Welcome to Yugaantar – a think space for young India

PostedonMar. 23, 2016in Learning and Education

That we live in a Yugaantar – a tough transition period is clearly visible. The evidence is all around us, be it climate change or pollution, species extinction, deforestation or planet degradation. The transition period is also fraught with ferment and unrest to move away from the prevalent paradigm. Many thinkers, eco-leaders the world over, believe that we are riding this wave of opportunity; to move away from an industrial age to an ecological age.

But the move also means grappling with complex issues, looking for systemic solutions and working at the foundational level. Bhoomi College, a Bangalore based NGO decided to embark on this journey of exploration, with many co-travelers. Thus was born the Yugaantar initiative to co-create a Think Space for Young India… to focus on the theme: Foundations for an Ecological age.

So we had some meetings, many discussions, many thoughts and ideas emerged. We had a brainstorming meeting with several youngsters and people from all over the country. Overall, an exciting space for questioning, reviewing and rethinking. It was strongly felt and decided that it should be a process and not just an event based engagement

The First Yugaantar Conference – 10th April, at Sathya Sai Auditorium, Hosur Road, Bengaluru

 The conference has been visualised as a beginning – to bring together many people from diverse fields – pioneering thinkers, youth representatives, educators and organisational leaders, to engage with three key aspects of Foundations for an ecological age.

  • Livelihoods– should we focus on economics for growth or well-being?
  • Shouldn’t Education include more ecological processes for the present and the future?
  • Philosophy–  what should be the new sets of beliefs to live by?

Some of the wonderful thinkers, scientists and eco-philosophers who have agreed to join us for our first major Yugaantar event, include:

  1. Satish Kumar, Editor of the Resurgence and Ecologist magazine and  co-founder of Schumacher College. U.K.
  2. Devinder Sharma, food and agriculture analyst and activist
  3. Ashish Kothari, founder of Kalpavriksh and co-author of “Churning the Earth- the Making of Global India”
  4. Aseem Shrivstava, ecological economist and co-author of “Churning the Earth- the Making of Global India”
  5. Ariel Salleh, Australian sociologist who writes on human-nature relations and eco-feminism
  6. G. Gautama, Director of Pathashaala Education Centre, Krishnamurthy Foundation of India
  7. Helena Norberg Hodge, activist for localization, author of “The Economics of Happiness” and “Ancient Futures”
  8. Seetha Ananthasivan, Founder Trustee of Bhoomi Network and Bhoomi College.

From the discussions and deliberations during this and other Yugaantar events, the aim is to create a resource hub for youth, educators and decision makers in various sectors, which will provide authentic, inspirational and cutting-edge content through a website, videos, books, articles etc. We wish the resource hub would bring more people together and support those who are looking for new pathways to learn and grow; to bring in greater consciousness about ourselves as ecological beings and moving to an ecological era.

 Join us and be part of this vibrant space – log onto www.yugaantar.com to register and for more information.

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