We believe that the broad-based, systemic change our current interconnected crises’ require, will be realised by building power from the ‘bottom up’. It will be born from challenging the existing power structures, and the wealth and vested interests of global elites, whilst actively building life-sustaining alternatives. This is why we work with social movements that bring together diverse, intersecting groups of thoughtful, committed citizens, who are together carving out socially and ecologically just pathways into the future.
Gaia and many of our partners are part of the global movement for food sovereignty, working alongside groups including La Via Campesina (Way of the Peasant), a global movement for food sovereignty representing over 200 million peasant farmers. La Via Campesina challenge the corporate dominance of the food system, advocate for the rights of peasant farmers and revive agrobiodiversity by working directly with farmers using agroecological methodologies. In the UK we are a member of the UK Food Group and the UK Food Sovereignty movement. We are currently leading on a UK and Ireland wide Seed Sovereignty Programme.
Gaia is a founding member of Yes to Life, No to Mining (YLNM), a global solidarity network of and for communities, organisations and networks saying NO to mining and pursuing life-sustaining alternatives. The network, founded in 2014, has members on every inhabited continent and has instigated successful solidarity campaigns to protect Earth and human rights defenders, raise funds for grassroots resistance processes and bring international pressure to bear on mining projects worldwide.
Gaia works with global networks to advance the movement for Earth Jurisprudence and the recognition of Nature’s inherent rights to exist, thrive and evolve. Groups such as the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and ….. As well as advocating at multiple levels and creating learning opportunities to inform and engage, Gaia is helping to train groups of African Earth Jurisprudence practitioners who can be leaders in movements to revive mutually enhancing ways to live with and protect Nature.
Sacred lands have always been at the heart of Gaia’s work. Since our founding in 1985 we have worked with and helped bring together networks of indigenous and traditional peoples, especially the custodians of sacred natural sites and territories, to secure recognition for these vital places at local, national, regional and international levels. From these efforts, a global network of allies advocating for the protection of sacred lands has emerged to achieve global recognition of sacred natural sites and, in some cases, their protection.