Description
Living Lands is active in two landscapes in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: the Langkloof and Baviaanskloof. Our work and projects are as diverse as the landscapes and people we work with.
We are guided by our Vision: “Collaborations working on Living Landscapes”
- When we speak about ‘collaborations’ we mean working together to solve common challenges and co-creating solutions based on mutual understanding, trust and respect.
- The power of ‘working on’ a living landscape is that by being based on a landscape, you have your feet planted in the reality on the ground.
- ‘Living Landscapes’ refers to a variety of agricultural, ecological and social systems, which are managed sustainably.
Our guiding principles help us align our vision to maintain a consistent approach across all landscapes. The following principles are integral to how we operate:
- We believe that in order to create collective action, you need to build strong relationships and social capital.
- Our work is dynamic and based on continuous learning.
- We endeavor to not impose preconceived ideas but to listen carefully to understand the reality and nuances of the landscapes on which we work.
- We value an informal yet professional approach.
Our work is a ‘work in progress’ and our approach is one we’ve nurtured over many years. It combines ‘bottom-based’ processes (i.e. on the landscape) and ‘top-guided’ (i.e. research, policy and global context) processes to facilitate shared learning and collective action. This approach integrates the building blocks of Theory U (developed by the Presencing Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)) and the 4 Returns framework by Commonland.
