This week-long excursion will take you to one of these locations:
- Himachal Pradesh
- Uttarakhand
- Sikkim
- Darjeeling & Ilam
- Dehradun
Himachal Pradesh, a northernmost Himalayan region in India, and explore the work of the nongovernmental organization Jagori and its areas of intervention. Through visits to local communities, gain insights into rural livelihoods, gender dynamics, ecological imbalances leading to environmental and climate change, particularly in mountainous regions of India, different aspects of community development, discover community mobilization efforts, organic farming initiatives, and more. Interact with local people, hear their success stories, and gain insights into the challenges they confront within the context of globalization. During your stay in Himachal Pradesh, you’ll be accommodated at hostels at Jagori campus’s premise situated amidst the stunning backdrop of the Himalayas.
In Uttarakhand, located in the northwestern part of India, and explore the work of the nongovernmental organization Aarohi and its areas of intervention. Gain insights to Aarohi’s mission to create development opportunities for the rural Himalayan communities through quality healthcare and education, enterprise promotion and women empowerment and sustainable natural resource use. While staying in Uttarakhand, you will reside with local homestay families, enriching your experiential learning and fostering connections with the local community.
In Sikkim, the organic state of India, learn about food security and the impacts of national policy changes. You will learn farming techniques from local farmers and gain an understanding of the different challenges and opportunities for food security. Get hands-on experience working on a subsistence farm. Focus on women’s roles in farming and development and see the impact of social change and development on food security. You will stay in a Nepali-speaking village in the lush, green foothills of the Indian Himalaya.
Darjeeling (India) and Ilam (Nepal), are the tea capitals of India and Nepal. Learn about tea processing, agriculture and market linkages, fair trade, workers rights and gender relations in tea production. An exploration of well-established tea estates in Darjeeling and relatively newer estates of Ilam will provide a comparative study of the dynamics of tea farming and production. In Darjeeling and Ilam, you will stay in small guesthouses while you will visit the renowned tea estates.
Navdanya at Dehradun explores biodiversity conservation, agroecology, and seed saving to better understand food security, ecology and environmental justice. In Dehradun, you will stay at Navdanya Farm, where you will have the opportunity to participate in fieldwork and workshops organized by Navdanya.