Describe the critical need your solution addresses.

The Tibetans have lived for thousands of years at the headwaters of a vast water system. Global warming, extraction, damming, and development are now decimating this system, and thus their way of life. There is currently little effort to provide integrated, sustainable solutions for wastewater, energy, food, and economic survival.

Explain your initiative in more depth and its stage of development.

Historically, Tibetans knew their water sources intimately, as this knowledge was necessary to sustain life. Over centuries, this knowledge formed a culture, which is undocumented and is disappearing with the water sources. Documenting it will expose the fundamental relationship between culture and conservation, which can be used as a model for economic survival in similar cultures globally. Since 2007 I have led a Tibetan team to document the GPS coordinates and culture of over 30 water sites. In 2008 I began working with Tibetans Zhaxi Lacuo and Gesong Lamu. After initially raising $2,000 Lacou and Lamu were able to begin documenting the water culture of Muli County. This was eye-opening, as they had never thought about the implications of their own water culture, which they now realize is being lost. In June 2009, after raising $10,000, we were joined by Brock Dolman, a biologist and permaculture expert, in Muli and Ganze counties. In three weeks we met village and monastery leaders to discuss strategies for addressing their communities’ needs. We have the relationships and knowledge to begin on a larger scale: Lacou is in the process of building local teams, and we have identified the villages in which to begin.

How does your strategy and approach respond creatively and comprehensively to key issues?

My strategy is to empower the Tibetans by revitalizing their relationship with water and natural systems before it is completely lost, while disseminating contemporary information about integrated, sustainable solutions pertinent to their economic and ecological systems. Combining culture, science, technology, and education in innovative ways will give each village the tools to initiate and maintain a long-range vision for sustainability.

My goal is to turn around the ecological degradation of the region: There was not a single wastewater treatment system in the villages we visited, nor recycling, and chemical fertilizers are being pushed. Some villages had to buy bottled water as dams had diverted their water. When we initiated a clean up with monks, they started picking up leaves and twigs until we explained that only non-biodegradable materials are garbage. These substances are a recent introduction to their landscape and there is little understanding that plastic is pollution. We will provide training programs, translate practical texts for education, and present various systems to initiate discussions about what is most appropriate for each environment. Initially several experts will live in a village to train a small local group, which will ensure that each choice is local, efficient, and economical. After establishing models, the process will be spread to nearby villages and in time villages can exchange information. Always there will be integration between human and natural systems.
As the Tibetans cannot get loans to improve their agricultural and economic situation, the most practical solution is for each village to deal with the problems in ways that are already rooted in their culture, and to evolve a contemporary plan best suited to their needs and ecosystems. This is a wholistic strategy, which imagines ways to implement change given the political, economic, and environmental blocks facing Tibetans.