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--- research_report_sanjeev-shankar [2008-04-27 14:43] – sanjeev
+++ research_report_sanjeev-shankar [2008-05-02 08:17] – sanjeev
@@ Line 116: / Line 116: @@
 see [[site visit and survey notes]]
-  * //comparison of the expected and the achieved results//
+===Directions===
-  * //suggestions and comments on the research process and its results//
-  * //description and suggestions around the collaboration process (if applicable)//
+The project started out with specific focus on urban farming and permaculture. However, the nature of farming and land is highly interconnected and directly impacts other aspects of our society. The insights and lessons through this journey go beyond farming and can inform the growth of more complex and yet to emerge sustainable systems. The author would like to conclude with the following directives:
-  * //suggestions for the future work based on the conclusions of the research//
+  * The need for a gradual shift towards a 'we' and 'us' based culture from a 'me' and 'I' based approach. Collective communities like India, are facing a reverse trend with the recent shift towards an individual based, self serving attitude under the influence of 'growth' and 'progress'.
+  * Concious need for information 'exchange' and collaborations between different cultures and contexts to develop greater self reliance and interdependence. All the time striving for the right balance between clear streamlined structures and flexible organic systems, between small self organised clusters and larger fabrics, between independent points of view and a general concensus.
+  * In cultural contexts, links with tradition should involve the use of past processes of change rather than the maintenance of past structures and patterns. We have to constantly reevaluate and revalidate our responses and ideas of 'growth' and 'progress' in such turbulent times. Such metaphors of progress and growth must move towards leaving things inside us rather than behind us. Having said that, if a thing needs to disintegrate and be left behind, we must let it go and let new systems be born. The aspect of ethics is important in such a situation and should be openly discussed.
+  * We must constantly strive to create fertile diverse systems which bring culture and nature together. This could be through technology, media or traditional mediums.
+===Suggestions===
+  * Looking at traditional systems of living which are comparable to permaculture as a holistic approach applicable to different spheres of life.
+  * Analysing the attributes of community based approaches in countries like India and how can we create such initiatives in western societies.
+  * Creating tangible manifestations of human plant interaction to nudge it out of the speculative zone.
+  * Finding appropriate ways and methods to bring 'ethical' thinking as a core topic in design education and education in general.
+  * Creating an **International Platform for Growth and Resilience**, which works towards a more inclusive, collaborative methodology through a system of integration. One of the intiatives could be to bring apparently polar groups together to find a common ground. These groups could include environmentalists with corporate heads; secular groups with military regime heads; real estate developers with conservationists; politicians with middle class people; middle class western families with middle class eastern families and so on. At a national level, the model would work in a more bottom up manner with conflicting interest groups being brought together to openly discuss issues.
 ====References====
@@ Line 229: / Line 244: @@
 Films
-  * Power of community: Produced by the community solution organization, the film explores the peak oil crisis with focus on community based solutions that reflect the values of cooperation, conservation and curtailment. The film captures the free fall of Cuba's economy in early 90's with the fall of the Soviet Union and its brilliant turnaround using drastic measures to become self reliant. It demonstrates the role of community in dealing with acute challenges. Every aspect of cuban life was affected by the 'special period', but no change was as far reaching as agriculture. Cuba was forced to switch to survival agriculture from the green revolution practices it was accustomed to. A drastic effort to convert every piece of arable land to organic agriculture was begin. An urban agriculture movement resulted where every vacant lot in the city was converted into an orchard. Under urban gardening, idle plots of land were identified, cleaned and turned into gardens by the community. The people cooperating and caring about each other were the main factors for the turnaround. With sustainable practices Cuba found that it took 3 to 5 years to rehabilitate the soil again. To increase food production the government worked with farmers to find local solutions. The result was smaller farms and cooperatives with a high degree of privatization and autonomy. These were able to use sustainable practices in a much more efficient manner and created new ways of decentralized growth under a larger umbrella. With a more stable method of land distribution and ownership, thousands moved to rural areas. The impact was also felt in the education, housing, transportation and energy alternatives realms resulting in improvised solutions from the people and the government which has not only created a unique model for all of us but also reinstilled faith in the power of simple steps taken at a community level.
+  * Power of community: Produced by the community solution organization, the film explores the peak oil crisis with focus on community based solutions that reflect the values of cooperation, conservation and curtailment. The film captures the free fall of Cuba's economy in early 90's with the fall of the Soviet Union and its turnaround using drastic measures to become self reliant. It demonstrates the role of community in dealing with acute challenges. Every aspect of cuban life was affected by the 'special period', but no change was as far reaching as agriculture. Cuba was forced to switch to survival agriculture from the green revolution practices it was accustomed to. A drastic effort to convert every piece of arable land to organic agriculture was begin. An urban agriculture movement resulted where every vacant lot in the city was converted into an orchard. Under urban gardening, idle plots of land were identified, cleaned and turned into gardens by the community. The people cooperating and caring about each other were the main factors for the turnaround. With sustainable practices Cuba found that it took 3 to 5 years to rehabilitate the soil again. To increase food production the government worked with farmers to find local solutions. The result was smaller farms and cooperatives with a high degree of privatization and autonomy. These were able to use sustainable practices in a much more efficient manner and created new ways of decentralized growth under a larger umbrella. With a more stable method of land distribution and ownership, thousands moved to rural areas. The impact was also felt in the education, housing, transportation and energy alternatives realms resulting in improvised solutions from the people and the government which has not only created a unique model for all of us but also reinstilled faith in the power of simple steps taken at a community level.
   * Bill Mollison-Global Gardener Series 1-4