The Vision

[Guest guest]

Below I have changed and added to the description of

the vision and what would need to be done to attain to

it (as I see it).

Please note that from the vision the main features I

have identified are land use, participation and

security. If we compare that to environmental, social

and economic then we can see how they fit together

with the former being a part of the latter -

environment/land use, social/participation,

economic/security.

This is the beauty of these three general

sustainability criteria, they are quite all-embracing,

just lacking the science or the spiritual spark that

empowers it all.

 

Mark

 

 

The Vision:

The Vision is to see ISKCON farms managed according to

established sustainable

principles and practices of land use which encourage

participation in

lifetime-protected cow-based agriculture giving

lifestyle security to the participants.

 

The Vision of the ISKCON Rural Development Plan

clearly states the goal that the plan seeks

to achieve. To outline specific Mission Statements to

attain to this Vision it is necessary to

delineate, qualify and quantify the desired

characteristics of the type of land use, participation

and security that the vision outlines. By observing

the present state of development in

ISKCON farms plus observing Indian rural life with the

eyes of the teachings of Srila

Prabhupada it is possible to obtain an A and a Z, with

A being the present reality and Z the

desired outcome.

 

A preliminary general audit of ISKCON farms according

to environmental, social and

economic criteria taking into account specific land

uses, participation and security the farms

have and give will then show a generalised present

reality - A. The same would need to be

envisaged for Z - what would be the environmental,

social and economic situation, the type of

land uses, participation and security the farms have

and give to show a future ideal, the

visionary goal?

 

It will then be possible to develop a sliding scale,

an A to Z, that ISKCON farms can then

compare themselves to and between, using the scale as

a benchmark to attain to, plus

identifying some as best-practice farms from which

practices can be adopted.

 

The above development criteria would need to be SMART.

 

Sustainable - the development process would need to

have in-built into it the ability

for it to be sustained around all minor and most major

external and internal

perturbations.

 

Measurable - the development criteria would need to

have identifiable and

quantifiable qualities by which progress can be

measured. It would need to have

built-in monitoring and evaluation procedures in place

to measure progress.

 

Attainable - the development process would need to be

pragmatic so as to attain to the

varied goals that are set.

 

Relevant - the development process would need to be

relevant to the participants,

harnessing the minds and energies of a variety of

stakeholders.

 

Timely - the development process would need to work

within a varied time

framework, with varied stages of development and

varied participants. Apt timing is

crucial for the development jigsaw piece to come

together in a way that makes sense

to the participants.

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

This is clever.

>

> It will then be possible to develop a sliding scale,

> an A to Z, that ISKCON farms can then

> compare themselves to and between, using the scale as

> a benchmark to attain to, plus

> identifying some as best-practice farms from which

> practices can be adopted.

>

> The above development criteria would need to be SMART.

>

> Sustainable - the development process would need to

> have in-built into it the ability

> for it to be sustained around all minor and most major

> external and internal

> perturbations.

>

> Measurable - the development criteria would need to

> have identifiable and

> quantifiable qualities by which progress can be

> measured. It would need to have

> built-in monitoring and evaluation procedures in place

> to measure progress.

>

> Attainable - the development process would need to be

> pragmatic so as to attain to the

> varied goals that are set.

>

> Relevant - the development process would need to be

> relevant to the participants,

> harnessing the minds and energies of a variety of

> stakeholders.

>

> Timely - the development process would need to work

> within a varied time

> framework, with varied stages of development and

> varied participants. Apt timing is

> crucial for the development jigsaw piece to come

> together in a way that makes sense

> to the participants.

>

>

>

>

> NEW from GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just

$8.95/month.

> http://geocities./ps/info1

[Guest guest]

haribol prabhus

pamho agtsp

 

Using SMART as a standard to analyse and direct or strategy is a good start.

We must also look at the sliding scale " or a quality standard' that we can

work against at various levels. Therefore whatever standard we put in place,

we should look at three levels minimum of implementation, with progressive

tracts to rise within the standards. These can have matching guidelines for

self assessments and suggested evidence for each level- giving the practical

tool for users of the plan. This then can also form the basis of an

evaluation tool within ISKCON and beyond. This would also also make the plan

'a desirable tool' to use as it would not be intimidatory but a means to

long term sustainable development irrespective of the starting point. If it

is seen to be something that is hard to attain, or threatening by the level

of expertise/knowledge base required to take the first steps, it will be on

a shelf gathering dust.

 

T is for timely in two senses, it must come at an appropriate time in the

development stage and strategy, but objectives must also be time bound. This

'T' factor filters all the way through to implementation, whereby using the

plan and guide, be it the sliding scale or other as a benchmark, will have a

timed action plan adjacent to the self-assessment tool so that

implementation is also timed and improvements measured.

 

ys