NGO
Another Way (Stichting Bakens Verzet), 1018 AM
01. E-course : Diploma in
Integrated Development (Dip. Int. Dev)
Edition
03: 01 September, 2010
Edition
17 : 29 September, 2014.
SECTION B : SOLUTIONS TO
THE PROBLEMS.
Study points
: 06 points out of 18.
Minimum study
time : 186 hours out of 504
The points
are awarded only on passing the consolidated exam for Section B :
Solutions to the Problems.
Fifth block : How
the third block structures solve specific problems.
Study points : 02 points out of 18
Minimum study time : 54 hours out of 504
The
points are awarded only on passing the consolidated exam for Section B :
Solutions to the Problems.
Fifth block : How
the third block structures solve specific problems.
Section 5: Sustainability. [5
hours]
02.00 Hours analysis of Model material.
02.00
Hours in-depth analysis.
01.00 Report.
Section 5: Sustainability. [5
hours]
Analysis of Model material.
(At least 2 hours)
“Art.
71. Nature or Pachamama, where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to
exist, persist, maintain and regenerate
its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution. Every
person, people, community or nationality, will be able to demand the
recognitions of rights for nature before
the public organisms. The application and interpretation of these rights will follow the related principles
established in the Constitution.” (Art. 71 of the Constitution of Ecuador on the Rights of Nature.)
Article 71
formalises the Sumak Kawsay (“buen vivir”) concept of the Ecuadorian Quechua
people. The reason for granting rights to nature rests upon the understanding that
the market economy “fragments and breaks humans’ relations with nature.” “Sumak kawsay es la expresión de una forma
ancestral de ser y estar en el mundo. El “buen vivir” expresa, refiere y
concuerda con aquellas demandas de “décroissance” de Latouche, de
“convivialidad” de Iván Ilich, de “ecología profunda” de Arnold Naes. ” (P.Dávolos,
El “Sumak Kawsay” (“Buen
Vivir”) y las cesuras del desarollo, América Latine en Movimiento
(ALAI). Quito, 06 May, 2008.)
“The reckless drive
for unlimited growth on a finite planet is itself a legalized Ponzi scheme
perpetrated on communities around the globe, future generations, and the
Earth’s biosphere….The destructive impulse of the free market is codified and
empowered by legal structures that treat nature as human property….Living
within the carrying capacity of the planet requires that we adhere to the
natural laws governing all life and human wellbeing.” (Biggs S., Rights of Nature : Planting Seeds of Real Change, Global
Exchange,
“It is not
inevitable, nor is it wise, that natural objects should have no right to seek
redress in their own behalf. It is no answer to say that streams and forests
cannot have standing because streams and forests cannot speak. Corporations
cannot speak either; nor can states, estates, infants, incompetents, municipalities
or universities. ” (p. 17)
“The guardianship
approach would secure an effective for the environment even where
administrative action and public lands and waters were not involved.” (p. 25)
“The guardian would
urge before the court injuries not presently cognizable – the death of eagles
and inedible crabs, the suffering of sea-lions, the loss from the face of the
earth of species of commercially valueless birds, the disappearance of a
wilderness area……make the violation of rights in them to be a cost by declaring
the “pirating” of them to be the invasion of a property interest. If we do so,
the net social costs the polluter would have to pay would include not only the
homocentric cost of his pollution (explained above) but also the costs to the
environment per se.” (pp 28-29.)
Ecological aspects of the project.
“Perhaps the most powerful conviction that permeates the entire society
is that sustainable lifestyles can be reached merely by technological
solutions, such as improving the efficiency of processes and products. The myth
propagates the idea that producing and selling green (eco-, organic, fair
trade, etc.) products will lead to significant environmental improvements that
are able to offset and surpass the impacts associated with our high and increasing
consumption levels. The belief in green consumption as the solution perpetuates
among policy makers also because the majority of experts advising on
sustainability issues come from political science, technology or economic
disciplines.
“Policy tools and approaches developed within this
technocratic worldview are typically supply-oriented and include pollution
prevention, cleaner technologies and eco-design strategies. In recent years,
they have resulted in significant reductions of production-related emissions in
Nordic countries. On the other hand, the significant reductions in emission
levels and improvements in resource efficiency are outstripped by increasing
levels of consumption on individual, national and international levels. ” (
“Despite the impressive results in process and product
efficiency and the increasing share of eco-labelled products on the market, the
aggregate levels of emissions from product consumption are increasing, the
amount of products per household and per person is growing and the overall size
and speed of
resource and waste flows in
society are mounting. ” (As above, p. 26).
“Policy-making needs to go beyond increasing consumption of greener
products and focus more on significant shifts in consumption patterns that
result in lower levels of resource use and environmental impacts.” ( As above,
p. 33).
On p. 33 (as above) the authors propose a “consumption hierarchy” or
pyramid :
[Top of pyramid.]
1. Prevent discretional over-consumption by providing new ways for generating
well-being.
2. Facilitate reflexive consumption.
3. Encourage a shift to consumption of
low-impact experiences and services.
4. Advocate reduced consumption of unnecessary
goods.
5. Facilitate postponing consumption.
6. Facilitate consumption of second-life
substitutes.
7. Offer eco/ethical brands of products and
services.
8. Support provision of alternative solutions
with lower sustainability impacts
[Bottom of pyramid.]
“If nature were in charge of creating an enduring human economy, she
would surely apply the same principles she applies in natural systems. Her goal
would be a global system of bioregional living economies that secure a healthy,
happy, productive life for every person on the planet in symbiotic balance with
the non-human systems on which we humans depend for breathable air, drinkable
water, fertile soils, timber, fish, grasslands, and climate stability. Each
bioregional economy would meet its own needs for energy, water, nutrients, and
mineral resources through sustained local capture, circular flow, utilization,
and repurposing. Decision making would be local and the system would organize
from the bottom up. Diversity and redundancy would support local adaptation and
resilience.” ( D.Korten, What Would a Down-to-Earth
Economy Look Like?, YES ! Magazine,
The Green Economy Pocketbook :
The case for action published by The Green Economy Coalition (www.greeneconomy.org) c/o IIED,
The nine principles are :
1. The sustainability principle.
2. The justice principle. (Equity)
3. The dignity principle. (Genuine prosperity and well-being for all.)
4. The healthy planet principle. (Restoration of biodiversity, investment
in natural systems, rehabilitation of degraded natural systems.)
5. The inclusion principle. (Inclusive, participatory decision-making.)
6. The good governance and accountability principle.
7. The resilience principle. (Social and environmental resilience.)
8. The efficiency and sufficiency principle. (Sustainable production
and consumption).
9. The generations principle. (Investment for the present and the future.)
“Sustainable
development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development : Our Common Future [the Brundtland Report], United Nations,
“A sustainable community goal cannot involve making a community better
by making another community worse off.” Sustainable Community
Indicators : Trainers Workshop, Hart Environmental Data,
“…..over the next
few decades, international society will need to focus on achieving global goals
that address these dimensions:
(1) Eradicate
poverty and meet the basic human needs of all people including safe food,
safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, health care, and universal primary
education;
(2) Reorient
the world’s economic system towards a low-carbon approach, sustainable
resource use, and sustainable use of ecosystem services; and
(3) Secure
environmental integrity, particularly through dealing with climate change
and biodiversity. ”
The IGES Proposal for RIO + 20, Institute
for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Kamiyamaguchi, November 2011,
Executive Summary, p. vii..
“Local actors are the key drivers of change at the local level, and the
success of poverty-environment mainstreaming efforts will be determined to a
significant extent by their effectiveness in empowering local organizations to
build and spread local solutions to poverty and environment challenges”. (Hazlewood
P., Mock G., Enabling Local Success: A
Primer on Mainstreaming Local Eco-based Solutions to Poverty Environment
Challenges, UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment
Initiative (PEI), Nairobi, October 2011, p. 1)
“Ecosystem-based initiatives that originate and are controlled locally
tend to confer the greatest benefit on the poor. Since they grow out of local
demand, they are more likely to spur the interest and continuing commitment
that such initiatives require to be successful.
In addition, they are led by local organizations drawn from community
members, and are thus in tune with local values, knowledge and practices.”
”. (Hazlewood P., Mock G., Enabling Local Success: A
Primer on Mainstreaming Local Eco-based Solutions to Poverty Environment
Challenges, UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment
Initiative (PEI), Nairobi, October 2011, p. 3.)
“Society is
undermining the ecological foundation of its own food system.” (Alder, J. et
al, Avoiding Future Famines : Strengthening the Ecological Foundation of Food
Security through Sustainable Food Systems United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), Nairobi, June, 2012, p. 8). ISBN 978-92-807-3261-0.)
Introduction
Integrated development projects are 100% ecological.
They are based on the use of renewable energies, and in particular on
the use of solar photovoltaic cells to power
the distributed drinking water structures. The eco-sanitation structures
planned compost waste materials on site. Urine and faeces never come into
contact either with drinking water or with surface or underground waters.
Non-organic wastes are collected and recycled where possible under the
local money systems set up for productive uses within the project area .
The use of high efficiency stoves
eliminates smoke and fine particles hazards inside and around users’ homes. The
replacement of fire-wood and charcoal by locally made min-briquettes safeguards
forests and minimises CO2 emissions. The project should in principle qualify
for CER (carbon emission reduction) certificates under the
The local production of items made from gypsum composites is also entirely
ecological. The working cycle is such that the very small quantity of water
needed during one phase of the cycle is recycled in a second phase of the cycle
without the loss of any used or dirty water into the environment. Gypsum
composite products are themselves 100% ecological. They are always repairable.
Should they no longer be needed, they can be returned to the production units
for 100% recycling to make new products. Material used is never lost to the
environment, but even if it were, would not harm persons or things.
The use of gypsum composite materials may well cause fine dust inside
the production units and in areas immediately surrounding them, and the
quarries. For this reason, the working of gypsum composites in restricted areas
should always be accompanied by the use of protection for eyes and lungs to
avoid irritation. The project involves manual mining and manual working of
materials on a very small scale, to the order of a few hundred tons a year.
Much of the work takes place in spaces that are not closed in. Gypsum itself
and as it is used for integrated development purposes is not hazardous.
The quarrying of gypsum can in principle cause the need to re-locate a
few families whose homes may be situated directly on top of the gypsum deposits.
The amounts of gypsum required, are however, so small that the need to
re-locate anyone is unlikely.
Exploitation rights relating to the gypsum deposits are held by the
project on behalf of the inhabitants of the community where the gypsum deposits
are situated. Used quarry areas will be turned into useful local social
structures according to the preferences expressed by the inhabitants, who are
also the owners of the land.
Waste recycling
structures.
For details
see waste recycling structures : organisation
et waste recycling structures : technique in
section 5 the service structures of the fourth block
the structures to be created.
See also food sovereignty in section 4: food crisis of
this fifth block.
Collection of urine, grey water, (composted) faeces,
and non-organic waste is organised during the course of organisational
workshops.
The
operations will take place under the local money LETS systems. A separate
interest-free credit fund is provided in the budget for the purchase of
equipment which is not available locally and/or which has to be paid for in
formal currency.
In
principle, the equipment used should not require the consumption of imported
energy (electricity, diesel, petrol etc) which causes an on-going financial
leakage from the project area. Transport distances should be kept as short as
possible.
Structures for the
elimination of smoke hazards from and around homes.
For a
complete description see structures for the elimination of smoke in and around
homes in section 5 service structures
of block 4 service structures: analysis
of the course.
See also the article PV and biomass aspects of sustainable self-financing integrated
development projects and their financing prepared for the Conference on Renewable Energies
for Rural Development,
Aeration, and in particular the elimination of
smoke in and around homes in developing countries is one of the most important
aspects for a healthy life. It is widely
overlooked.
In poor countries, and in
particular in
“... extensive and long term
exposure to combustion products in confined environments is a major cause of
disease .... this is a priority area for research and prevention measures”.
Not only individual homes but entire villages are subjected to the smoke hazard
two or three times per day around the time when meals are being prepared.
Projects
under the Model must therefore introduce locally-built high efficiency cooking
stoves to reduce and if possible eliminate the smoke hazard from family homes
and villages. The ecological advantages and CO2 savings initiatives relating to
and the economic aspects of the introduction of high efficiency stoves in
project areas are discussed in detail in section 07.07 Analysis of Costs and
Benefits.
Construction of
mini-briquettes.
Projects, at least in theory, can qualify for
Carbon Emission Reduction Certificates under the Kyoto Treaty. Within the
framework of self-financing integrated development projects there is a market
for 20.000 – 30.000 high efficiency cookers in at least 10.000 families.
Assuming a fuel saving of 6.5 kg/day of fuel in each family, savings amount to
65 tons of wood per day or 23725 tons per year. Converted into tons of CO2,
that is 18705 tons of CO2 per year. Assuming a market value of Euro 24 per ton of CO2, this amounts to a
credit of nearly €450.000 per project per year to which other cost and time
savings can be added. For full information on this please see Kyoto Treaty : Analysis of
possibilities for finance.
Use of renewable
energies.
The Interactive Renewable Energy Toolkit (iRET), published in CD form by
Practical Action,
See
also the following articles:
New
horizons for renewable energy
technologies in poverty alleviation projects , published in
"Refocus" October, 2001 pages 22-25.
PV and biomass aspects of sustainable
self-financing integrated development projects and their financing, article prepared for the Conference on Renewable Energies for Rural
Development,
PV, a cornerstone of sustainable self-financing integrated development
projects for poverty alleviation in developing countries, presented
at the 17th European Photovoltaic Energy Conference,
Financial leakage from poor areas caused by the importation of energy,
including energy produced in other areas of the project’s host country, is one
of the main causes of poverty. This bitter reality means that to stop the
financial leakage importation of energy into the project area must be stopped.
This means that energy consumed in the project area must be produced there.
Since the project area has no existing energy distribution network the
production of energy for local use must necessarily be decentralised. Since the
amount of energy which can be locally produced is limited, priorities for
energy applications have to be rigorously defined. An attempt must be made to
reach an ethical balance between the benefits of structures and their cost. The
projects cover the cost of energy resources for public services. The costs of
energy resources for local productivity increase are covered under the interest-free cooperative micro-credit structures
created in each project area. For more detailed information on the financial
structures of integrated development projects see financial structures. The cost of energy resources for individual comfort
purposes are not covered directly by the projects, which however support the
formation of voluntary cooperative purchasing groups.
Typical projects provide for the installation of about 200 solar pumping
systems, with photovoltaic panels with an installed power of 60 KW ; the
installation of PV systems in schools and clinics ; and 200 PV lighting
systems for study purposes.
The projects also offer possibilities
for small scale local generation of renewable energies for specific activities
such as small milling installations and other similar public services. For more
information refer to A green oil for the world.
Locally grown fuels for generators. (By courtesy of Sun & Wind Energy Magazine); LED lights for lighting.
Information from the Light Up the World Foundation; pure plant
oil for small-scale electricity generation.
Warning ! This is about
local production of sustainable energy resources for local use. Read the
article Jatropha et Souveraineté
Alimentaire by M.Oudet, SEDELAN,
Nature
conservation.
The
ley de derechos de la madre
tierra (law on the rights of Mother Earth) was passed by the
parliament of
[Translation
from the Spanish by Stichting Bakens Verzet]
1. To life. The right to maintenance and integrity of life systems and
the natural processes supporting them as well as the capacity and conditions
for their regeneration.
2. To diversity of life. The right to the conservation of
differentiation and diversity of living things (seres) composing Mother Earth
without artificial genetic alteration or modification of their structures in
any form threatening their existence, functioning, and future potential.
3. To water . The right to conservation of the functioning of water
cycles, and its existence in the quantity and quality necessary to support life
systems and the protection of water against contamination for the reproduction
of the life of Mother Earth and all her components.
4. To clean air. The right to the conservation of the quality and
composition of the air for the support of life systems and its protection
against contamination for the reproduction of the life of Mother Earth and all
her components.
5. To balance. The rights to the maintenance or restoration of the
interaction, interdependence, complementarity and functionality of the
components of Mother Earth balanced for the continuation of her cycles and the
reproduction of her vital processes.
6. To restoration. The right to appropriate and effective restoration of
life systems directly or indirectly affected by human activities.
7. To life without contamination.
The right to protection of Mother Earth against contamination of any of
her components such as by toxic and radioactive residues generated by human
activities.
Integrated
development projects guarantee respect for all of the rights of Mother Earth
mentioned in law 071.
Natural parks and reserves
The possibilities opened up
for the active conservation of parks and
reserves of inestimable ecological value for the benefits of the present
and future generations. These assets are usually in jeopardy due to chronic
lack of financing.
Interesting possibilities
exist for productive cooperation between the inhabitants of the project area ,
through the structures set up in the course of project execution, and the
management of the reserve, to set up a sustainable development of this
resource.
The reserve management may
become member of the local money system set up by the project. This way it can
make use of local labour and services
without needing any formal money. The services can include maintenance,
reforestation, guards, conservation of fauna and flora, and the construction of
infrastructures. The park management may request the installation of
photovoltaic watering points for animals in the reserve.
The costs expressed in local
money debits to the charge of the Park Management can be offset through strictly
sustainable management of resources including the sale of wood (timber), meat,
commercial tourist licences etc.
Nurseries
Nurseries, especially for
the cultivation of native trees, including fruit trees, will be formed as
commercial activities under the local money system set up, with financing of
necessary imported items under the
interest-free micro-credit structures. Fruit trees will be planted along paths
between villages and in public places and placed under the management of needy
families.
There is no limit to the number of fruit and
comestible oil trees which can be planted in project areas. Trees often need
several years to sink their roots . Once this is done, the trees are relatively
immune to drought and provide a second food resource in hard times. Looking
after them in their early years is a productive investment. These activities can give work to the blind and
handicapped.
Nurseries will also be used for other plantations
foreseen under the Kyoto Treaty : Analysis of possibilities for finance.
Cooperative seed bank.
“Suicides
increased after Bt cotton [ in the state of Maharashtra in
“The
ultimate seeds of suicide is Monsanto’s patented technology to create sterile
seeds. (Called “Terminator technology” by the media, sterile seed technology is
a type of Gene Use Restriction Technology, GRUT, in which seed produced by a
crop will not grow — crops will not produce viable offspring seeds or will
produce viable seeds with specific genes switched off.) The Convention on
Biological Diversity has banned its use, otherwise Monsanto would be collecting
even higher profits from seed.
“Monsanto’s
talk of “technology” tries to hide its real objectives of ownership and control
over seed where genetic engineering is just a means to control seed and the
food system through patents and intellectual property rights.” (Vandana Shiva, Seeds
of Suicide, The Asian Age,
The project will set one or
more seed banks up under the local money system. The seed bank(s) will
serve :
1. For the reintroduction and conservation of local and
regional plant sorts threatened with extinction.
2. The preparation and conservation of seeds for local
farmers.
3. The conservation and reintroduction of traditionally
used medicinal plants.
The seed banks may decide to manufacture seed balls
from clay for distribution for the purposes of
forest re-generation in the interests of inhabitants, flora, and fauna.
Water resources.
See drinking water supply structures: organisation
in section 5 service structures of the fourth block the structures to be created of the course.
Except for the drinking water extracted from the wells/boreholes
amounting to about 1250m3 per day for 50.000 people, or
1. Research.
Draw three
columns on one page. Make a list of at least 15 measures taken under integrated
development projects for the protection
of the environment. Next to each one, make a list of the professional
qualifications considered necessary to carry them out. Next to the
qualifications make a note of your conclusions.
2. Research.
The Model
does not provide for specific action for the removal of existing sources of
serious pollution. In some circumstances project structures will be able to
make a major contribution. On one page, explain how.
3. Opinion.
The
Cooperatives for the on-going management of Project Structures will not have
legal power to force polluting industries in their project areas to stop their
polluting activities. You are member of the Central Committee for your project
area. You express to the Central Committee your frustration concerning an oil
multinational which has refused to stop creating pollution. You propose to the
Central Committee the signature of a petition directed to the official
authorities of your choice. Write your petition on two pages. Begin with a list
of the people/authorities who are to receive the petition, then provide a
series of justifications for your petition, indicating the reasons for it, then
make a list of the pollution which has to be stopped and on the basis of which
laws. Conclude with a clear statement of the claims made..
◄ Fifth block : Section 5: Ecology and sustainability.
◄ Fifth
block : How fourth
block structures solve specific problems.
◄ Main index for the Diploma in Integrated Development (Dip.Int.Dev.)
"Money
is not the key that opens the gates of the market but the bolt that bars them.
Gesell, Silvio, The Natural Economic Order, revised English edition,
Peter Owen,
“Poverty is created scarcity.”
Wahu Kaara, point 8 of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, 58th
annual NGO Conference, United Nations,
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