Bhutan Network

Info

Bhutan Network Europe & Switzerland are a non-profit organizations working for grassroots and skills exchange with Bhutan

Geschichte

The Bhutan-Network is an Austrian based, registered and non profit organization and aims to connect people with varied skills at several levels in order to strengthen and enhance intangible and tangible cultural heritage in Europe and Bhutan. We contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals by following a grassroots approach. Our target groups are people who constitute the backbone of a thriving society, but who often do not have the means to network with colleagues abroad.

We want to facilitate exchange between people from a broad spectrum of areas who possess experience and knowledge of their fields. They will hold in common a genuine interest in sustainability and the employment of integrated approaches when exploring ways of improving local livelihoods and promoting local knowledge. We aim to jointly develop new solutions based on the wisdom of long established local practice. We believe that cross cultural communication and the exchange of ideas can lead to new ways of enhancing local knowledge that acknowledge the wisdom of traditional and long established practices. This is especially valid in the context of rapid modernization, as it is the case in Bhutan but also in Europe where a return to local knowledge in certain areas has proven more sustainable. In Bhutan our priority lies with the ideas and needs identified and expressed by our Bhutanese partners. We want to connect people directly in order to facilitate face-to-face interaction (e.g. between European and Bhutanese carpenters, organic farmers, artists, etc.). We are especially interested in less privileged but highly skilled people who do not have the means to establish such connections yet have wisdom to share. We favour a face-to-face, small scale and hands-on approach.Areas of interest are

Sustainable organic-farming
Education: Vocational training and promotion of vocational professions
Arts & Crafts
Sports & Health
Tourism & Hospitality