and more... SO EXCITING!

*Slow Food is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. We work to ensure good, clean and fair food is a right for everyone.

The Urban Orchard

I hadn't come across this before today. Projects like this make me smile.

The Union Street Urban Orchard created as part of London festival of Architecture by the Architecture Foundation, Bankside Open Spaces Trust, ProjectARKs and the Wayward Plant Registry.Based in Southwark, London (SE1) you can visit until 19th September.There are a number of events planned over the summer so go on over and pay them a visit.

It focuses on "nurturing and stimulating wildlife and establishing clear ‘places of exchange’ where members of the local community, be they residents, workers or passers by, can meet and interact with one another".Shame I'm in Cheshire and will have to make do with looking at the beautiful photo gallery.

Time/Bank

Julieta Aranda & Anton Vidokle are now setting up a time bank for the art community, using the network of e-flux. While time/bank is an experimental art project that follows up on the artists’ longstanding interest in self-sustaining, autonomous practices and circulation mechanisms; the intention is to develop the Bank into a fully functional platform that will allow artists, curators, writers, designers, architects, activists and other participants in the field of visual art to exchange their skills, time and knowledge without having to rely on the putative economic value of said skills as an arbitration mechanism for the exchange. More info here

Secret School

Pic: A very mobile greenhouse.

Secret School are running workshops at the moment at Natureart in Brooklyn.  One workshop will be a build-your-own-mobile-garden get together, where everyone will bring something on wheels and create a mobile garden that can live on Grand Street during the show, and then be carted home afterwards.

Communal Garden Gets Started at Roehampton Uni

Friend Tessa Willy, lecturer at Roehampton University, has started an allotment at the university.  Tessa writes:

"The Allotment Society is a collective collaboration bringing together the university community (students and staff welcome) in an informal and friendly environment.

We will meet once a week during term time, though it’s really up to you how much or how little work you want to put in. As well as creating a new space to work and meet together, we will also be organizing a range of social and educational events. There really is room for everyone to be involved!"

More details and pics here ... I suspect the lying around in planting beds pictured above was early days!

Window Gardens

In February 2009, through a residency at Eyebeam, Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray began to build and test the first Window Farms prototype. Growing food inside NY apartments is a challenge, but within reach. The foundational knowledge base is emerging through working with agricultural, architectural and other specialists, collecting sensor data, and reinterpreting hydroponics research conducted by NASA scientists and marijuana farmers.

They created a gigantic Window Farm in July at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center for their annual BENEFIT and for the quarterly event series MIXER, a big art party dedicated to showcasing leading artists in the fields of live audiovisual performance and participatory art.

There is a vibrant online community on practice developing around this project, as people experiment with the concepts.

The amazing work of Eve Mosher

 

Eve Mosher is an artist and I love all her work - but particularly her public works.  

I blogged about her Seedling the City project wanted to keep up to date with developments on the project. Three weeks ago they planted their first roof module of grasses on sedums on the roof of the Covenant House New York.

Eve plans to raise small flags for each roof that plants a module.  A great example of a  whole planted roof is the MEC in Toronto.

Another is the roof the California Academy of Sciences.  Below is the pic I took of their roof when I visited last year!

What and Who She's Wearing!

Fashion isn't trivia you know... especially when it's Mrs O we are talking about.  Very charmed by this site, mrs-o.org, in amongst the belt talk (above: silver Givenchy) are some insights into the White House Garden which is of great interest around here.

There is a fascinating article with Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow on The Who Farm Project:

Mrs. O has said the kitchen garden was high on her list of priorities as First Lady. Supporting the effort, alongside other influential voices, was The Who Farm Project. The project was a cross-country non-partisan campaign for a White House organic farm, led by Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow. The two young men had previously lived on the same island (Bohol) during their Peace Corps assignment in the Philippines. Now that the garden has come to fruition, the guys have even launched a Thank You Michelle Obama effort. We wanted to understand more about their project and mission, which we're delighted to share below....

Full Blog post can be read here.

Future of Urban Farming

Interesting visualisation of Urban Farming by squit/opera.

New York's High Line Park Opens

Eagerly anticipated, the High Line Park opened last week. So exciting! More on the history in our earlier post.

Pics Via:  Inhabit  and Friends of Highline

Community Shopping

A friend of mine volunteers in the West Meon Community Shop in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, which has become a thriving community facility despite its Post Office being reduced to an 8 hours a week Outreach service in April 2008. The evolution into this facility actually took place following two separate phases: firstly, a campaign to save and refurbish the shop which began in 2006; secondly, a bid to develop the facility in 2008 by renovating an unconverted store at the rear of the premises to provide an internet café, drop in meeting point and Tourist Information Source. It is managed by the village.

Arthur Potts Dawson is a chef turned social entrepreneur, who believes the big supermarket chains have had their day and the demand for a more ethical social model could and should come sooner than we think. In an article in the Independent, he talks about his hopes to start a People's Supermarket, and describes in more detail what that would mean.

Food co-operatives depend on collaboration among communities, but Potts Dawson argues that if, in addition, people grew one tenth of their own food, it would provide a real educational legacy.

"If people grow things themselves, their children understand, then schools in the area know that this community's generating something with its own energy, to consume. And what it does do is highlight that wherever you live, in an urban setting, or a country setting, food is important and don't disregard it."

Wouldn't that be great!!

Fallen Fruit

"Public Fruit" is the concept behind the Fallen Fruit, an activist art project which started as a mapping of all the public fruit in our neighborhood. We ask all of you to contribute your maps so they expand to cover the United States and then the world. We encourage everyone to harvest, plant and sample public fruit, which is what we call all fruit on or overhanging public spaces such as sidewalks, streets or parking lots. 

We believe fruit is a resource that should be commonly shared, like shells from the beach or mushrooms from the forest. Fallen Fruit has moved from mapping to planning fruit parks in under-utilized areas. Our goal is to get people thinking about the life and vitality of our neighborhoods and to consider how we can change the dynamic of our cities and common values."

If you find Public Fruit interesting it is worth watching this 10 minute interview with the organisers because they talk about the reactions of the local councils initially. It has a lot to tell us about participation and how to get people involved .... I find it ridiculously exciting stuff!

Protecting India's Biodiversity

Navdanya aims to protect India's biodiversity in more ways than one.

"1984 was the year of the Punjab Violence and the Bhopal tragedy. This violence demanded a paradigm shift in the practice of agriculture. Navdanya was born of this search for nonviolent farming, which protects biodiversity, the Earth and our small farmers.

Navdanya means nine crops that represent India's collective source of food security. The main aim of the Navdanya biodiversity conservation programme is to support local farmers, rescue and conserve crops and plants that are being pushed to extinction and make them available through direct marketing.

Navdanya is actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture. It has created awareness on the hazards of genetic negineering, defended people's knowledge from biopiracy and food rights in the face of globalisation.

It has its own seed bank and organic farm spread over an ares of 20 acres in Uttranchal, north India."

"Diverse Women for Diversity is a programme of Navdanya. It seeks to herald a global campaign of women on biodiversity, cultural diversity and food security.  It seeks to strengthen women's grassroots movements and provide women with a common international platform to air their views.

Over the years, Diverse Women for Diversity has evolved a non-violent resistance and opposition to globalisation, emergency of genetic engineering and patents on life forms. Women of the world join hands under Diverse Women for Diversity."