Rationale
In the modern world, the consumeristic
behaviour suggests a yardstick for success: the more you own, the better your
life will be. We tend to equate buying things with positive emotions.
Subsequently, we think that purchasing new stuff makes us happy. While our
lifestyles and consumption choices might fulfil our needs and aspirations; they
also have important impacts on our environment and on our interdependent societies
and markets.
Our consumption habits are putting our
resource levels at great risk. The amount of stuff we use in order to live has
exploded in many parts of the world, highlighted by the fact that the global
extraction of materials has tripled over the past four decades, rising to an
enormous 70 billion tonnes in 2010. If current trends continue, then this
dramatic increase in the amount of material we consume will continue to rise as
populations grow, the middle class expands, and incomes increase (UNEP, 2011).
Today, cities are associated with 60 to 80
percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, consume 75 percent of natural
resources, and account for 50 percent of all waste (UNEP, 2012). By 2050, the
number of people living in urban areas is expected to reach 6.3 billion –
roughly two-thirds of the global population. This will have a profound effect
on what and how individuals and societies consume, especially when it comes to
food, mobility, housing, consumer goods and leisure.
As a result, this urban shift carries with
it immense social implications. The extra pressure these new urban consumers
will place on the world’s increasingly scarce resources will exacerbate
existing tensions between the world’s wealthiest 10 percent, whose lifestyles
contribute half of global carbon emissions, and the growing numbers of urban
poor, who are responsible for only 10 percent of carbon emissions (Oxfam,
2015).
If current trends continue, by 2030,
humanity will need the equivalent of two Earths to support itself, according to
some experts. This is clearly not viable in a world where climate change will
make it even harder for the natural world to provide for our needs.
There are encouraging signs that society
is beginning to understand the impact of our daily choices. Terms like “quality
of life” and “sustainable lifestyles” regularly appear in the media,
illustrating that people are already weaving sustainability into their daily
decision-making. Carbon footprinting, food waste reduction campaigns, urban
gardening, vehicle sharing models, and surveys to understand the values and
motivations of youth are all ways that are helping people to live more
sustainable lifestyles.
Yet these actions, in general, are
piecemeal. They are not yet framed within a holistic vision of what constitutes
a sustainable lifestyle. Living sustainably is not just about individual
choice: it is also about ensuring that governments and businesses enact
policies that guide people towards these types of lifestyles. Often ignored is
the role that public sector institutions can play in shaping better policy and
the role of businesses in providing more sustainable goods and services.
Fortunately, sustainable lifestyles are
now solidly anchored in policy. The COP21 Paris Agreement made it clear that
sustainable lifestyles and sustainable patterns of consumption and production
(SCP) will be key in the fight against climate change. The goals set out in the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and intergovernmental processes like
the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on SCP give further support to champions of
sustainable lifestyles by acknowledging the powerful role they can play in
lifting people out of poverty, ending hunger, and reducing inequality while
protecting the environment. At least two of the eight themes of the World
Economic Forum 2016 in Davos, Switzerland, highlighted the impacts of climate
change on our lives and the effects of increasing wealth inequality on economic
development. This clearly shows that sustainable consumption and lifestyles are
growing in importance on the international stage (Akenji and Chen, 2016).
With this solid foundation in place, it is
now time to develop a more structured, life-cycle, and evidence-based
understanding of sustainable lifestyles to facilitate global dialogue and
measure progress. This will enable us to focus on the ‘hotspots’ on where
critical action can be taken.
For individuals, this means understanding
the impacts of their daily decisions and embracing more sustainable lifestyles.
For governments, it implies setting a conducive regulatory context,
facilitating and inspiring better citizen decision- making, creating market
demand through sustainable public procurement, and supporting research,
development, and innovation. For the private sector, it implies integrating
sustainability into core business strategies to develop innovative ways to meet
the needs of people while reducing the pressure on the world’s dwindling
resources. This includes communicating about product sustainability performance
to enhance informed decision-making.
VK-NARDEP’s
perspectives of sustainable living
Inspired by the Eastern wisdom of the
Samagra Vikas approach, we at VK-NARDEP have
learnt a deeper and broader meaning of Development. Our understanding of
development goes beyond materialistic and quality of life indicators. We see
Development as the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth of man in
consonance with his family, community, patriotic and global identities and
relations, helping him to live in harmony with Nature and live without
impoverishing or endangering future generations.
The Samagra Vikas approach greatly
emphasises on development with a human face.The modern science and economies
see the parts as divorced from the whole. This approach sees trees and misses
the woods. This vision also failed to see the interdependence of the parts of
Nature, their underlying linkages and the overall utility. Synthesis and holism
lost out the race for a place in man’s scheme of things. Thereafter, the
economies got divorced from the social concerns of man and became the study of
the management merely of the materials and wealth.
In this paradigm, social units such as family,
community and cultural entities suffered the most. The new science and
economies promoted lifestyle and a thought-pattern that led to the atomisation
of the community. This resulted in isolation of the individual from his
emotional and biological provenance and cultural background. The modern science
and technology is emphasising on production of ‘over concentrated useful
things’ like vitamins through intensifying the technology and leaving the rest
of the things as waste. This is the central cause of all problems of today.
Life is natural and cannot be compartmentalised.
In earlier days, man was slow,
land-loving, Nature-lovers and family and community centred. He led a
subsistent way of life, which kept him self-contented. The values and norms
promoted by the institutions of the early days, guided the man to live in
harmony with fellow human beings and Nature through sharing and caring.
Commercialisation of social transactions degraded community values and created
orphans, who could not ‘purchase their way out’.
The present paradigm of development, for
sure, is leading to an irreversible destruction to the mankind. It is the
responsibility of every individual human being to change the present situation.
Each individual’s role in restoring our ancient lifestyles is inescapable.
Everyone should keep doing at his/her own capacity towards this cause and one
should not wait the whole society to change. “Be, but don’t expect”.
VK– NARDEP is committed to
translating the grand concepts of sustainable living into packages for
application in day-to-day life and take the same to the masses.
Digital Exhibitions
VK-Nardep has established an
exhibition entitled Gramodaya Park, in the headquarters campus of Vivekananda
Kendra at Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu. The exhibition gives insights into
sustainable solutions to the problems encountered by the world. Presently
Gramodaya Park has established permanent exhibitions on water management,
agriculture, housing and health. The exhibitions are visited by thousands of people per annum on an average.
Now,
we propose to promote a digital exhibition in Gramodaya Park on “Promoting
Pathways to Sustainable Living” with the following objectives:
Strengthening the individuals’ existing
knowledge about sustainable lifestyles.
Motivating the individuals to adopt
sustainable living practices.
Sharing best practices and partnerships
among the practitioners, aspirants, implementing agencies, government bodies
and policy makers.
Cultivating partnerships and networking
among the different stakeholders.
To
bring the contents of the exhibition to the knowledge of non-viewers, we have
decided to present them simultaneously in print medium in the form of 3 volumes
of Kendra Patrika with a title – “Promoting Pathways to Sustainable Living”.
The first volume covers the five sections (i)
Philosophical aspects (ii) Economy, Energy, Environment (iii) Inner
Sustainability (iv) Thinkers and (v) Sustainable Development through stories.
The
second volume will cover different verticals such as (i)
Water (ii) Food (iii) Energy (iv) Forests (v) Agriculture (vi) Housing (vii)
Mobility (viii) Markets (ix) Globalisation (x) Consumer Goods (xi)
Communication (xii) Education (xiii) Health etc.
The
third and the last is the most important volume
– The Trend Setters which will have 4 sections such as:
1. Nations – Bhutan, Cuba, Germany, Costa Rica etc.
2. Movements such as Voluntary simplicity, Slow
living, Slow cities, Minimalism,
Holistic Health, Organic Natural
farming etc.
3. Individuals – Green Warriors, Sadhaks, Followers
etc.
4. Book Reviews of a few important books related with
Sustainable Development
Contributors
of the first volume are mainly our colleagues who are practitioners of
Sustainable Living such as:
Shri N.Krishnamoorti – who is our friend, philosopher
and guide for the last four decades.
Shri Dileep Kulkarni, who worked for Vivekananda
Kendra a few years before settling in Kokan area of Maharashtra and living in
tune with Nature for the last 3 decades and motivating and guiding people of
Maharashtra by conducting shibirs, giving lectures and writing highly inspiring
books.
Shri T.Raghunandan who too worked for Vivekananda
Kendra in the formative years, managed a 10+2 Senior Secondary School in
Rajasthan for thirty-one years with his wife Vasantha and has now settled down in Kerala for sadhana.
Shri Aravindan Neelakandan too is associated with
Kendra since last two decades and who is now an associate editor of the famous
magazine “Swarajya”.
Dr.Prakash Maithani retired as an advisor, Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India is also closely associated with us
since last three decades.
In addition, to cover the gaps, we have
added articles of the few individuals to make the volume complete.
Our close friend and well-wisher Shri
Venkataraghavan alias Keshav added value to the Kendra Patrika by designing the
cover page and illustrations in the pages of this issue. Hope, readers will
appreciate our efforts.
G.Vasudeo
