Gaia works through and thrives on the strength of long-term relationships. Our small team works alongside a global network of partners and social movements from the Amazon to Africa. Together we challenge the dominant power structures of the industrial growth society and work to revive bio-cultural diversity, regenerate healthy food and ecosystems, enhance community ecological governance and build resilience to climate change.
By maintaining close relationships with those who best understand the most pressing issues of our time, Gaia is able to adapt and stay alive to emerging challenges and opportunities.
Gaia forms long-term ‘affectionate alliances’ with partners from the Amazon to Africa who share our commitment to reviving Earth’s biocultural diversity and defending sacred lands alongside local, indigenous and traditional communities. Take a look at the map below to find to more about them.
Our partners’ in-depth knowledge of the political, economic and social landscape of their own regions, as well as their close relationships with communities, are indispensable to our collective work. Together we participate in movements rooted in local realities, working towards a shared vision of biocultural revival and ecological justice.
The story of our work with each of our partners changes as it evolved. Collaboration takes various forms. These include providing trainings in our methodology for the revival of traditional knowledge and governance systems; organisational development; small grants and access to funding; joint campaigns and advocacy efforts; connecting with international networks and movements; and amplifying stories to gain media attention.
We believe that the broad-based, systemic change we 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.
Regional Coordinators of the global Yes to Life, No to Mining solidarity Network.
This is why Gaia works 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.
Inspiring global networks and movements with whom we share a vision include La Via Campesina and the UK Food Sovereignty movement. We have been nurturing the emergence and development of the Earth Jurisprudence movement since its inception, working alongside groups such as the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. 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.
We live in a time of multiple, complex crises. There are no easy answers. Working to uphold the health and diversity of our living planet is always rewarding, but we think you’ll agree it can sometimes feel like swimming against the stream. And yet like salmon we leap, and more often than you might expect, we make it. We invite you to make the next leap with us by making a donation of any size. Thank you for your solidarity.
