How do we build the local futures we all know we need?  What does it actually take to become a good enough ancestor? Or even the best ancestor we can be?  Our guest this week, Helena Norberg-Hodge, has given her life to exploring the answers, and helping birth them into being.  Helena Norberg-Hodge is one of the Elders of our culture. She's a linguist, author and filmmaker, and the founder and director of the international non-profit group Local Futures, in which role, she has initiated localization movements on every continent, and has launched both the International Alliance for Localization (IAL) and World Localization Day (WLD). She's a pioneer of the new economy movement and recipient of the Alternative Nobel prize, the Arthur Morgan Award and the Goi Peace Prize for contributing to “the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.” She is author of the inspirational classic <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ancient-futures-learning-from-ladakh-helena-norberg-hodge-hodge/2771495?ean=9780712606561">Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh</a>, and <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/local-is-our-future-steps-to-an-economics-of-happiness-helena-norberg-hodge/7409197?ean=9781732980402">Local is Our Future (2019)</a>, and producer of the award-winning documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2kHUKbPogQ">The Economics of Happiness. </a>Almost fifty years since her journey began in Ladakh, Helena is still collaborating with thought-leaders, activists and community groups across the globe which gives her a uniquely rounded insight into howour local futures could look and feel - and the routes to getting there. I've known Helena since I was at Schumacher college - I rented a room in her house for a while, so we know each other well and I was able to press her in ways I wouldn't normally feel able to do with a podcast guest, so we could drill down into the details of her ideas for a different way of being. At heart, we need to get rid of global trade and move back to a localist economy based in sufficiency. The devil is in the detail, obviously, but if we have an idea of where we're going, we stand more chance of getting there. So I hope this inspires you to action.  Please do follow up some of the links  - and definitely watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBWvUEZ-50">t</a>his new film: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBWvUEZ-50">Closer to Home</a> - the vision it offers of a generative, working local future is beautiful.  Helena's website <a href="https://www.helenanorberghodge.com/">https://www.helenanorberghodge.com/</a> Local Futures<a href="%20https://localfutures.org"> https://localfutures.org</a> World Localisation Day<a href="%20https://worldlocalisationday.org"> https://worldlocalisationday.org</a>Film: Closer to Home: Voices of Hope in a Time of Crisis (YouTube) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBWvUEZ-50">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJBWvUEZ-50</a> Helena's book Ancient Futures <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ancient-futures-learning-from-ladakh-helena-norberg-hodge-hodge/2771495?ean=9780712606561">https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ancient-futures-learning-from-ladakh-helena-norberg-hodge-hodge/2771495?ean=9780712606561</a> Book Local is our Future: Stepping into an Economics of Happiness <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/local-is-our-future-steps-to-an-economics-of-happiness-helena-norberg-hodge/7409197?ean=9781732980402">https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/local-is-our-future-steps-to-an-economics-of-happiness-helena-norberg-hodge/7409197?ean=9781732980402</a>

Accidental Gods

Another World is still Possible. The old system was never fit for purpose and now it has gone - it is never coming back. We have the power of gods to destroy our home. But we also have the chance to become something we cannot yet imagine, and by doing so, create a future we would be proud to leave to the generations yet unborn. What happens if we commit to a world based on the values we care about: compassion, courage, integrity? What happens if we let go of the race for meaningless money and commit instead to the things that matter: clean air, clean water, clean soil - and clean, clear, courageous connections between all parts of ourselves (so we have to do the inner work of healing individually and collectively), between ourselves and each other (so we have to do the outer work of relearning how to build generative communities) and between ourselves and the Web of Life (so we have to reclaim our birthright as conscious nodes in the web of life)? We can do this - and every week on Accidental Gods we speak with the people who are living this world into being. We have all the answers, we just lack the visions to weave them into a future that works. We can make this happen. We will. Join us. Accidental Gods is a podcast and membership program devoted to exploring the ways we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations yet to come. If we're going to emerge into a just, equitable - and above all regenerative - future, we need to get to know the people who are already living, working, thinking and believing at the leading edge of inter-becoming transformation. Accidental Gods exists to bring these voices to the world so that we can work together to lay the foundations of a world we'd be proud to leave to the generations that come after us. We have the choice now - we can choose to transform…or we can face the chaos of a failing system. Our Choice. Our Chance. Our Future. Find the membership and the podcast pages here: https://accidentalgods.life Find Manda's Thrutopian novel, Any Human Power here: https://mandascott.co.uk Find Manda on BlueSky @mandascott.bsky.social On LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandascottauthor/ On FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/MandaScottAuthor

Episode Summary

Transcript

Clips