Organizations, disciplines, networks, publications, and individuals in the Interconnected Worldview
I have been thrilled by weeks of scanning the web for actors living and working in the Worldview of Interconnection. I have found a rich and diverse collection with many networks across the different realms.
Here I share some outstanding examples and will add more to this page as we go along. None of these organizations and individuals have made a commitment to the initiative
Indigenous Centers and Alliances
International
The Christensen Fund list of indigenous organizations it has funded provides links to dozens of grantees, as well as other foundations. https://www.christensenfund.org/programs/
Wikipedia List of indigenous rights organizations includes international, regional, and national organizations, many of them addressing environmental, landrights, and intellectual property issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indigenous_rights_organizations
Indigenous Insights – Stewarding the Earth https://www.stewardingthe.earth
This a global communications campaign designed to share messages from IUCN’s Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation members on the role of indigenous leadership and governance in stewarding and defending nature. It is a collaboration between the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Forest Farm Facility (FFF)? to support IUCN Indigenous Peoples Organisations in amplifying indigenous priorities for people and nature.
International Indian Treaty Council https://www.iitc.org
The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific working for the Sovereignty and Self Determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of Indigenous Rights, Treaties, Traditional Cultures and Sacred Lands.
North America
Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, https://www.esf.edu/nativepeoples/index.php
Center’s mission: “to create programs that draw on indigenous and scientific knowledge to support our shared goal of environmental sustainability. The Director is Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Potawatomi Nation. She says:
“My grandfather was one of those children who was taken from his family at nine years old. His brother was only seven. My grandfather was brought to the Carlisle Indian School. For me, growing up with those stories, and hearing what my dad had to say about it-and what my grandfather didn’t say about it-I kept thinking: Here was a school that was designed to make you forget who you were. So, couldn‘t there also be a school that would help you remember? That’s how I think about the Center for Native People and the Environment. Our mission is in many ways a response to my family’s and my people’s history of loss, which is a very formative story for me.”
Menominee College and Tribal Enterprises https://www.menominee.edu
“As a Land Grant institution of higher education chartered by the Menominee People, the College of Menominee Nation infuses learning with American Indian culture and prepares students for leadership, careers, and advanced studies in a multicultural world. The College commits to research and promotion, perpetuation, and nurturance of American Indian language and scholarship.”
Menominee Tribal Enterprises https://www.mtewood.com
“The Menominee Tribe saw their future depending on the forest and began a strategy of sustained yield management that steered clear of forest exploitation, while preserving the Tribe’s way of life. In order to survive off of this limited land base, the Tribe realized the need to harvest timber in a manner that perpetuates the forest resources for future generations. The basic concept was to harvest timber at a pace where the amount harvested never surpasses the forest’s natural capacity to replace it”
The Center for First Americans Forestlands is a collaboration between the USDA Forest Service and the College of Menominee Nation Sustainable Development Institute. Here, we promote sustainable forestry on public and private forests, sustainable utilization best practices, and sustainable rural development on native timberlands.
Australia
Wikipedia page introducing Indigenous, First Nations, First Peoples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians
Dr. Marcia Langton is an Australian anthropologist and activist. She is a descendant of survivors of the frontier massacres and a member of the Yiman people of central Queensland.
https://www.vic.gov.au/professor-marcia-langton-am
“https://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0773b.htm
A member of the Aboriginal Bidjara Nation, Marcia Langton is an authority on social issues concerning Aboriginal people. She holds the Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies in the Centre for Health and Society at the University of Melbourne. During the 1970s she was active in the Women’s Liberation movement, drawing attention to the oppression of black women. She continued to work for Aboriginal causes and became a key participant in the Wik Land rights negotiations which were conducted during the late 1990s. She has appeared in film and television portraying strong Aboriginal characters. In 1993 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia ‘for service as an anthropologist and advocate of Aboriginal issues’. In 2001 she was admitted as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
The Firesticks Alliance
The Firesticks Alliance is an Indigenous-led organization based in Australia that promotes cultural burning practices as a means of restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems. The organization works with Indigenous communities, land managers, and government agencies to support the revival of traditional fire management practices that have been used by Indigenous peoples in Australia for thousands of years.
The Firesticks Alliance recognizes that fire is an essential part of many Australian ecosystems and that traditional fire management practices can promote biodiversity, reduce the risk of catastrophic fires, and support the cultural and social well-being of Indigenous communities. The organization works to support the revival of these practices through a variety of means, including training programs, knowledge-sharing events, and partnerships with government agencies.
Biri Bulmba Budang National Custodians of Country Gathering 2023
21-25 August 2023
Participants will gain an insight into the interconnected components of Cultural land and sea management practices and the responsibility of looking after Country. Participants will be immersed in Indigenous culture and practice. Masterclasses will be delivered in Cultural Fire, Indigenous Ethno-botany, weaving, tool making, dance, cooking, music, reading country and monitoring.
Africa
Farmers in Niger have quietly grown and preserved 200 million trees
The great African regreening: millions of ‘magical’ new trees bring renewal
The Guardian. 16 August 2018.
How farmers in Earth’s least developed country grew 200 million trees
National Geographic. 27 April 2022. https://archive.ph/sJAVA#selection-4447.0-4447.69
Across at least 12 million acres of Niger, woodlands have been re-established with little outside help, almost no money, and without driving people off their land. The trees here weren’t planted; they were encouraged to come back naturally, nurtured by thousands of farmers. Now, fresh trees are popping up in village after village. As a result, soils are more fertile and moister, and crop yields are up.
Foundations
The Christensen Fund https://www.christensenfund.o
“The Christensen Fund works to support Indigenous peoples in advancing their inherent rights, dignity, and self determination. Our grantmaking strategy centers our work on supporting and strengthening Indigenous Peoples’ efforts to secure and exercise their rights to their land, territories, resources, and sovereign systems of governance.
“We have rooted our work in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the global standard that both asserts and recognizes Indigenous worldviews and values and establishes a universal framework for the recognition of their rights. The Indigenous Peoples’ Movement has used UNDRIP a key organizing mechanism to express their priorities, worldviews and collective identities. Rooting our strategy in UNDRIP is our contribution to the essential global work of growing both the recognition and use of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. And, most importantly, to improving the daily lives of Indigenous Peoples and the land and seascapes they steward.
The Agoecology Fund: https://www.agroecologyfund.org
Pooled Grantmaking to Support Agroecological Solutions Around the Globe,
Kalliopeia Foundation https://kalliopeia.org/about-us/
“Our programs and those we support are rooted in the understanding that ecological, cultural, and spiritual renewal are interdependent. We partner with individuals and organizations who create and hold a space where pressing, contemporary issues can be engaged through this holistic lens. In doing so, we envision a future that is built upon compassion, respect, dignity, reverence for nature, and care for each other and the Earth.
NonGovernmental Organizations
Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) http:/www.Garn.org
“The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (the “Alliance”) is a global network of organizations and individuals committed to the universal adoption and implementation of legal systems that recognize, respect and enforce “Rights of Nature”.
“It is the recognition that our ecosystems – including trees, oceans, animals, mountains – have rights just as human beings have rights. Rights of Nature is about balancing what is good for human beings against what is good for other species, what is good for the planet as a world. It is the holistic recognition that all life, all ecosystems on our planet are deeply intertwined. “Rather than treating nature as property under the law, rights of nature acknowledges that nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles.”
Regeneration http://regeneration.org
Regeneration puts life at the center of every action and decision. It applies to all of life—grasslands, farms, insects, forests, fish, wetlands, coastlands, and oceans—and it applies equally to family, communities, cities, schools, religion, commerce, and governments. And most spectacularly to climate.
The Work that Reconnects https://workthatreconnects.org/spiral/foundations-of-the-work/
“The Work that Reconnects helps people discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action.”
~ Joanna Macy
Earth and Human https://earthandhuman.org/about-us/
“Earth and Human is a website operated by climate-conscious individuals of Nepal to inspire millions of people to walk on the sustainable path and talk about climate crisis and action. We share sustainability-related articles, ideas, tips, tricks, hacks, products, brands, and stories about Earth and Humans.
“The team of enthusiastic climate academicians from the fields of mountain ecology, zoology, forest covers, biodiversity, environment education, hydrological regime, sustainable society, and renewable energy have been continuously providing eye-opener articles for global climate welfare.”
Spiritual Organizations
Buddhist
Green Buddhism is a movement that aims to promote environmental sustainability through Buddhist principles. They encourage individuals to adopt environmentally friendly practices such as recycling, reducing waste, and conserving energy.
EcoSattva Training
This is an online training program that helps individuals to integrate environmental sustainability into their Buddhist practice. The program is offered by One Earth Sangha, which is a network of Buddhists who are committed to promoting environmental awareness and sustainability.
One Earth Sangha https://oneearthsangha.org
The founding premise of One Earth Sangha is that the Buddhist tradition offers significant, largely untapped resources that can support us in bringing wisdom, compassion, courage, creativity, flexibility, and a steady resolve to our inter-related ecological and social crises. The Dharma’s transformative insights help us understand the root causes of our challenge, how we can remain steady as it unfolds, and how we might skillfully respond.
At the center of our strategy is spiritual community or “Sangha.” As our name, One Earth Sangha, indicates, we believe community is critical to the Path of Engaged Practice. Many of our members say that the value of One Earth Sangha is in the sense of being together that we facilitate.
Interfaith
GreenFaith
This global interfaith organization includes every faith from diverse Christian denominations to Pagans.
“Because the Earth and all people are sacred and at risk, GreenFaith is building a global, multi-faith climate and environmental movement. Together our members create communities to transform ourselves, our spiritual institutions, and society to protect the planet and create a compassionate, loving and just world.
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
https://fore.yale.edu/World-Religions
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Forum-on-Religion-and-Ecology-at-Yale/807941202606307
“The Mission of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology is to inform and inspire people to preserve, protect, and restore the Earth community. The religions of the world transmit ecological and justice perspectives in their scriptures, rituals, and contemplative practices as well as in their moral and ethical commitments. We seek to identify those perspectives in the service of finding comprehensive and collaborative solutions to our global environmental crises. In this spirit, we cultivate dialogue within religious/spiritual communities and in partnership with scientists and policy makers.”
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture
From 2007, The Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture is the new title for Ecotheology which for more than a decade has been the leading forum for constructive and normative studies on the relationship between religion and ecology.The journal’s expanded goals are to explore the relationships among human beings, their diverse religions, and the earth’s living systems and to explore what constitutes an ethically appropriate relationship between our own species and the natural worlds we inhabit. This journal is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture.
Psychedelics
UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics
BCSP conducts research using psychedelics to investigate cognition, perception and emotion and their biological bases in the human brain.
In July 2022, this team launched a new psychedelic resources website from the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelic (BCSP). The website was built to offer a one-stop site that could answer questions—including descriptions of the various substances; their risks and benefits; advice for people seeking psychedelic therapy, and much more, all written and edited by a team of journalists.
Holistic Sciences
Systems Science and Practice
Agroecology
The Agoecology Fund: https://www.agroecologyfund.org
“Pooled Grantmaking to Support Agroecological Solutions Around the Globe
“The Agroecology Fund is a multi-donor fund that supports just and sustainable food systems. Such systems promote the wellbeing and human rights of small farmers, Indigenous Peoples, and their communities, replenish soil and water resources, and help mitigate climate change.
“The primary protagonists at the center of the Agroecology Fund’s theory of change are agroecology movements. We seek to fortify these multi-sectoral movements around the world.
“Agroecology movements organize constituencies, conduct real-time field research, construct “new economy” food systems and apply political pressure to win agroecology-friendly public policies and programs. They are composed of a diverse groundswell of allied organizations advocating for equitable and sustainable food systems and resisting policies, institutions and vested interests that undermine such systems.”
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN Agroecology Knowledge Hub – fao.org
Agroecology is a holistic and integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of sustainable agriculture and food systems. It seeks to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment while also addressing the need for socially equitable food systems within which people can exercise choice over what they eat and how and where it is produced. […]
The Agroecology Knowledge Hub showcases evidence, policies, practices and science on agroecology. The Hub also facilitates discussions via forums related to agroecology.
The Land Institute https://landinstitute.org/
The Land Institute is breeding new perennial grain and seed crops adapted to ecologically intensified polycultures that mimic natural systems. We call this Natural Systems Agriculture. Our goal is to develop an agricultural system that can produce ample food, reduce or eliminate impacts from the disruptions and dependencies of industrial agriculture, and inform cultural change through education.
University of Texas Rio Grande Community Agroecology https://www.utrgv.edu/agroecology/
Agroecology is the study of the ecology of food systems, an applied science to inform the improved management of the ways we produce our food, fuel, and fiber. The UTRGV Agroecology Program combines student-centered research and community engagement in various projects that investigates soil health, invasive species, sustainable agriculture, and the promotion of local food systems in South Texas and beyond. The mission of our program is to generate intellectual capital through engaged scholarship and learning, participatory action research, and inclusive outreach in ways that inform the development of healthy, equitable, resilient, and economically sound food systems
Ecology
Anthropology