Also known as Sumak Kawsay, it’s an indigenous philosophy in South America. Buen Vivir is based on one key principle: that one’s well being is intimately connected to that of the environment and the community.

Similar to the concept of ubuntu from South Africa, it holds that an individual’s well being can only be achieved through harmonious relationships with the wider community; people, the environment, other living beings, their ancestors, and the cosmos.

Literally meaning, “living well”, it recognizes that the harm in other beings is harm in the whole environment.

The principles of Buen Vivir encompass themes like food sovereignty, land rights, environmental justice, economic solidarity and the protection of local biodiversity. According to an ex-minister of foreign affairs in Bolivia, to achieve Buen Vivir one must know:

How to eat - choosing season and local healthy ingredients provided by the earth
How to drink
How to dance
How to sleep
How to work - with passion and joy
How to meditate - introspection
How to think - reflection
How to love and be loved - encompasses everything in the environment
How to listen - not just listen, but understanding and feeling
How to speak - thinking before speaking
How to dream - the dream is the beginning of reality
How to walk - waking with mother earth
How to give and receive - giving with happiness and being thankful for what you receive

….it doesn’t get more holistic than that.

“Buen Vivir in a few words, is learning to value myself as a human being...learning to value the other and learning to value and care for the environment in which one develops themselves” -@joseanibalcriollo in a recent BBC interview.

How can I practice Buen Vivir?

There are many ways to put Buen Vivir into practice in our daily lives! A good place to start is at the dinner table. When you buy and cook with seasonal, local vegetables you learn to appreciate the different seasons and the ingredients nature provides you with - all important elements of buen vivir and general well-being.

Something as small as going out to a garden, and sitting for 5 minutes to appreciate nature, is practicing buen vivir.

Indigenous communities all over the world have suffered from colonial invasions over the years but bravely fought (and keep fighting) to keep their culture alive. This is symbolized by this balanced way of life: a commitment to harmony with their surroundings.

If you want to help preserve indigenous culture and knowledge, you can donate to organisations like the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. 👇

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Highlighting the importance of Amazon rainforest conservation

Company blogs

Written by
Asmita Ray

on
31 October 2022

Brazil is considered the world’s fifth-largest country in terms of both area and population, covering 60% of South America’s land mass. However, due to its large size, it faces complex environmental architecture with several challenges. The country has large reserves of biodiversity and is home to the world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon. The Brazilian Amazon represents 60% of Brazil’s territory and extends to more than 5 million km2.

One of the biggest challenges the Amazon has experienced is extensive deforestation as a result of the expanding agricultural industry. Despite the importance of the Amazon, deforestation levels are reaching a point of irreversibility. In addition, the lack of protection such as the creation of a cycle of deforestation, drought, and loss of biodiversity is amplifying climate change and its impacts.

These increasing environmental concerns are causing social implications. Threats to forest areas are threatening marginalized groups, such as family farmers, and indigenous and traditional populations.

Deforestation remains a complex problem along with difficult solutions. However, fortunately, a lot of people see the importance of the rainforest, especially in the nonprofit sector. Experts believe that tackling deforestation in the Amazon requires a new development vision for the region. Some of the current solutions focus on the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement in regard to monitoring, environmental control and accountability, land use, creation of protected areas, and promotion of sustainable production activities.

The nonprofit sector and businesses start acting when the government does not have the capacity to help. Charities are able to use their influence to advocate and lobby on political levels while also working closely with local Amazonian communities. Some of the best practices include lobbying for indigenous human and land rights, campaigning against destructive industries, or developing sustainable practices for farmers leading to efforts in the preservation of the Amazon! Businesses contribute by providing strong support to various non-profits.

As highlighted earlier, businesses are supporting non-profits in order to take action. A strong example of this is the Women Force NFT project. The Women Force NFT team partnered up with Kinder recently with the purpose of selling NFTs and donating 40% of their total sales to support the Amazon Rainforest and its populations. Besides helping the environment, the project also provides web3 education, art mentorship, digital arts, and a trip to Brazil among other benefits to its holders.

For more information on the Women Force NFT project, join their project here!

In addition, we will be presenting our United Action in collaboration with the Women Force NFT next month, consisting of the very best-performing charities that are dedicated to preserving the Amazon!

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WomenForce & Kinder team up to preserve the rainforest

Company blogs

Written by
Asmita Ray

on
28 October 2022

Tech For Good
The key goal behind this collaboration is to preserve the rainforest by dedicating a big part of the revenue generated by the unique NFTs that will be sold.

Tech for Good can be defined as companies and their technologies, organizations, projects, or even individuals aiming to create a positive impact on the world around us.

Kinder has developed a 'transactions for good'- API to provide Web3 projects with the possibility to easily direct royalties to United Actions (collections of highly effective vetted charities) thus providing an automated opportunity for organizations and communities to make a real and positive impact on society.

Download our whitepaper to learn more about our Transaction for Good infrastructure.

WomenForce NFT
Women Force is a unique 7,236 NFT project generated from digital drawn elements and stored on the Ethereum Blockchain. The art has been inspired by the Amazon Rainforest and pays a tribute to the force of all Women. The vision of Women Force NFT has always consisted of creating strong and empowering NFT collections and to build a diverse community which raises the voice for important causes.

Kinder & Women Force NFT
An integral goal of the Women Force NFT project has been to make both a rewarding and empowering difference which is why they reached out to Kinder. At Kinder, we have two principal goals, transparency, and reliability. We have been able to create a unique vetting framework that evaluates organizations on how well they are solving the problems that we care about.

Through this collaboration, we strive to ensure that all donations will be dedicated to organizations that are fully vetted by Kinder and meet the high standards for transparency and accountability.

In the upcoming month, we will present our United Action in collaboration with Women Force NFT where we have bundled high-performing charities that work towards primarily ensuring the reforestation of rainforests. The Amazon collection will strongly support the charities and help make a positive impact in the conservation of the Amazon Rainforest!

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The Kinder Vetting Report: 2022

Company blogs

Written by
Tanisha Keil

on
24 October 2022

At Kinder, we constantly evaluate charities based on our vetting framework. That means we have large amounts of data that we can use to learn more about the charitable space.

This year, we decided to look at our Basic Analysis data from January until June 2022.

Check out what we were able to learn in regards to strategy, financials statements and more below!

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Search the Kinder ecosystem

A lesson in philosophy from Latin America’s indigenous population

How can I practice Buen Vivir?

More Stories

Highlighting the importance of Amazon rainforest conservation

WomenForce & Kinder team up to preserve the rainforest

The Kinder Vetting Report: 2022