social-ecological

Idle No More: Indigenous activists call for peaceful revolution

How can Indigenous peoples bring environmental sustainability and social justice issues together into a single transformative movement? Idle No More activists at the Peoples Climate March 2014 Photo by Allan Lisner It all started in 2012 when four Canadian women (primarily Indigenous) wanted to protest against federal legislation which threatened protection of traditional lands and waters. They felt as if conventional negotiation tactics were not resulting in meaningful [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-05-26T13:00:31+00:00community, indigenous, social movement, stop destructive action|Comments Off

Makapads

How can reconfiguring small-scale industrial production enable a community to tap local ecosystems services sustainably to address social challenges? In Uganda, and in much of the developing world, when school-aged girls hit puberty, they are often forced to miss school during menstruation due to the inaccessibility of affordable sanitation products. Fifteen years ago Moses Musaazi, an engineering lecturer from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, was asked by social [...]

Megan Lindow2016-05-06T18:41:56+00:00business, health, sustainable living, urban ecology|Comments Off

Center for Ecoliteracy

Can changing what schools serve for lunch help to address deep challenges in the food and education systems, while inspiring ecological awareness in children? A child in the state of California's public education system will consume around 4,000 school meals between the time of entering kindergarten and leaving high school. With more than 6 million children attending California state schools, the simple question of what gets served for lunch, and [...]

Megan Lindow2016-04-20T21:06:41+00:00Food, Food system, health, Project information or update, United States|Comments Off

Foundation for Ecological Security

Is improving management of ecological commons a key pathway out of poverty? Foundation for Ecological Security is an Indian NGO that works to reduce poverty by helping communities organise to restore their ecosystems and enhance their livelihoods. The Foundation for Ecological security combines ecological restoration, a focus on building commons and community institutions, and sustainable rural livelihoods. They focus on entire landscapes and work with all the inter-related communities within these landscapes, and aim to promote ecological resilience by protecting and restoring biological [...]

Garry Peterson2015-09-23T08:02:00+00:00Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Tyisa Nabanye

Tyisa Nabanye is a non-profit urban agriculture organisation growing organic food on the slopes of Signal Hill in Cape Town, seeking to improve food security, promote sustainable livelihoods and create employment for their members. Started in 2013 by a group of urban farmers from the townships around Cape Town, Tyisa Nabanye, which means "feed the others" in Xhosa, is an urban garden based on the principles of permaculture. The team [...]

Laura Pereira2015-08-13T17:02:56+00:00Food system, Skills Development|Comments Off

Transition Towns and the Transition Network

Is it easier to change systems, markets and human behaviour at smaller scales, and can this add up to global change? A transition town, or more generally a transition initiative, is a grassroots community project that seeks to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability by creating local groups that uphold the values of the transition network (https://www.transitionnetwork.org/). Values include: Respecting resource limits Promoting inclusivity [...]

ciararh2015-07-21T17:29:17+00:00Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Seeds are existing initiatives which hold potential to shape the future. They are likely not widespread nor well-known. They can be social initiatives, new technologies, economic tools, or social-ecological projects, or organisations, movements or new ways of acting that have that appear to be making a substantial contribution towards creating a future that is just, prosperous, and sustainable.

We gather seeds from diverse research disciplines, communities of practice, and individuals that have different world-views, values, and problems. This diversity means that not everyone will agree on the importance or value of every seed.