Heartfulness Institute signs MoU with the  ‘4 per 1000’ Initiative on Soil Health

Hyderabad, 26 September: In yet another milestone partnership, Heartfulness Institute signs an MoU with Bioversity (which is a part of the Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT) on behalf of the Executive Secretariat of the ‘4 Per 1000’ Initiative. The objective of the MoU is to enhance cooperation between ‘4 PER 1000’ and Heartfulness and to identify areas of mutual interest with a view: a) to promote healthy soils as a solution for climate and food security b) knowing they are key to meet the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Convince the 3 Rio Conventions of the need to work on that important topic, c) Work together to raise the awareness of the public about healthy soils and demonstrate that soils are the basis of life and soil health is the foundation of sustainable food systems and food security, and for improving livelihoods and supporting economic development; d) work together to inform and sensitize policymakers, about the necessity to protect soils.

Speaking on the agreement, Rev. Daaji – Guide of Heartfulness, President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission and Padma Bhushan awardee said, “The world has come to understand the relevance of soil health if our future generations must be secure. The recent ‘4 per 1000’ Asia-Pacific Regional Conference that was held at Kanha had some important deliberations and I was very happy to see that eighteen countries came together for one common goal. Soil has an ecosystem of microbes, water, and minerals which must be well-preserved to help the natural flora thrive, have predictable climate, and adequate water for all. The responsibility must begin right from every home if the cause has to be furthered as it is a matter of urgency. I hope this MoU will foster shared resources and know-how for soil conservation and inspire the people of the world to do their bit.”

Dr. Paul Luu – Executive Secretary of ‘4 per 1000’ initiative said, “It gives me immense pleasure to join hands with Heartfulness with respect to soil health. Heartfulness has been engaged in conservation and environmental activities on many levels involving governments to educational institutions to NGOs. The ‘4 per 1000’ Initiative is providing a robust ground for policy making and the framework for soil health with 741 current partners and 41 signatory countries. We have adopted its 2020-2050 Strategic Plan in June 2020, which consists of 24 Strategic Objectives, we are now aiming to implement these objectives and I am very happy to have the keen advice and knowledge of Rev. Daaji helping in this regard. Together we hope to raise public awareness and sensitize policy makers about healthy soils.”

The MoU is also aimed at reciprocal participation in meetings organized by one of the Parties, preparation and publication of common documents of a scientific or general nature, promotion of the other Party’s work within the respective networks, creation of a scientific committee on which both organizations will be represented, project Development by supporting the development and implementation of numerous innovative projects on Soil Health (SH) and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC). This is besides exchanging experiences, facilitating state-holder exchange for evidence-based transformative programs, developing conceptual frameworks for Soil Health, Soil Organic Carbon in Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) systems; and enable easy access to good practices for Soil Health (SH) to practitioners.

About Heartfulness: Heartfulness offers a simple set of meditative practices and lifestyle changes, first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalized into teaching through Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India with a goal to bring peace, happiness, and wisdom to one heart at a time. These practices are a modern form of Yoga designed to support contentment, inner calm, and stillness, compassion, courage, and clarity of thought, as the first step toward a purposeful life. They are simple and easily adopted and are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs, and economic situations, who are over the age of fifteen. Ongoing training in Heartfulness practices is going on at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental, and government bodies worldwide. More than 5,000 Heartfulness Centers are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers and millions of practitioners in 160 countries.

About the international “4 per 1000” Initiative: Launched at UNFCCC CoP 21 in December 2015, the international “4 per 1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate” aims to show that agriculture, and in particular agricultural soils, can provide concrete solutions to the challenge of climate change while at the same time meeting the challenge of food security by implementing agricultural agroecological practices adapted to local conditions. In 2023, the international “4 per 1000” Initiative is gathering close to 800 partners from all over the world, including countries and provinces, international organizations, scientific and education institutions, farmers organizations, NGOs, and businesses.  More information on www.4p1000.org and by mail at: secretariat@4p1000.org. 

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