Environment

Visual literacy is a characteristic all human beings inherently possess. Yet because of our cultural and social differences, we interpret visual symbols and representations, such as drawings, pictures, and artefacts, in different ways. How and why people use visual images to represent complex ideas and processes is the focus of How People use Pictures. It is the first comprehensive review of the literature on visual literacy in over a decade, and offers new insights into this complicated issue. Written for practitioners interested in communicating with local people using pictures and visual symbols and for researchers interested in gaining a deeper appreciation of the 'language of the visual' , this book provides detailed annotations of over 100 key references, as well as an extensive list of useful institutions and resources. This book was reprinted in 1997 and contains a new forward written by Bob Linney, outlining recent developments in visual literacy

This book has philosophy and examples of projects that encourage cultrual development and illustrate the right of all to be creative The book has chapters on Culture, the Environment, Participation, Social Inclusion, Employment of Time Strategies, Income Generation and Keys to Success and includes examples from the arts in prisons, hospitals, the environment and in communities where people have had limited access to the arts.

Each collection in the Voices of the Mountain series contains a fascinating blend of anecdote, information, history, culture, knowledge, opinion and experience with all the contradictions this may imply. These are the individual voices of the ordinary people on whose actions development depends. And they are at the heart of one of the key challenges of the next decade - how to meet national development needs without further marginalising mountain peoples. As the pace of development accelerates in mountain regions, so the social and physical environment is changing. Yet the demand for mountain riches - timber, minerals, water, tourism facilities - is more often driven by urban, lowland populations and industry than by highland communities. Mountain people are the custodians of diverse sometimes unique environments, essential to the survival of the global ecosystem. Further erosion of their ability to care for those assets will be the worlds loss, not just theirs. Panos has been working with community-based environmental, cultural and development organisations in select highland areas, training local people to record interviews on a range of issues, in order to communicate their personal experiences and understanding of the challenges ahead. The result is a wealth of material - vivid, challenging, full of human detail and variety. Voices From the Mountain Series: Oral Testimonies from Cerro de Pasco, Peru. Oral Testimonies from southwest and northeast China. Oral Testimonies from Wollo, Ethiopia. Oral Testimonies from the Lesotho Highlands. Oral Testimonies from Mount Elgon, Kenya . Oral Testimonies from the Sudety mountains, Poland. Oral Testimonies from the Himalaya (India and Nepal); the Karakorum (Pakistan); and the Sierra Norte (Mexico). Collections are published in A5-sized booklets, maps, photos, index, glossary.

The Panos Oral Testimony Programme has launched a new website which presents a collection of interviews gathered by and from communities in selected mountain and highland regions. To date more than 250 interviews have been recorded in local languages, and transcribed, translated and summarised. The testimonies come from communities in the western Himalaya of India, the Cerro de Pasco region in the Peruvian Andes, Mount Elgon in Kenya, the highlands of Ethiopia and Lesotho, Nepal, and from southwest and northeast China. Each collection is only a snapshot, and does not claim to be representative of entire mountain groups. But the range of individual voices does provide a vivid picture of highland societies, their changing physical and social environments, and their concerns for the future. The main content of the site consist of text summaries of each interview. Each summary presents a profile of the interviewee, an overview of the interview, and a detailed page by page description of the topics covered. The site also provides information about the locations where the testimonies were collected, and the partner organisations involved in the project; and the themes and concerns (with quotes) which emerge in each collection. The testimony summaries are accessible by region and by theme. It is easy, for example, to look through all the summaries in the Peru collection; or all the summaries in all collections relating to the theme of 'migration'; or all the summaries that relate both to Peru and the theme of migration. Sample themes include: changes in the environment; relations with lowland people; gender; the impact of resource extraction; traditional customs.

The Arts and Healing Network's web site is an international resource for anyone interested in the healing potential of art. A project of the Philanthropic Collaborative Inc. a non-profit organisation which is committed to strengthening the connection and exchange between the artists and the community and to disseminating information and research. The Arts and Healing Network is dedicated to celebrating the connection between art and healing. Our focus is this web site which serves as an international resource for anyone interested in the healing potential of art, especially environmentalists, social activists, artists, art professionals, health care practitioners, and those challenged by illness.