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A big change is happening in Hyderabad this year. More than 1,200 nature lovers working towards more sustainable livelihoods from all across the world will come together from November 25 to December 2, 2017. The 13th International Permaculture Conference and Convergence (http://ipcindia2017.org) will be hosted by Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, creating a unique opportunity for all permaculture believers and practitioners and anyone with a keen interest in building a more ecological and egalitarian future to meet, share their knowledge first-hand and learn from each other.
Since its inception in 1999, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives has always engaged with farmers at the grassroots level and strongly believes in the experiential learning that comes out from all the interactions such an event will create.
The world in which we all live, being what it is, everyone does not have access to the same resources to be able to join, receive from other participants and tell their own stories. But isn’t permaculture solution-driven? At least, that is what we, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, together with the International Permaculture Convergence Council (IPCC) and Friends of IPC (FIPC) believe in!
Our goal is to create a scholarship fund, that will make it possible for farmers and speakers from different states of India to attend the IPC India 2017 this November in Hyderabad and make her or his voice matter! This is where your support is key! Your contributions will cover their travel, accommodation, food and registration costs, and enable these delegates to experience:
- The 2-day Conference will cover ecological topics like growing a food forest in extreme climates, women as power in communities, water management in alternating flash flood and drought, turning traditional wet paddy rice fields from methane emitters into carbon and nitrogen sinks, climate change activism and many more solutions to the challenges the world is facing.
- The 5-day Convergence, a residential and experiential forum at a rural farm, will let the participants get hands-on experience practicing directly on the land on similar topics. Including workshops, demonstrations, networking, knowledge sharing, and celebrations, any participant will have the opportunity to enrich the programme through their own contribution.
- Being at the heart of discussions, sharing skills and achievements with other participants.
- Having their needs recognised and better supported.
- Access to information and knowledge that they can share with communities back home.
With the target of 10 lakhs rupees, we would be able to sponsor 40 farmers hoping to cover most Indian states and share with international participants the beauty residing in the diversity of our country and its traditional wisdom. For each participant, Rs. 21,000 would go towards registration fee & food, Rs. 3,000 for accommodation and Rs. 1,000 for travel.
Why does it cost 21,000 for an Indian to participate in the IPC?
We are growing 90% of the food that will feed more than 1200 mouths thrice a day with utmost care and respect to mother Earth. The convergence is scheduled on a 96-acre farm where all the structures are being built from scratch to host presentations, workshops, showcase India, dining spaces, to name a few. We will take care of transport for all our delegates between the two venues. Above all these, the small team is working hard to make it a fruitful, enriching and knowledgeable experience for all its participants.
To inspire you, we’d like to share a few scholarship stories from participants who attended the previous IPC, in the UK in 2015 to show what a difference you can make…
- “People were eager to show how to weave permaculture into their living ethics, such as the Quaker permaculturists. I felt pleased to find commonalities with people from tropical countries such as India, and learn of their methodologies to strengthen food sovereignty through saving seeds, and help prevent the genetic erosion of diversity.” – Paulina Chavarri, COSTA RICA
- “IPCUK was a phenomenal event for me. It was full of positive energy and further motivated me to work more for the economic empowerment of the school communities that I am working with.” – Mugove Walter Nyika, MALAWI
- “I have met several amazing permaculture designers in person at IPCUK. I was invited to visit their places and to work with them on design projects. This empowered me to initiate design constancy as a project for the Ukrainian Permaculture Association.” – Pavlo Ardanov, UKRAINE
- "At IPCUK we met people who we would otherwise not have met, people who, like us, were isolated by geography, by lack of opportunities to travel, and heard their stories. It was valuable for us to meet and know other delegates from the developing world who were also recipients of the same kindness. To be able to share our experiences among one another, to hear of other people’s challenges and successes, even to share our failures and trials, was an experience that has added to our effectiveness in our work. That commonality meant a lot to us, both as an affirmation that we are not alone, but also to learn how others worked with barriers to their end goals." – Celini and Christopher Nesbitt, BELIZE
For the joy you spread by your giving, we would love to share some of our joy with you too:
For contributions above Rs. 2,000 you will be mentioned in our social network, you will access to the rich plant database of India which has details of our native species, indigenous seed basket for you to grow your own food, and some fantastic publications on permaculture.
For your contributions above Rs. 5,000, besides the rewards mentioned above, you will get access to one of our workshops scheduled before IPC.
You will have the opportunity to attend the Permaculture Design Course or get a private consultation from us to design your land for your contributions above Rs. 50,000.
Every contribution from Rs. 2,000 will stand a chance to enter a lucky draw to win an IPC India 2017 ticket!
About IPC India 2017
The International Permaculture Conference is held every two years. This year we, at Aranya Agricultural Alternatives, are all set to host the event in India. It will guide and inspire more than 1200+ participants from 70+ countries and also give a significant impetus to the permaculture movement in India and around the world.
India is an ideal venue, with its diversity of climates and resulting landscapes. Each of our regions comes with their own unique challenges, solved through long-standing sustainable traditions. This inspired us to dream of a gathering of experts from these traditions, to offer new insights and provide a significant push to the permaculture movement. People from other parts of India and the world are facing similar issues, and can benefit directly or be inspired by these shared experiences. And thus the idea of IPC India 2017 was born.
We envision it as an opportunity for individuals, farmers, policy makers, researchers, academics and anyone engaged in any initiatives contributing to sustainable farming practices and livelihood to come together to think, share, innovate, learn, dialogue, and strategize about the future.
About Us - Aranya Agricultural Alternatives
Founded by Padma and Narsanna Koppula motivated by their love for the environment and the people, Aranya Agricultural Alternatives is a NGO focused on achieving ecological and sustainable agricultural livelihoods through permaculture farming practices. We have been working with local farmers and tribes on participatory irrigation, diversified cropping and companion planting, and watershed management, amongst other things. We have positively impacted more than 2.5 lakh lives since we started our work in 1999.
This puts us in the unique position of being able to draw a diversity of people and resources to an event like IPC India 2017. We organized the National Permaculture Convergence (http://npcindia2016.org/) in February 2016, for the very first time in India. 1200 people hailing from sustainable living schools of thought (organic farming, zero budget farming, permaculture, natural farming and so on) took part in the event. We aspire to make the IPC India 2017 an equally joyful and fruitful event for both international and Indian delegates.
Finally…
We have a dream, to make IPC India 2017 a truly international event, that truly represents permaculture. To make this a reality one thing is required more than anything else: diversity! Diversity of approaches, diversity of solutions, which means diversity of participants, just the way Earth needs its biodiversity to survive!
It is essential that we empower delegates from every corner of India to attend. Thanks to your participation, a farmer from South India may get to meet a permaculture practitioner from Mexico and benefit immensely from this connection. We understand that this is a grand vision, but we also know that together we can make it happen!
Be sure to contribute by June 30th! A big thank you from us for your support and engagement!
Show your friends how much you care about changing the face of agriculture in India. Share your interest by spreading the word about the campaign. And get further involved by joining IPC India 2017 as a participant or volunteer (http://ipcindia2017.org/registerpage.php)
Shot and directed by: Sandeep Aluri
Associate camera and drone shots: Yadu Nandan
Edited by: Santosh Kumar
Voice over: Divya Kesavan
Sync Sound: Prabhakaran DF Tech
Music: Kai Engel
Photo: Arun Photo Studio (NPC photos), Permaculture Association UK (IPC UK 2015 photos)
