 Hello, everybody. I'm Srishti Bajpayee. I'm an activist researcher from India. I work with an environment action group, Kalparish, and I am part of global tapestry of alternatives because both these networks at regional and global level are trying to weave networks of alternatives. So today I will be sharing with you all some stories of community resilience across the world and how in many ways these communities are articulating their own sense of what resistance is, and in many ways, many different ways of being and living in this world. So let's start with first what global tapestry of alternatives is. It's a process that is trying to weave a confluence or a thread of resistance and alternatives across the world by creating spaces for sharing exchanges and collaborations. And so that we can do collective advocacy and solidarity networks among many alternative networks. And through that process do a collective envisioning something that this conference is also trying to do, or what would adjust world, what would a different world look like than we are in right now. So what it is trying to articulate is to move towards transformative and systemic alternatives. But before we get into understanding what transformative and systemic alternatives are, you have to clearly state out what these alternatives are up against. And so these alternatives are really talking about fundamental transformations, not any false solutions that we see all around us that are not really transforming the dominant systems, but are actually just trying to fit them in so that the system continues to play the path it is playing on all of us. And so when we're talking about alternatives we are talking about the processes that are challenging the structural roots of unsustainability and inequality in this world. So concentration of power in the hands of few capitalism, state dominated regimes, patriarchy and toxic masculinity, caste, race, ethnicity and other forms of injustices, and of course the control and power of humans over the rest of nature. So when we're talking about alternatives, we're really seeking fundamental transformations. And we know that across the world, many, many people and communities are responding to the crisis are responding to these structural roots of injustice and unsustainability and and concentration of power in many, many forms and this picture that you see on screen is, is very well depicting actually. It's a story of indigenous communities from Central India, who 30 years ago, were fighting against a hydro power project coming in out of territories and while the, and they were articulating through their resistance that while you think that this river will produce these many megawatts of energy for us, she's a mother and so we cannot let it down. So in many ways they're articulating what it is to speak of pluriversal worldviews there's just not one way of existing. And so in resistance movements we see across the world the strong articulation of different ways of being. In India the country that I come from their thousands on possibly more than that alternative initiatives, ranging from varied kind of spheres and work life, where people are experimenting innovating and thinking about alternatives, and we start across different regions and different diversity of cultures, but in many ways we've we've together through this collective envisioning of what well being could look like. And so isn't the so is it in the rest of the world as well, many, many communities across the world are either reviving their own traditional systems that have in many ways removed because of colonialism and other forms of oppression. Or actually coming up with new ideas and in fact at the heart of even the most capitalist systems like we see in Europe many attempts to think out of the box of what could just transitions look like, and other such. So just to give you a sense of the pluriversal ways of responding to these crisis across the world. And there's an of course intention why this map is also upside down. And because it is to break away from the colonial ways of we see ourselves and our maps as well. I want to just now begin sharing some of the inspiring examples from across the world of their communities are responding to these crisis because of their existing processes of transformation. And post that we will try to distill some of the learnings that are emerging from many of these examples across the world. So the first example which is an absolute personal inspiration from me comes from central where 90 village assemblies got together to form what they call as a hagram server which is a federation of 90 village assemblies, and they have been for last two decades struggling against a mining project in the sacred traditional forest, and while they were resisting against mining they realized that that's not enough, but rather we need to move towards actually self governance and empowerment of our smallest unit of decision making which is one village assembly, and subsequently all the 90 villages and that can happen, when we take control over our means of productions, we take control over our, over our forest, over our, over our traditional rights to forest, and began that process of getting control over the community and creating processes of sustainable livelihoods taking control over the governance and management and conservation of these forests, and building on their traditional decision making systems but also learning from new innovative modern systems. And that process was on the women in the community themselves began asking that if you're trying to transform systems outside we must also look internally and transform the kind of patriarchal relationships exist and they're emerge a collective of women who are trying to transform their relationships and create a better decision making spaces where women are also part of those and actually taking decisions. And because of their existing process of the strong process at the ground of collectivization and self determination. The communities were able to respond during the cat COVID pandemic in a much more resilient manner than any of us living in the cities, because they were not dependent on the outside market for the basic sustenance they had their forest they had to learn to feed them. And in fact they were able to help people who are coming back from the cities to their villages and could provide support and in fact income also for the time that they were out of their jobs. Another example is also from India, as I'm from the country and these are the examples that I'm most familiar with and had the privilege to actually visit and learn from them. This is another example, which is from South India, Deakin Development Society. It's, it's about Dalit women farmers who are triple marginalized because they're women, because they belong to the lower caste so called lower caste Dalit, and their their small scale funds. And because of this triple marginalization, these women for for a very long time had a very tough life, but they were able to transform this completely completely. The question the social injustice in the form of caste this question this marginalization because they were small scale farmers and the question why women can't take control over their means of production. So they formed the collectors they gained the rights over their lands, they were able to transform this triple marginalization to actually their empowerment, and they've been securing. They've been doing some amazing work from conservation of the seeds and biodiversity and traditional knowledge to actually becoming food sovereign. So not just food secure but actually food so great and subsequently having their life do was also secured. What did this process did to them in coven. So because of the existing process they were able to respond to the crisis by actually helping others so people who are traveling back from the cities to the villages. They were able to feed them not just food but nutritious food that they were growing in their farmlands, and we did not impact them at all it did not reach them at all, or did not have the severe impact that we were seeing in the cities, because these people had their own food grains had their own land to be dependent on and they had no dependence on the external market. An example that I would like to share is from not too far away from India in our neighboring country of Bangladesh, but this been for for a few decades a process of new agriculture movement. What this movement is trying to do is to empower three lag diverse member household farmers through collectives, who are working towards promoting ecologically diverse and traditional farming methods. What primarily is trying to do and this is important for us to know because in many of these examples we are seeing the articulations of what well being or a good life could be. And so what the people, the farmers here in Bangladesh are demonstrating is so much a way of joyful living, where in your mother earth is protected is thriving and is living. Through that you're able to actually receive good fibrous fuel with medicine clean water and other spiritual needs of the community. And this is Farida and Farhad mother who have been doing this amazing, who have been involved in this amazing movement along with so many farmers who describe this, this worldview of small scale farmers of what it is to what it is to actually protect your land. And because of their process and during the pandemic times they were not only self sufficient in many ways. They were not impacted by like other farmers who whose business stopped because the market had stopped, but because they had their existing processes they were able to feed themselves and continue with their processes. What little bit impacted but what not devastated or did not lose their source of incomes or nutrition, because they were dependent on the outside market. Another example is from the US of cooperation Jackson, which has been working towards creating solidarity economy and mutual aid among the local cooperatives, and they've been doing some amazing work in creating solidarity networks and creating corporate cooperatives and promoting organic farming in many of these cooperatives, and what they call as freedom farms. And they were very actively involved during resistance of the Black Lives Matter which really moved many of the things that were happening in the US. And what is interesting in their articulations is that why we resist against vice supremacy, while we resist vice supremacy, it is important that we articulate what, what does Black Lives Matters, what does cooperation Jackson mean, just what black people actually stand for. And they stand for in their territory in Mississippi Jackson is a place and ownership of control over black working class people to build ecologically regenerative forces of production to democratically transform political economy, and to advance radical and democratic transformation so while we're resisting against these, these systems of operations. We must internally transform as well. And we should seek for radical transformations, and what an ecologically sensible movement could look like. The other example is from Latin America from Peru, this community of the five Quechua indigenous community in this Indian landscape have been actually creating processes of self determination and direct democracy with gender justice has been very core element of their work and have been actually practicing bio biocultural landscape conservation for a long time for over 30 years now. And through that process have been able to actually conserve 1300 varieties of potato which is an original origin space for for potato as well. And, and through that have created processes of food sovereignty and livelihood security. Again during pandemic this community was very little impacted. In fact, they were able to contribute to food relief in Cusco town, and were able to respond to the crisis in a resilient The other example is from Indonesia in Asia, a confederation of indigenous people's movement, which is a federation of women and workers peasants and Fisher work, who have been trying to work towards solidarity economy and transformative social production, and have been doing various community projects and practices so that people could collectivize come together work together and know each other and actually create a sense of solidarity economy. And because of again their existing processes of this collectivization of doing things together. They were able to respond during the crisis so much more better, because they could come together support each other, and truly articulating what could an economy of care look like, where people work together to help each other. And, and what does collectivization do to the processes and because of that they were able to lies in with governments better and get get basic needs in short for all of them. The other example is from Kenya. They're the territory, which is also known as land of bees in Kenya has been reviving their traditional ways of responding to crisis. During the pandemic they realize that this has become even more important. And they revive the traditional practice of preparing sacred seeds, which they realize have been so much more resilient during the crisis and in general the crisis that communities have faced in the past, and through that process with which they did during the pandemic where they, where they tried reviving their traditional practices, they were able to not only respond to the crisis but also begin taking forward the process of documentation and legal recognition of their own customary laws and protection of cultural diversity. So, these are, this is just a glimpse of the variety of alternative processes community initiatives innovations that exist across the world. I shared the examples from South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, North America, and all of these examples in many ways articulated what resilient community is, and in many ways articulated what the transformative alternatives are. And so, just a glimpse of those and many others is that we have documented in this resilient stories document which you can find on our website at this link, which you see below. And we also had conversations over the last two years with many of these community processes, which you can find on this link that you see on the upside of your screen. So let's get into a bit of a bit of looking at what these many variety varied diverse beautiful examples of alternatives are trying to articulate of transformations. So in several of these, this is not necessarily to put in them into any strict categories, but to just for ease of our understanding to or understanding them better in terms of what many of these learnings are emerging from them. So, we see this radical transformation being articulated in forms of the kind of democracy we want in all of these examples where assertion to people's right to make decisions what happens in their territories of the representatives being accountable and and strengthening the accountability of representative institutions. And in fact, in many ways actually articulating about what an ecological or borderless world could look like. And so we see that kind of assertion in all of these examples. In all of these examples again we see what kind of an economy economy of care look like their people have control over means of production where people have control over what happens in their territories. They have control over what they don't grow. And people have self reliant people are in control of that at least they're not dependent on the outside markets for their basic necessity. And it is the comments, which is, which is the foundation of the economy, and not the private institutions in all these examples we find such a strong assertion of social justice and well be. There's a question of race. There's a question of ethnicities. There's a question of gender. There's a question of other forms of oppression in all of these, in all of these examples. Again, in all of these examples so strongly the articulation of cultural knowledge and diversity comes. Many of these examples are trying to revive their traditional ecological systems or strengthen their traditional ecological systems actually and create the coexistence and diversity that exists amongst all of us and celebrate the differences and celebrate the land radical tourism, which is, which is the core of, of our existence, and hence, what could a knowledge democracy look like. Of course, all of these examples which is, which is at the core of so much of our transformation are questioning this destruction of rest of nature. They're articulating that we cannot transform unless we transform our destructive relationship with nature. We remove this dictomy of separation of humans from the rest of nature and so how do we conserve preserve protect but respect and revive that sense of spirituality. And so, the connection, the connection of of all these spheres of life in many ways. The capitalist systems have sort of trained us to look at life in boxes and spheres in in themes. But, but they're actually very interconnected to each other and so these are the, these, these fields are actually connected like a web of life through values, despite all different context that these are basic values that thread many of these diverse examples together. And, and these values are our values of diversity and pluralism, their diversity of self reliance for basic needs, self governance and autonomy, dignity and creativity of label, equity justice inclusion, rights of nature so I just let it be for a few seconds for you to look at this diverse set of principles that actually bind us all together so despite of the fact that we are, we might be in the US where we are listening to this conversation or we might be in India while I'm speaking about this and several different which are not similar, but the sense of trying to trying to articulate what kind of world we want is based on certain sets of ethics and principles worldviews that celebrate life not kill life. There are more views that celebrate autonomy of people not subjugation of people, more views that revive our sense of connection with nature, not destroy the nature. And so, these, these are the kind of values that bind us all together. So the global tapestry of alternatives a process that I began discussing with all of you is trying to create spaces among these various networks of alternatives these initiatives and processes, so that they can be much more collaboration amongst us, much more learning and exchanges because there's so much more we can learn from each other, of course we can replicate these examples not their trees, but what we really need to learn is these principles and it takes that bring us all together. We also know that all of these examples that I've shared and several others across the world are facing act facing immense threat existential threat from corporations from state from institutions. And so it is really important that all of us stand in solidarity with many of these whenever they are needed. We can be together and part of their struggles. So the other objective of GTA is to offer that solidarity. The third objective is of course visualizing these alternatives in this kind of media that we live in today. All we hear is negative news we don't hear people's processes we don't hear how people are responding to the crisis. And so we don't know these powerful stories and one of the important objectives of GTA is to narrate these stories to tell these stories of power of hope of resilience of beauty of diversity that exists across the world. Inspiring other people, all of us are also who are really interested about these issues would also like to do something like this so inspiring others to create their own processes of transformations. And how do we become a critical mass for macro change because I know that all of us have this question, how do we transform the world, the world is going to crisis to do, how do we transform it. And so how do we begin thinking about this and so the other intention of GTA is to move towards that. And the capitalist modernity has told us that imagination is a waste of time. So how through these processes actually we imagine, reimagine the kind of words not just one word, but many words that we want to live in a just world a beautiful world, a loving world that we want to live in. So this is the website of global tapestry of alternatives which you can visit look at various of our processes and the kinds of things that we are involved in and the kind of spaces you can find us. And if you want to get in touch, please feel free to get in touch with us right to us to know more about work. It was a pleasure to be speaking to all of you. I'm sorry I couldn't join you online. But I hope if you have any questions concerns comments reflections, you would feel free to write to me either on this email or on the global tapestry of email. And if wherever you are, you're already practicing an alternative initiative or a process, and you want us to be aware of it because we know that it is hardly possible for us to be aware of all the beautiful things that are unfolding in the world. Do reach out to us and tell us about your work and your initiatives. If you want to work with us collaborate with us to again let us know and we would be really happy to have you with us join in this process. So thank you all, and I wish you all very well. Namaste.