Shrishtee Bajpai is a researcher, writer and activist working at the intersections of environmental justice, earthy governance, indigenous worldviews, and systemic transformations. She is a member of Kalpavriksh , and coordinates Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence) in India. She is part of the facilitation team of the Global Tapestry of Alternatives. She also serves on the executive committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature.

In this episode of Planet Local Voices II, Shrishtee lays out the profound nature of indigenous worldviews rooted in collective care and respect for, and intimate relationship with, the rest of the living Earth, and the work of bringing this ancient sensibility into contemporary practice through movements for the Rights of Nature and Earthy Governance. She explains how local, indigenous and other land-based and communities around the world are defending their territories and building locally-rooted alternatives to the destructive dominant economic system. Finally, she reflects on the political nature of hope, as a disciple through which we push back against the closure of the imagination, and allow ourselves to dream of - and enact - better futures.

Jason Nardi is the European coordinator of RIPESS - the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy, president of RIES (Italian Solidarity Economy Network) and co-founder of Solidarius Italia. Jason is an active member of the International Council of the World Social Forum and promoter of the World Social Forum on Transformative Economies. Jason currently lives in Florence, where he promotes Community Supported Agriculture projects, mutualism and the Forum Firenze Beni Comuni (Florence Forum of the Commons).

In this episode of Planet Local Voices II, Jason defines the social and solidarity economy concepts and diverse practices including collective ownership, cooperation, sufficiency- and needs-based production and exchange, and connects these to the localization and bioregionalist movements.

Jason reminds us of our collective power and true wealth, and argues that by weaving together the multiplicity of diverse alternative economic initiatives that respect people and nature, we can change the system.

This podcast episode forms part of the Planet Local Voices II series, produced by Local Futures, an international non-profit organisation, dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/8oil0IQVhx8

Follow the Planet Local Voices Series II series: https://www.localfutures.org/programs/planet-local-voices-series-2/

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Aseem Shrivastava is an environmental economist, philosopher and a writer. He is the co- author with Ashish Kothari of Churning the Earth: The Making of Global India, and The Grammar of Greed, among others. He taught economics for many years in India and the US and writes extensively on issues associated with globalization. More recently he taught ecosophy, an ecological philosophy grounded in the thought of Raimon Panikkar. He writes regularly for numerous publications, and is currently writing a book bringing Rabindranath Tagore’s spiritual and ecological vision into dialogue with the ecological challenges of 21st century modernity.

In this interview for the Planet Local Voices II, Aseem delves into the philosophical roots of our present crises in the rise of modernity which effected an ‘earth alienation’ that ultimately gave rise to colonialism and today’s catastrophic obsession with economic growth and progress. The values of modernity – including individualism, instrumentalism, and mechanization – drive the dominant world system, in which we are all embedded. As a radical alternative, Aseem proposes ‘ecosophy’, an ecological philosophy that rejects the philosophical foundations of modernity and calls instead for us to return to and embrace our home, the Earth.

This podcast episode forms part of the Planet Local Voices II series, produced by Local Futures, an international non-profit organisation, dedicated to renewing ecological and social well-being by strengthening communities and local economies.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/20JPzAGCRt8

Follow the Planet Local Voices Series II series: https://www.localfutures.org/programs/planet-local-voices-series-2/

Explore our work: https://www.localfutures.org/

Sign up for our newsletter to never miss an episode — exploring localization as a pathway to ecological balance and community resilience. Sign up here: https://www.localfutures.org/sign-up-to-our-newsletter/