Alternative Approaches to Crises Resilience

Dr Miriam Lang, Simón Bolívar Andean University (Ecuador) & Mr Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh, Vikalp Sangam, and Global Tapestry of Alternatives (India)

Note: Internal event not open to external attendees.

A cross-continental conversation between Prof Miriam Lang and environmentalist Ashish Kothari on alternative approaches to address the current multidimensional (not only environmental) crisis. These experts discuss some fundamental questions of our time, by comparing and collating the Latin American and South Asian experiences:

1. What has COVID pandemic crisis taught us about the state of the world? Are there links to other crises like ecological (climate, biodiversity, etc) and socio-economic (inequality, conflict, alienation)?
2. How have people/communities responded to the crisis, and what can we learn from this for moving towards a more resilient society?
3. What is already available in terms of alternative initiatives that can point us in the direction of transformations towards sustainability, justice?
4. What challenges are we likely to face in moving towards such transformations, and how can we overcome them?
5. How can we guard against the false solutions to climate change that are unjust to communities and endanger biodiversity?

Miriam Lang is a Professor for Environment and Sustainability Studies at Simón Bolívar Andean University. She is also the Coordinator of the international Master's Degree in Political Ecology and Alternatives to Development at the University. Since 2011, she has been co-coordinating the Latin American Working Group on Alternatives to Development on behalf of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Of German nationality, she has worked and lived in Latin America for many years. She has participated in environmental movements, as well as in social movements against racism and for international solidarity; her current research focuses on the critique of development, systemic alternatives and the territorial implementation of Good Living. She combines decolonial and feminist perspectives with political economy and political ecology.

Ashish Kothari is a founder of Indian environmental action group, Kalpavriksh and a member of many people’s movements. He has taught at Indian Institute of Public Administration, coordinated India’s National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan, served on boards of Greenpeace International & India, and ICCA Consortium. He helps coordinate the Vikalp Sangam (Confluence of Alternatives) (www.vikalpsangam.org), the Global Tapestry of Alternatives (https://globaltapestryofalternatives.org), & Radical Ecological Democracy (https://radicalecologicaldemocracy.org) processes. He is a co-author/co-editor of several publications, including Churning the Earth, Alternative Futures, and Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary.

Event Recording

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