Local Futures in Ladakh
Set deep in the Indian Himalayas on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau, Ladakh,or “Little Tibet”, is one of the highest and driest inhabited places on earth. Yet forcenturies it was home to a rich and self-sustaining culture. Then, in the 1970s, came
‘development,’ which undermined the local economy and eroded cultural self -esteem.
The result has been increasing community and family breakdown, unemployment,
sprawling urban slums and pollution.
Since 1978, Local Futures has been working with Ladakhis to critically examine theimpact of conventional development in other parts of the world, while exploring moresustainable patterns of development in Ladakh itself, based on the use of local
knowledge and resources.
We have helped to establish and still collaborate with several important indigenousorganizations in Ladakh, including the Ladakh Ecological Development Group(LEDeG), the Women’s Alliance of Ladakh, the Amchi Association, and the Ladakh
Environment and Health Organisation (LEHO). LEDeG became the most influential
non-governmental organization in the region and its Ecology Centre was inaugurated
by Indira Gandhi in 1984 and consecrated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We ended
up working in about 80 villages throughout the whole region. I n the 1990s, a semiindependent government was set up by leaders from our ecology group, with virtually
identical goals to those of LEDeG.
Over the past four decades our work in Ladakh has also included hosting a wide rangeof meetings, from hands-on village workshops to international conferences. We haveproduced community theater, radio shows, Ladakhi language schoolbooks, the firstLocal Futures
www.localfutures.org-1-Ladakhi-English dictionary, and an educational comic book, A Journey to New York ,that has been used in schools throughout Ladakh.

Local Futures has also supported farmers in resisting the pressures of industrialized
agriculture. We have organized tours for Ladakhi farmers to visit sustainable farms inother parts of South Asia and abroad, supported local campaigns about the hazardsof pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and introduced solar greenhouses that enable
villagers to grow vegetables year round.

We have painted a fuller picture of modern urban life, sharing information about theserious problems of crime, unemployment, loneliness, and alienation in the West. At
the same time we have highlighted the various movement s that seek to strengthen
local economies and community, regenerate healthier agriculture, and foster a deeper
connection to the living world.
As a means of tempering some of the idealized impressions of the industrialized worldthat come from advertising and the media, we have also run “reality tours” that bring
Ladakhi leaders to the west to see first-hand the darker side of the consumer culture.
Through this process, we have painted a fuller picture of modern urban life, sharing
information about the serious problems of crime, unemployment, loneliness, andalienation in the West.
We have also introduced the Ladakhis to Westerners who have come to realize theemptiness and destructive nature of the urban consumer culture, and we have highlighted
the various movements that seek to strengthen local economies and community,
regenerate healthier agriculture, and foster a deeper connection to the living world.
Local Futures
www.localfutures.org-2-The deeper dialogue between Westerners and Ladakhis led to the recognition thatLadakh, like other traditional, land-based communities, had a lot to offer theseWestern movements. This in turn helped young Ladakhis regain greater respect for
their culture. A reality tour to London for two Ladakhi women was the focus of the
documentary film Paradise With Side Effects.

Blog:
The following articles provide more information about the negative impacts ofdevelopment in Ladakh, as well as our work to counter them:
1) Pressure to Modernise by Helena Norberg-Hodge
2) The March of the Monoculture by Helena Norberg-Hodge
3) Globalization and Terror by Helena Norberg-Hodge
4) Rambo, Barbie and Wordsworth by John Page

Other resources:
Ancient Futures by Helena Norberg-Hodge (available in paperback, E-book andAudiobook).
Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh film, free to watch on YouTube.
Visit our website for all our projects, publications and events worldwide:
www.localfutures.org

Local Futures
www.localfutures.org-3-