Our international community of advisors
Helena Norberg-Hodge
Helena is an internationally recognised pioneer of the world wide localisation movement and a leading analyst of the impact of the global economy on culture and agriculture. She is the founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) - based in the US and UK, with subsidiaries in France, Germany, Australia, and Ladakh. Helena has given birth to many ideas, books, articles, films and not least the concept of ‘Localisation’ which she has been promoting for three decades. Her landmark book and film ‘Ancient Futures’ (translated into nearly 50 languages) opened the eyes of many to the shocking effects of economic development on vibrant traditional cultures like Ladakh. Helena is truly an international figure but her feet are placed firmly on the ground - particularly on the soil of Ladakh - where she has been active in supporting local causes and deepening friendships since 1975.
Jan Visser
Jan is a deep thinker and supporter of the self-directed learning processes. His profound insights and knowledge about science, history and music as well as about spirituality and humanity is without comparison a true feature of his personality. He once presided over UNESCO’s innovative programme called ‘Learning Without Frontiers’ which tried to release learning from the rigid confines of institutionalised settings and make it more accessible and fun. Jan is a writer of vast depth and quality, and a great person to be with, especially if you like to go on long walks in the early hours of the morning. He presides over the ‘Learning Development Institute’ (LDI), which is based in the USA , France and The Netherlands. LDI’s work is geared towards getting a better, and particularly more complete, understanding of human learning, as well as to creating the conditions for such learning to actually happen. Jan sees ‘ Swaraj University ’ as one such opportunity.
Kishore Saint
Kishorebhai Saint has a vast repository of knowledge and anecdotes from his long association with many national and international organisations, including CIDOC with Ivan Illich and Friends World College . Listening to him is such a pleasure that you straight away realise that you are in a challenging/questioning presence. So penetrating are his thoughts and queries that you are struck by their sheer simplicity and of course exceptional synthesis of experience, wisdom and reflections. His range of thinking from development discourse to scathing analysis of contemporary reality to spiritual and Sufi traditions is deep and conveyed with passion and affection. His tone is inviting and sonorous, and soon you are immersed in his world of art, poetry, aesthetics, language, ecology, history and philosophy, which he mixes with easy charm and compassion. He is a Gandhian, and a rare visionary who is concerned about the modern civilizational crisis and failing values and integrity of present political and educational system which he wants to transform for a better, socially and ecologically just and peaceful world to emerge. He lives with his wife in Udaipur.
Margaret Wheatley
Meg, as she is fondly called by her friends and colleagues, has been deeply influenced by different disciplines: science, history, literature, systems thinking, organizational behavior, social policy, cosmology and theology. She values what she learned from each of these different fields, for she believes that no one discipline, institution, or specialization can answer the questions that now confront us. She says “We all must draw from many different perspectives to reweave the world”. She has been consultant, professor and speaker since 1973 and has worked with diverse organisations and people on all continents. They range from the head of the U.S. Army to twelve year old Girl Scouts, from CEOs to small town ministers. This diversity includes Fortune 100 corporations, government agencies, healthcare institutions, foundations, public schools, colleges, major church denominations, professional associations, and monasteries. She is the co-founder and President emerita of the Berkana Institute, a global charitable foundation established in 1992 and author of several books including the acclaimed ‘Leadership and New Science’ which introduced a new way of thinking about how organisations need to be viewed and transformed. Her work on leadership also has influenced the next generation of thinkers and leaders to move away from individual heroic leaders who seek to control towards team leadership and people’s ability to self-organise. She has been Associate Professor of Management at two universities. Since 1989, Meg lives with her family in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, USA .
Munir Fasheh
For Munir Fasheh, the directorship of Arab Education Forum sat lightly on his wise shoulders, and therefore when it was time to move to the land of his birth he did without any qualms. His knowledge and wisdom are so profound that he is one of those rare beings who are equally at ease in expressing in both writing as well as speaking, and either way you want to continue to soak in the depths of his acumen and simplicity. His critique of modernity compels you to think about the destruction and mayhem caused by the Institutional authority and its control over our lives, as it invites you to consider alternative possibilities in tune with humane and organic living. He is passionate about his country and what Palestine has suffered for so many years and is currently engaged in protecting the ability of communities to regenerate themselves as an integral part of liberation, which necessarily requires living wisely. This brought him and his family back to Palestine after serving at the Harvard College for many years.
Ron Brunett
Ron Burnett, RCA is President and Vice-Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Chair of the Board of Knowledge Network and a recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal for service to Canada and Canadians. He is the author of three books, the latest, How Images Think published by MITPress. He is also the author of over 150 published articles and book chapters, the former Director of the Graduate Program in Communications at McGill University, an adjunct Professor at York University, and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art.
Vivek Bhandari
Vivek was the Director of IRMA (Institute of Rural Management, Anand), a post he accepted in early-2007 after a long stint as Associate Professor of History and South Asian Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, USA. Vivek is interested in the historical evolution of democratic institutions, and how these have been shaped by the choices and actions of people over time. He is particularly interested in the relationship between modern forms of knowledge and the construction of socio-political identity, an issue he is currently exploring through a Gandhian prism. His passions are photography and trekking, and he lives in Anand, Gujarat, with his family.
Helena is an internationally recognised pioneer of the world wide localisation movement and a leading analyst of the impact of the global economy on culture and agriculture. She is the founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) - based in the US and UK, with subsidiaries in France, Germany, Australia, and Ladakh. Helena has given birth to many ideas, books, articles, films and not least the concept of ‘Localisation’ which she has been promoting for three decades. Her landmark book and film ‘Ancient Futures’ (translated into nearly 50 languages) opened the eyes of many to the shocking effects of economic development on vibrant traditional cultures like Ladakh. Helena is truly an international figure but her feet are placed firmly on the ground - particularly on the soil of Ladakh - where she has been active in supporting local causes and deepening friendships since 1975.
Jan Visser
Jan is a deep thinker and supporter of the self-directed learning processes. His profound insights and knowledge about science, history and music as well as about spirituality and humanity is without comparison a true feature of his personality. He once presided over UNESCO’s innovative programme called ‘Learning Without Frontiers’ which tried to release learning from the rigid confines of institutionalised settings and make it more accessible and fun. Jan is a writer of vast depth and quality, and a great person to be with, especially if you like to go on long walks in the early hours of the morning. He presides over the ‘Learning Development Institute’ (LDI), which is based in the USA , France and The Netherlands. LDI’s work is geared towards getting a better, and particularly more complete, understanding of human learning, as well as to creating the conditions for such learning to actually happen. Jan sees ‘ Swaraj University ’ as one such opportunity.
Kishore Saint
Kishorebhai Saint has a vast repository of knowledge and anecdotes from his long association with many national and international organisations, including CIDOC with Ivan Illich and Friends World College . Listening to him is such a pleasure that you straight away realise that you are in a challenging/questioning presence. So penetrating are his thoughts and queries that you are struck by their sheer simplicity and of course exceptional synthesis of experience, wisdom and reflections. His range of thinking from development discourse to scathing analysis of contemporary reality to spiritual and Sufi traditions is deep and conveyed with passion and affection. His tone is inviting and sonorous, and soon you are immersed in his world of art, poetry, aesthetics, language, ecology, history and philosophy, which he mixes with easy charm and compassion. He is a Gandhian, and a rare visionary who is concerned about the modern civilizational crisis and failing values and integrity of present political and educational system which he wants to transform for a better, socially and ecologically just and peaceful world to emerge. He lives with his wife in Udaipur.
Margaret Wheatley
Meg, as she is fondly called by her friends and colleagues, has been deeply influenced by different disciplines: science, history, literature, systems thinking, organizational behavior, social policy, cosmology and theology. She values what she learned from each of these different fields, for she believes that no one discipline, institution, or specialization can answer the questions that now confront us. She says “We all must draw from many different perspectives to reweave the world”. She has been consultant, professor and speaker since 1973 and has worked with diverse organisations and people on all continents. They range from the head of the U.S. Army to twelve year old Girl Scouts, from CEOs to small town ministers. This diversity includes Fortune 100 corporations, government agencies, healthcare institutions, foundations, public schools, colleges, major church denominations, professional associations, and monasteries. She is the co-founder and President emerita of the Berkana Institute, a global charitable foundation established in 1992 and author of several books including the acclaimed ‘Leadership and New Science’ which introduced a new way of thinking about how organisations need to be viewed and transformed. Her work on leadership also has influenced the next generation of thinkers and leaders to move away from individual heroic leaders who seek to control towards team leadership and people’s ability to self-organise. She has been Associate Professor of Management at two universities. Since 1989, Meg lives with her family in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, USA .
Munir Fasheh
For Munir Fasheh, the directorship of Arab Education Forum sat lightly on his wise shoulders, and therefore when it was time to move to the land of his birth he did without any qualms. His knowledge and wisdom are so profound that he is one of those rare beings who are equally at ease in expressing in both writing as well as speaking, and either way you want to continue to soak in the depths of his acumen and simplicity. His critique of modernity compels you to think about the destruction and mayhem caused by the Institutional authority and its control over our lives, as it invites you to consider alternative possibilities in tune with humane and organic living. He is passionate about his country and what Palestine has suffered for so many years and is currently engaged in protecting the ability of communities to regenerate themselves as an integral part of liberation, which necessarily requires living wisely. This brought him and his family back to Palestine after serving at the Harvard College for many years.
Ron Brunett
Ron Burnett, RCA is President and Vice-Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Chair of the Board of Knowledge Network and a recipient of the Queen's Jubilee Medal for service to Canada and Canadians. He is the author of three books, the latest, How Images Think published by MITPress. He is also the author of over 150 published articles and book chapters, the former Director of the Graduate Program in Communications at McGill University, an adjunct Professor at York University, and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art.
Vivek Bhandari
Vivek was the Director of IRMA (Institute of Rural Management, Anand), a post he accepted in early-2007 after a long stint as Associate Professor of History and South Asian Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst, USA. Vivek is interested in the historical evolution of democratic institutions, and how these have been shaped by the choices and actions of people over time. He is particularly interested in the relationship between modern forms of knowledge and the construction of socio-political identity, an issue he is currently exploring through a Gandhian prism. His passions are photography and trekking, and he lives in Anand, Gujarat, with his family.
