Local Futures

Global to Local Education programs. We continued our educational outreach through book and video sales, freely distributed films, podcasts, blogs, and other web-based materials. In 2023 Director Helena Norberg-Hodge filmed a 5-module online course on localization, as well as a "Great Minds" course called "An indictment against the dark side of economic globalization". She also gave 35 live public talks in Australia, Spain, UK, Italy, Germany and Czech Republic. Managing Programs Director Anja Lyngbaek taught local economics as part of a 12-week university diploma course for Latin American students, and Project Coordinator Alex Jensen participated in the first in-person Assembly of the Global Tapestry of Alternatives' in Nanyuki, Kenya, and presented a talk on 'Degrowth, deglobalization and localization', at the 9th International Degrowth Conference in Zagreb, Croatia. We also began work on a series of short films.

Word Localization Day. In 2023 our celebration of the worldwide localization movement attracted individuals and groups from 27 countries, with more than 100 events and initiatives - including environmental festivals and solstice celebrations, seed swaps and workshops, online talks, film screenings, and neighborhood feasts. The month-long series of WLD events culminated in a webinar: 'Localizing Globally: Building a worldwide movement' hosted by Local Futures Director Helena Norberg-Hodge and Project Coordinator Henry Coleman. The webinar featured Transition Town and New Economy movement leaders and other localization pioneers from India, Nepal, Philippines, Japan, Zimbabwe, Benin, Palestine, Macedonia, Brazil, Spain, and the UK. World Localization Day 2023 garnered over 10,000 web page visits including 8,495 unique visitors.

Counterdevelopment programs, including Ladakh Project. In 2023, our local staff in Ladakh was very active. They partnered with skilled young natural builders to organize a weeklong workshop to restore a historic house in the village of Chuchot, using only natural local materials, principally earth. They documented the effort in a short video, "Chuchot House Restoration", to highlight the importance of using local and sustainable methods and materials for building construction. Regular film screenings and accompanying discussions took place throughout the year, as well as a series of online discussion sessions on topics such as gift economy and carrying capacity, in an effort to understand the limitations of resources in places like Ladakh.

International Alliance for Localization (IAL). We continued to build this international network of grassroots groups working to protect their communities and local environments in the face of rapid development and corporate control. IAL membership continues to grow thanks to World Localization Day, and currently sits at 1,650 members. Our team continues to send out regular news and events updates elevant to localization.

Grassroots localization efforts. Much of this effort centered around Byron Bay, Australia, where we continued to meet with farmers and food activists to strengthen the local food movement in the area. Director Helena Norberg-Hodge also participated in events organized by the indigenous leader Ella Noah Bancroft. We have also been active in setting up additional farmer's markets in the region, and arguing against zoning regulations obstruct ecological living arrangements like co-housing and ecovillages.

Planet Local Summit. Held in Bristol, UK, this three-day event brought together dozens of cutting-edge thinkers and localization activists from around the world for a rich program of plenaries, panels, and workshops. Among the speakers were Charles Eisenstein, Bayo Akomolafe, Iain McGilchrist, Satish Kumar, Zac Goldsmith, John Perkins, Jack Harries, Camila Moreno and Helena Norberg-Hodge. We filmed interviews with dozens of partipants, and have been making those available on our Youtube and Vimeo channels.