Village Earth Joins the Appropedia Wiki Community
 Village Earth, who created the first wiki for appropriate technology, has joined forces with Appropedia.org, the largest wiki for sustainable development, appropriate technology and poverty reduction. Together, Village Earth and Appropedia are promoting the concept of a centralized, consolidated and open information clearinghouse where users can share what they know and find the information they seek. As Dr. Maury Albertson, founder of Village Earth and Peace Corps, put it, "There is an ENORMOUS POTENTIAL here." (His emphasis.) Appropedia Founder Lonny Grafman said "I'm particularly excited to see this public support for open source solutions coming from an organization as highly regarded as Village Earth!"
Village Earth works on sustainable development worldwide, while adhering to the concept that communities already posses the seeds of their own development, and that the optimum approach to development employs a "bottom-up" (listening rather than dictating) participatory process. Village Earth was born in 1993 at an International Conference on Sustainable Village-Based Development, and has a direct affiliation with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) at Colorado State University (CSU).
Appropedia is a 12 month old living library of sustainability and international development solutions that is managed by a committed team. Appropedia has been experiencing explosive growth in content and user base, and has recently begun recruiting a variety of partner organizations. Appropedia welcomes Village Earth as its newest partner helping to raise awareness of the benefits of open source sustainability solutions. Appropedia uses the same software as Wikipedia, and is committed to being the most user-friendly environment for collaboration in sustainability.
To join Appropedia, Village Earth and their partners in co-creating solutions for a sustainable world, visit Appropedia. Also, check out the new Village Earth Appropriate Technology page.
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World Social Forum 2007
 Kristina Pearson, a Village Earth Project Coordinator, recently represented Village Earth at the seventh World Social Forum (WSF) held in Nairobi, Kenya January 20-25, 2007. Kenya was an important meeting place for the WSF, as one of the WSF organizers pointed out, that it is the birthplace of humanity – a factor that brings everyone together from all their diversity. The World Social Forum was a gathering of 50,000 representatives of global civil society – a forum for discussion about alternatives to neoliberalism, globalization, and capitalistic-dominated models of global development. The World Social Forum began in 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil in response to World Economic Forum held every year at the same time in Davos, Switzerland where the world’s economic elite meet and decide global economic policy. On the contrary, the theme for the WSF is “Another World is Possible” and its purpose to create “economies where all of life is allowed to live.”
There was an incredibly diverse crowd of everyone from tribal African pastoralists to representatives of the United Nations. The leader of the African Social Forum made the poignant statement, “This is not a forum of charity. We are here because we want to be a part of this world.” One of the major themes from the WSF was the active participation and empowerment of indigenous and minority groups especially from the “Global South”. So many people around the world are waiting for governments, NGOs, or corporations to be the active agents of change, but the WSF proved that only the people themselves can change their own world.
The themes of the different WSF events really resonated with the Village Earth process of self-empowered sustainable development led by and for the world’s most marginalized peoples. Many times NGOs are actually holding people back from the creation of truly sustainable, empowered human communities. One common phrase throughout the WSF was “Moving from NGOism to Activism.” I believe this is really a unique feature of the Village Earth process.
Above: Famed Indian activist Vandana Shiva spoke about the importance of building alternatives by learning from indigenous knowledge, an important cornerstone of the Village Earth process.
Vandana Shiva also turned the traditional notion of development on its head saying, “What is development and underdevelopment? To be developed is to be free of fossil fuels. Underdevelopment is being locked into a fossil fuel economy…The South will have to lead with their hearts, hands, and minds.”
The WSF ended with a procession of the different global delegations from Korogocho, one of Africa’s largest slums, to Uhuru (Swahili for Freedom) Park in central Nairobi. One of the WSF organizers ended the program by saying, “All we can do is go home and do our best – that is what we can take from here.” Below: The World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, Economic Partnership Agreements (Free Trade Agreements), and the World Bank were symbolically taken out of the WSF in a coffin.
The next WSF will be held in 2009 – the location has yet to be decided. If you would like more information about future WSF events, visit the: WSF website Also, the first ever US Social Forum is to be held June 27-July 1, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, please visit the: United States Social Forum website.
Labels: world social forum
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Village Earth/IISD Training Alumn Initiates Sustainable Development Program in Zambia
 In December 2005, James Sikalima, from Zambia, attended the Village Earth/IISD training in Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development. James came to us with a Master's degree in Communication for Development and a Bachelor of Arts in Education (B.A.Ed.). He served as Program Development Manager, Mwembeshi Child and Family Program and had been involved in implementing an HIV and AIDS project aimed at enhancing community support for children and youth living with HIV and AIDS in Mwembeshi; also in implementing a water and sanitation project. He also took part in implementing the Food Security Project Pack focused on conservation farming and adequate food supplies in hunger stricken families, as well as child health and educational programs (Universal child immunization, access and equity to basic education).
After his participation in the training he initiated the Countryside Development Transformation Initiative in Zambia. Whose mission is to promote sustainable rural development in Zambia.
Areas of focus include:
- Sustainable Livelihoods
- Citizen participation in development and governance
- Appropriate Technology
- Microfinance
- Micro enterprise development
- Sustainable agriculture and agro-marketing
- Primary health care and hygiene
- Transport and Communication Systems
- Education for all
James can be contacted at: P. O. B0x 50683, Lusaka Direct0r – 097 883262, 095/6 251476 Program Executive – 097 749049 ZAMBIA Click here to learn about the upcoming Village Earth/IISD training in Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development.
posted by Village Earth at
UNDP takes notice of Education Project in Phnom Penh
posted by Village Earth2 at
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