Efforts to develop today’s disadvantaged communities have been, and are being, made by thousands of well-meaning organizations and individuals for several decades. There is intervention after intervention to uplift these communities. Yet sustainable results are rarely seen. Why do we as a planet continue to face inequities? Why do we not see the intended impact? Time and again, those, outside the community intervene to help, telling the communities what they need, or at best asking them how they can solve their problems and then go in to help. What is the outcome? Communities believe that the only way their problems will be solved is when people from outside come to help, bringing expertise and resources. This impacts sustainability.
Sustainable change will happen when this helper – helpee outlook changes. People in these communities are not the PROBLEM, they are the SOLUTION!
When there is belief in the limitless human potential, and when that potential is leveraged ‘Smart’ becomes visible. It can only happen when the process focusses on discovering strengths, rather than an audit of weaknesses. LAUF believes that individuals have the potential to collectively identify what they would like their communities to look like, and how to make the transformation. There is an abundance of human capital to employ and turn around local resources. The rich collective of indigenous knowledge and learning needs to be capitalized.
World over, most of the disadvantaged communities reside in remote, rural or semi-rural areas, waiting to become Smart Villages. All that is needed is to change our lens!
There is another challenge – Scale. How will we see so many villages transform? India, alone has approximately 650,000 villages. Fortunately, it’s far easier in the 21 st century to learn and share. Our endeavour is to build a Scalable Architecture of Smart Villages.
Indigenous knowledge was devalued and suppressed through colonization. Globally, imposed Colonial knowledge is being seen to have caused more harm than help: devastating individuals, communities and cultures. It has impacted generations of Indigenous peoples in Americas, Africa and the Eastern parts of the planet. Today, solutions are sought from Indigenous Knowledge to solve environmental and health problems. A wave of decolonization is spreading and resilient Indigenous peoples are having a voice in diverse spheres of life.
The White House released Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge in 2022 at the White House Tribal Nations Summit. The following statement indicates the acknowledgement of the important role of Indigenous Knowledge in policy making.
“Had our traditional cultural practices and ceremony not been outlawed and had our information keepers been listened to over the centuries, we probably would not find ourselves in the position we are today – with the losses and extinction and contamination we face as our global community. This is a valuable component of being able to face not only climate change but the preservation and protection of all of our resources.”
Success and sustainability of ‘Smart Villages’ is dependent on valuing and respecting the need for unique Indigenous Knowledge prevalent in the community.
LAUF is working with Indigenous communities to facilitate the process of empowerment and revival of these dormant Indigenous cultures.