Society, Culture and Peace: Websites

PostedonApr. 27, 2014in Society, Culture and Peace

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Society, Culture and Peace:  Websites

  1. People’s Resource Centre – PRC intends to build conditions and infrastructures so that a fairer, better system emerges out of the existing one. Apart from conducting action-oriented research and community-level interventions, PRC publishes resource material on politics of resource appropriation. (checked on 16 Oct. 2020)
  2. Nagaland Community Conserved Areas Forum (NCCAF)– a blog on Community Conserved Areas. (checked on 15 July 2020)
  3. Compassion Contagion is an online archive led by a team of an activist and an artist that seeks to document acts of compassion and tell the story of how these experiences are fundamentally changing human behaviour. Through this they attempt to shift the narrative from ‘despair’ to one of ‘hope’. (Checked on 19 July 2021)
  4. Compassion Studies: This website is primarily meant for self-directed learners and seeker-learners who want to deeply explore compassion in all its dimensions. The learning journey starts with a lot of questions and it ends with some answers, some approaches to solutions and more questions, the main one being: How do we together build a compassionate future where ‘no one is left behind’? (checked on 14 Oct. 2020)
  5. Sangat is a feminist network working for gender justice, equality and peace regionally and globally. Art based activism is one of the pillars of Sangat’s work. They use music, dance, comedy and other art-based mediums to bring about transformation when they carry messages of social justice. (checked on 9 Oct. 2020)
  6. The Blue Ribbon Movement (Mumbai) is a hybrid ecosystem of social initiatives that build leadership for a better world. They harness the power of collective action through projects aimed at personal growth and social transformation. (checked on 14 Mar. 2021)
  7. Nirantar strives to enable women’s empowerment through education, seeing and shaping education processes from a critical, feminist perspective. They promote transformatory formal and non-formal learning processes which enable girls and women from marginalised communities to better understand and address their realities. (checked on 11 Jun. 2019)
  8. Khabar Lahariya – a newspaper (launched in 2002) that is written, edited, produced, distributed and marketed entirely by rural women from backward communities (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled TribesDalits and Muslims) in various rural dialects of Hindi, including BundeliBajjika dialect and Avadhi. The women who report the stories also edit, produce, distribute and market the newspaper. (checked on 11 Jun. 2019)
  9. Saathi Re uses technology to collect, organise and analyse vast information about the social impact space in India to help stakeholders in this space to quickly make informed decisions. They strive to catalyze millions of social impact initiatives already in existence by presenting them with useful and consumable information, whenever and wherever needed. (checked on 15 Nov. 2017)
  10. Website on Oral History of Narmada movement put up by Nandini Oza, formerly an activist with Narmada Bachao Andolan. It documents oral history of one of India’s most important post-independence movements, the struggle against big dams in the Narmada valley. This movement helped raise critiques of ‘development’ to a national and global level, inspired many more such movements, and galvanised (along with others) the search for radical alternatives. (checked on 7 Apr. 2022)

  11. Chhanv has set up Sheroes Hangouts (offering vegetarian food) in Lucknow and Agra to help acid attack survivors show what they can do and to support themselves. (checked on 18 Jul. 2018)
  12. The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organisation that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge and intellectual property rights, and openness, and engages in academic research on reconfigurations of social processes and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. (checked on 10 Jul. 2015)
  13. Humans of Gondwana explores stories from Tribal heartlands of the Central Gondwana region in India. Many of the indigenous practices retain and restore the ecosystem. (checked on 1 Feb. 2018)
  14. Vikalp (Ahmedabad) is on a mission to empower the marginalized and oppressed people to break the culture of silence and work towards articulating their concerns for alternative and people centered development. (checked on 18 Apr. 2018)
  15. Pangsau has a collection of resources from northeast India on diverse perspectives, ranging from social anthropology to conservation ecology, intellectual history to resource politics of the region. (checked on 13 May 2022)

  16. Dhaatri Resource Centre represents the voices, perspectives and campaigns of rural, adivasi and marginalized women in India. They help women access information, research, capacity building and exchange of skills and strategies. (checked on 13 May 2022)
  17. Museum of Conflict and Peace, Ahmedabad, is a resource centre on “peace and conflict” using Art, Law, Culture & the Behavioral Sciences in an integrated way. They seek to contemporize the discourse on conflict by promoting acceptance of conflict as necessary to human refinement, promoting dialogue on some of the most contentious issues. (checked on 24 Oct. 2017)
  18. The Global Tapestry of Alternatives (GTA) hopes to foster platforms and spaces of exchange, mutual learning, collaboration and collective visioning amongst existing alternatives challenging the dominant patriarchal, capitalist, statist, racist and anthropocentric system. In other words, initiatives demonstrating that it is possible to live with norms and conditions that promote justice, equity, and ecological wisdom. (checked on 17 May 2019)
  19. Thematic Vikalp Sangam on Energy (electricity) at Bodh Gaya, Bihar. An illustrated webpage. (checked on 19 Sep. 2016)
  20. Anaadi Foundation is a Social Organisation dedicated to inspiring young people lead a self-reliant and sustainable life. Education, Well-being, Culture and Sustainability are the focus areas of their work.  (checked on 6 Jul. 2018)
  21. The Grindmill Songs Project (now part of PARI (People’s Archive of Rural India, started by P. Sainath)) has recorded 3,302 women from 1,107 villages in Maharashtra singing ‘ovis’, or grindmill songs, and the website has over 10,000 songs recorded at the present time. The songs touch upon issues like caste, political movements, mythology and religion. (checked on 13 Jun. 2017)
  22. 52 Parindey is a project dedicated to identifying and documenting the lives of 52 innovators who are making a conscious living for themselves and their planet through alternate careers in Indian towns. Under this project, starting end of November 2015, a fellow, Rahul Karanpuriya, will travel across the country to cover 52 locations and spend a week at each of these locations. During these stays, Rahul will live with the identified innovator, understand his way of life and document it through videos, photographs, and text. (checked on 22 Nov. 2016)
  23. Pravah team works to engage young people into having a deeper and further horizon is to instill in them a respect for the journey and not only the fruits. This is possible by focusing on the skills of reflection, self-awareness, analysis, conflict resolution and citizenship. (checked on 13 Feb. 2017)
  24. Centre for Community Dialogue and Change (CCDC) strives to promote the practice and use of Theatre of the Oppressed for community building, enhancing sensitivity and understanding in human interactions, encouraging and developing critical thinking and applying the insights gained to the exploration of multiple strategies for solving problems of the community. (checked on 2 Sep. 2016)
  25. MARAA is a media and arts collective based in Bangalore and Delhi. Founded as a charitable public trust, their work is centred around a political yet creative practice across three domains – strengthening people-centric media platforms, democratising usage of urban public spaces and deepening rights based campaigns. (checked on 18 Dec. 2016)
  26. ACKnowl-EJ (Academic-Activist Co-Produced Knowledge for Environmental Justice) is a network of scholars and activists engaged in action and collaborative research, that aims to analyze the transformative potential of community responses to extractivism and alternatives born from resistance. (checked on 4 Jul. 2017)
  27. Untold is a collective of people who know no boundaries and have one simple goal, to unearth stories that are yet to be told. So if you have a story and are ready to go beyond your borders, we have a canvas waiting for you. (checked on 26 Jul. 2015)
  28. Alternative Law Forum provides qualitative legal services to marginalized groups. It is an autonomous research institution with a strong interdisciplinary approach working with practitioners from other fields, and a public legal resource using conventional and unconventional forms of creating access to information, as also a centre for generating quality resources that will make interventions in legal education and training. (checked on 5 Aug. 2015)
  29. Data Meet Trust is an NGO founded in Bangalore.  They are a group of individuals on a list who talk about data, open data, and civic issues. They throw Open Data Camps and workshops every once in a while. (checked on 10 Jul. 2015)
  30. Ekalavya Nyasa works with the children of commercial sex workers in Pune, rehabilitating them in their own homes. (checked on 16 Aug. 2015)
  31. Anthropocene Actions is piloting an approach to supporting, amplifying and accelerating the many responses to the world’s converging crises (ecological, energy, economic and equity) by linking them together through explicit exploration of intrinsic values and a recognition of a need for urgent cultural and systems changes. (checked on 2019)

  32. Shared Studios is on a mission to give people everywhere a chance to tell their own story; to explore the diversity of human experience; to connect people separated by distance and difference in encounters that are humanizing and real. (checked on 7 Aug. 2019)
  33. Mahua Yatra and Sing while you Walk by Aparna Pallavi – lovely anecdotes of her travel and experiences with food, culture, adivasis and spirituality; its much more than a travel blog. (checked on 26 Jun. 2016)
  34. Kerala Agricultural Development SocietyThis is a Voluntary organisation of Farmers growing and promoting Organic Produce in Kerala. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)

  35. Hamara Foundation works to address problems of street children including a lack of access to basic services of shelter, health care, education and training, lack or alternative livelihood options, lack of societal acceptance and legal status (for want of ration cards). (checked on 13 Aug. 2015)
  36. Jose Antonio Abreu: The El Sistema music revolution, a Venezuelan movement for music education and social change. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)

  37. The Parampara project is an attempt to provide a platform to showcase the efforts towards conservation of India’s Intangible Cultural Heritage and a step towards exploring it in the context of its linkage with environmental sustainability. (checked on 24 Nov. 2015)
  38. Khamir works to strengthen and promote the rich artisanal traditions of Kachchh district. It provides a common roof under which a range of stakeholders can exchange ideas and collaborate. Their vision is of a vibrant, sustainable Indian craft sector in which crafts and artisans alike are highly valued by people worldwide. (checked 22 Apr. 2016)
  39. ServiceSpace encourages everyday people around the world to do small acts of service. The aim of this volunteer-run organisation is to ignite the fundamental generosity in all people, creating both inner and outer transformation. (checked on 15 Feb. 2016)
  40. The Atlas of Utopias is a global gallery of inspiring community-led transformation in water, energy and housing. It features 32 communities from 19 countries who responded to the Transformative Cities initiative which seeks to learn from cities working on radical solutions to our world’s systemic economic, social and ecological crises. (checked on 22 Mar. 2018)
  41. The purpose of Transition Network is to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities world-wide as they self-organise around the Transition model. (checked on 31 May 2017)
  42. Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra has an integrated approach to tribal development with Health, Education, Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation as the means to sustainable development and empowerment. (checked on 24 Nov. 2015)
  43. A R Rahman’s Sunshine Orchestra: An initiative by The A.R. Rahman Foundation and KM Music Conservatory to keep acoustic music alive. Nurturing leadership in the conomically disadvantaged and creating  social bridges through musicality! (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)

  44. Abhivyakti Media for Development offers training courses in order to use media effectively for social development and change. Abhivyakti also has a large collection of books, films, posters, documentaries, slide shows dealing with various subjects like gender, environment, children, human rights, etc. (checked on 29 Jun. 2015)
  45. At Kala Ashram research is continuously being done to understand and implement the way of life led by people in India vis-a-vis economics, philosophy, culture, heritage and science. (checked on 22 Oct. 2016)
  46. Green House (based in UK) is about challenging the ideas that have created the world we live in now, and offering positive alternatives. (checked on 13 Feb. 2018)
  47. Federation of Community Based Adivasi Youth Organisations – LAYA, through its Women and Youth Empowerment Unit, known as ‘Parichay’, facilitates training and capacity building programs designed to ensure contextual understanding, relevant knowledge and skills enabling them to play a leadership role in the region. (checked on 25 Mar. 2016)
  48. PUKAR aims to democratize research and broaden access to knowledge among disenfranchised or weakly institutionalized groups and to create a space from which their non traditional and non expert knowledge can contribute to local, national and global debates about their own futures. It promotes research as a right for everyone and uses it as tool for pedagogy, advocacy, intervention and transformation. Visit their blog. (checked on 29 Jun. 2015)
  49. Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya in Dharwad: The Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya (KSV) provides education in academics and the performing arts to children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, food, accommodation and health care are also provided, and everything is free. There are no fees at all. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)

  50. Kranti is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that empowers girls from Mumbai’s red-light areas to become agents of social change. Kranti believes that, when these girls have access to the same education, training, and opportunities as people from privileged backgrounds, they can become exceptional leaders. (checked 24 Aug. 2015)
  51. Dark is Beautiful is an awareness campaign that seeks to draw attention to the unjust effects of skin color bias as well as to celebrate the beauty and diversity of all skin tones. The campaign challenges the belief that the value and beauty of an Indian woman is determined by the fairness of her skin. Amidst a global craze for fairness products and careless advertising, it aims to educate and empower consumers to make wise choices by conducting Media Literacy workshops and Life Skills training. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  52. Cultures of Resistance.org is the outreach website of the Cultures of Resistance Network, which aims to promote and support organizations, activists, and artists who seek a more peaceful, just, and democratic world. The CoR Network was created by Iara Lee, director of the feature documentary Cultures of Resistance (visit the film website here), as a way of supporting people wishing to take action around peace and justice issues. (checked on 7 Aug. 2015)
  53. For over a decade, the Great Transition Initiative has advanced a visionary scenario of a future rooted in human solidarity, well-being for all, and ecological sustainability. It now enters a new phase with renewed energy and heightened sense of urgency. Its re-imagined website serves as a platform for exploring bold visions and change strategies. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  54. The concept of “Gross National Happiness” as against GNP that Bhutan has adopted has been much talked about. However, Bhutan is facing its own set of problems with globalisation related aspirations influencing the youth in a big way, as in any other country. Samdrup Jongkhar Initiative is about a programme, started by one of the Buddhist Monks from Bhutan but not as a religious initiative but as a social initiative to ensure that the traditional and cultural values of Bhutan come to her support in these changing times. The blog Gentle Voice is by Samdrup Jongkha. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  55. Conservation planning, a blog for biodiversity informatics and conservation. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  56. The Pelican Web This website collects, organizes, and analyzes information on sustainable development, with a focus on integral human development. They also publish monthly updates via the Mother Pelican Journal of Solidarity and Sustainability. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  57. Sustainable Human website has this Introduction to Interconnection of Life. Its blog has varied kinds of material on this subject. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  58. Samapathik Trust works on issues of advocacy and health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Hijara, Intersex (LGBTHI) communities. They provide legal, medical and social empowerment services in Pune city through education, training, advocacy, and partnership with the greater community. (checked on 3 Jul. 2015)
  59. In Defense of Animals, India (IDA) is a non profit grass root level animal protection organisation, dedicated to establishing and defending the rights of all non-human living creatures. (checked on 29 Jun. 2015)
  60. Resilience.org is both an information clearinghouse and a network of action-oriented groups. Their focus is on building community resilience in a world of multiple emerging challenges: the decline of cheap energy, the depletion of critical resources like water, complex environmental crises like climate change and biodiversity loss, and the social and economic issues which are linked to these. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  61. The ancient technique of Vipassana Meditation (which means to see things as they really are) is taught at ten-day residential courses (as taught by S.N. Goenka) during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  62. The Global Centre for the Study of Sustainable Futures and Spirituality (GCSSFS) works towards engaging individuals and communities in meaningful conversations and dilogues to imagine and design sustaibable futures that all can contribute, directly and/or indirectly … to passionately build, promote and/or own. Read about books and events and engage in dialogues on this website. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  63. Jineolojî aims to create a transformation not only by altering woman’s self-definition, but also by criticising the state, power systems, their institutionalisations and the mentality formed around them. Therefore, it is believed, it can play a crucial role in the establishment of democratic modernity, as an alternative to patriarchal capitalist modernity.
  64. MenCare is a global fatherhood campaign, with a mission to promote men’s involvement as equitable, non-violent fathers and caregivers in order to achieve family well-being and gender equality. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  65. Now Delhi is India’s first Web Documentary series that features digital stories of alternative subcultures breaking out of contemporary, present day India. Its aim is to showcase progressive Indian Sub-culture and professionals experimenting across mediums and put them all on a common open platform. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  66. A Street Art Delhi Festival took place in New Delhi across January and February, 2014. Artists from more than 7 different countries immersed themselves in the narrow winding by-lanes of Shahpur Jat – an urban village which is stashed in between some of the most posh localities of New Delhi. View 1st, 2nd and 3rd weekly videos and visuals here. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  67. Farm2Food (based in Assam) is made up of people who place schools and communities first in everything that they do. They believe that when youth, students, and women empower themselves, they empower the communities around them as well. Their objective is to provide the training and tools which will enable local communities to take control of their own production and development processes in order to build a productive, change-oriented, and self-reliant society. (checked on 30 Dec. 2019)
  68. Beautiful Solutions, the website, is gathering the most promising and contagious strategies for building a just, democratic, and resilient world. Has sections for Values, Stories, Solutions and Theories. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  69. Through ReSound, (based in Delhi, working with street children) children access a safe platform to express themselves, experiment and interact with their environment. Given the uncertainty of their circumstances, Music Basti’s programme represents an opportunity to help build their confidence and skill to thrive. (checked on 27 Apr. 2016)
  70. The Kahani Project aims to bring together storytellers who want to set stories free. Captured in digital audio format, stories can be made more accessible and available to children of all age groups, nationalities and disabilities. Audio stories are distributed either through this website or through mp3 players given to visually impaired children in various institutes for the blind. (checked on 22 Jun. 2015)
  71. The Zeitgeist Movement is a sustainability advocacy organization, which aims for the installation of a new socioeconomic model based upon technically responsible resource management, allocation and design through what would be considered the scientific method of reasoning problems and finding optimized solutions. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  72. Friendships Across Borders – Aao Dosti Karein: was born of the hope to transform how people from India and Pakistan think about each other. It has an archive of stories of cross-border friendships and works with schools and communities, using stories of friendships that cross these national borders. See  their blog(checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  73. UnLtd Tamil Nadu – they SEARCH, SELECT and SUPPORT exceptional individuals who are committed to solve some of india’s biggest challenges using their passion and entrepreneurial skills. See information on some of the initiatives they are supporting. (checked on 23 Mar. 2015)
  74. Periferry project (launched by Desire Machine Collective) activated a disused ferry and converted it into a space for research and aims to create a public space and public domain, physical as well as virtual for critical reflections. It has hosted many artists from diverse countries in its residency programmes, workshops, seminars and projects. (checked on 19 May 2015)
  75. Karachi Art Anti-Universtiy is an Anti-Institution based in Karachi seeking to politicise art education and collectively explore new radical pedagogies and art practices. (checked on 10 Jul. 2015)
  76. The Simplicity Institute seeks to provoke a broader social conversation about the need to transition away from growth-based, consumer societies toward more resilient, egalitarian, and rewarding societies based on material sufficiency and renewable energy. (checked on 5 Mar. 2016)
  77. The Society to Save Rocks aims to preserve and protect the spectacular ancient granite formations of the Deccan Plateau, India – a natural wonder of stony ridges and hillocks shaped into picturesque balancing forms. (checked on 24 Dec. 2015)
  78. Bioneers provides a forum and social hub for education, through media productions and programs, about solutions to the challenges faced by the world – to re-imagine how to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. (checked on 24 Dec. 2015)
  79. DARKMATTER is a trans-South-Asian performance art duo comprisedof Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian. Known for their quirky aesthetic and political panache, DarkMatter has been invited to perform at stages and universities across the world. checked on (14 Apr. 2016)
  80. Pachamama Alliance is a global community that offers people the chance to learn, connect, engage, travel and cherish life for the purpose of creating a sustainable future that works for all. With roots deep in the Amazon rainforest, their programs integrate indigenous wisdom with modern knowledge to support personal, and collective, transformation that is the catalyst to bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this planet. (checked on 23 Apr. 2016)
  81. An interactive map of social and ecological alternative projects in France: ‘La carte de France des alternatives écologiques et sociales’ (checked on 30 May 2016)
  82. LandMark: Global Platform of Indigenous And Community Lands – A mapping project that seeks to secure ‘invisible’ indigenous lands. (checked on 2 Apr. 2021)
  83. Links and debates on Alternative Futures. (checked on 30 May 2016)
  84. Nijera Kori is an organisation located in Bangla Desh that works on local issues relating to rural poor and building their autonomous organization to address the multiple economic, political and social constraints, and seeks to bridge these issues with formulation of national policies. (checked on 1 Jun. 2016)
  85. The Mahua Tripps team consists of two women artists, trained in human rights perspectives and forms of theatre, such as playback and forum theatre. They use art to facilitate discussions on issues relating to sustainable development paradigms, expression of freedom of speech and respect for dignity of life. (checked on 1 Jun. 2016)
  86. Help Tourism provides purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the cultural and natural history of the environment. They have supported various communities in the region in creating and establishing quality tourism destinations with a unique local flavor. (checked on 14 Aug. 2016)
  87. Confluence 2017: An International Transformative Gathering of Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and others will be a meeting of people who envision that the only way the peoples of the world can live in peaceful co-existence is when their spiritualties, philosophy, cultures, values and lifestyle accommodate one another, so as to share a minimum creative base of compatibility. (checked on 8 Sep. 2016)

  88. ACKnowl-EJ co-coordinates the Environmental Justice Atlas, an online platform mapping socio-ecological conflicts and resistance around the world. Besides networking with activists to visibilize cases, they also develop featured maps in collaboration with environmental justice organizations and researchers. (2 Mar. 2018)

  89. The Rules, a global collective of writers, thinkers, and activists dedicated to challenging the root causes of global poverty and inequality.  (checked on 31 Jul. 2018)

  90. People not Poaching : the Communities and IWT Learning Platform – developing and implementing community action against poaching (checked on 16 Oct. 2018)
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