Sustainable Community Development

Sustainable community development occurs when functions and processes of an ecosystem are maintained for the common good; it requires an increased awareness of the value of community and of our place in the natural environment. Sustainability is derived from a greater sense of personal and community responsibility.

“A sustainable society satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of future generations.”
Lester R. Brown, Founder and President, Worldwatch Institute

“Sustainability is the long-term economic, ecological, and social health and vitality of our community.”
Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment

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Micro-credit and Micro-enterprise

Micro-lending funds give credit to women who have no collateral or access to credit. Access to credit allows women to start or expand their businesses, gain financial independence, and thereby improve their status in the community. Micro-credit is far superior to direct aid grants as it opens doors for sustainable economic development: grant and aid funds are short term and quickly become depleted, sometimes without achieving their project goals.

Without the opportunity to start or expand their businesses, women and girls are sometimes forced by poverty to engage in prostitution in order to survive, placing them at risk of contracting HIV in a community with infection rates around 25%. In gaining financial independence, these women will in turn gain mental independence, and thereby avoid abuse that results from their financially subordinate positions. Click here to read about women’s issues.

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Memory Box Project

When children lose their parents at a young age, it is often difficult for them to preserve the memory of their parents. The Memory Project memorializes parents who are HIV+ and provides a means for these parents to pass personal stories, wisdom, guidance, and hopes on to their children. The object of the project, as coordinated by a memory facilitator, is to support the remembering of these invaluable people, and acknowledge their importance to the family.

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Permaculture

Bill Molison from Tasmania began the Permaculture movement in 1974. Permaculture, from PERManent agriCULTURE, is a practical system of ecological design and stewardship integrating natural surroundings, people and appropriate technologies, to provide suitable shelter, energy and other needs in a sustainable way. Permaculture promotes connected and productive communities and beneficial relationships with the natural world.

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Ethno-botany

Ethno-botany is the knowledge of local, medicinal plants used in traditional healing. Traditional healing provides remedies for illnesses such as fever, diarrhea, toothaches, sore throats, sinus problems, intestinal worms, respiratory problems, earaches, skin conditions, menstrual problems, infertility, broken bones, wounds, burns, etc. These healing practices not only provide remedies for common ailments, but they also demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the environment and concern for the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants.

The art of traditional healing suffers from the global emphasis on Western culture and the younger generations’ disinterest in traditional knowledge and practices. The wealth of knowledge held by traditional healers is in danger of dying with current generations.

Throughout history, traditional healers have been highly respected community experts. Their techniques have evolved over centuries of trial and error, and have been refined through generations of family apprenticeship. Unfortunately, the traditional practices are no longer being passed down through society and a whole volume of cultural heritage is in danger of being lost forever. This chance to study and document the cultural and traditional knowledge of these last experts is an irretrievable opportunity to preserve the knowledge and experience of a culture struggling with the influence of modernization.

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Appropriate Technology

Appropriate technology is that which is sustainable, clean, and can be derived from local resources. Examples of appropriate technology include solar and wind power generators, rainwater harvesting systems, solar cookers, and solar food dehydrators.

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Integrative Health Care

Integrative healthcare is the use of several healing modalities to maintain health and combat disease. It combines allopathic (mainstream) medicine with natural healing practices, such as naturopathic medicine, homeopathic medicine, acupuncture, and traditional healing.

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Homeopathy

Homeopathy has been considered effective in acute, chronic, traumatic, epidemic, and endemic diseases. Homeopathic treatment has proven to be safe, free of side effects, affordable to the poorest people of the world, and can be implemented in situations with very little infrastructure. In places where medical care is a two-days walk, a simple homeopathic self-help kit is a lifeline.
Homeopathy Around the World*

There are more than 100,000 practitioners of homeopathy worldwide, and approximately 500 million people receiving treatment. There are over 12,000 medical doctors and licensed healthcare practitioners who administer homeopathic treatment in the UK, France, and Germany. The UK has five homeopathic hospitals and many regional clinics where treatment is funded by the National Health Service.

Homeopathy has been used in India since the middle of the 19th century, and is widely practiced and officially recognized. India has the largest homeopathic infrastructure in the world, with 300,000 qualified homeopaths, 180 colleges, 7500 government clinics, and 307 hospitals.

In Mexico, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN) has had a School of Homeopathy since 1936. This school has both bachelor and master degrees.

* Reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy#_note-1, February 2006.

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GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Sustainable Farming Methods

GROW BIOINTENSIVE® Sustainable Mini-Farming is a whole system of food security that nurtures soil, produces high yields, conserves resources and can be used successfully by almost everyone. It has been very effective in combating the abuse from soil depleting mono-cropping, and over-use of pesticides. The system includes: composting; companion planting; double-dug raised beds; growing foods like grains and seeds that also have a lot of carbonaceous materials for composting; planting 30% of the foods in high calorie crops like potatoes; and, the use of open pollinated seeds to maintain bio-diversity. For more information, visit www.growbiointensive.org.

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