Ecologies of Hope and Transformation: Post-Development Alternatives from India

The book Ecologies of Hope and Transformation presents powerful stories of communities across India exploring human wellbeing and prosperity in more democratic and sustainable ways.

The stories in this book are from different contexts, geographies are different, and sectors are diverse too. But across the water, agriculture, forests, ecotourism, and education sectors, one aspect is common— they challenge the dominant development paradigm. The rich human experiences presented in the book are from different geographies— from the Banni grasslands to Bengaluru— but all of these initiatives advance development alternatives.

Kalpavriksh, an India-based environmental organization, and a member of the ICCA Consortium, undertook a research and documentation project to explore the cases. The case studies were written in 2014-2015 and revised in response to the editors’ and peer-reviewers’ comments in 2016-2017. 

‘As the world hurtles towards greater ecological devastation, inequalities, and social conflicts, are there alternative ways of meeting human needs and aspirations, without trashing the earth and without leaving half of humanity behind?’ This was the question the project wanted to explore.

The book is edited by Neera Singh, Seema Kulkarni and Neema Pathak Broome. Neema is a council member of the ICCA Consortium and the Regional Coordinator for South Asia.

Authors are Adam Cajka, Ashish Kothari, Harini Nagendra, Meenal Tatpati, Nyla Coelho, Rashi Mishra, Seema Bhatt, Seema Kulkarni, Shiba Desor, Sujatha Padmanabhan, and Vinay Nair.

Download the book for free from Kalpavriksh website here.

Reference: Singh, N., Kulkarni, S., and Pathak Broome, N. (2018) (Eds.). Ecologies of Hope and Transformation: Post-development Alternatives from India. Pune, India: Kalpavriksh and SOPPECOM.

 

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