1. Applying Hindu teachings
in caring for the Earth

2. Global.
Environmental.
Hindu.
The Bhumi Project works with a diverse range of Hindu temples, organizations, and
leaders to help the world’s 1 billion members of the world’s third largest faith tradition
take environmental action. Through creative and exciting campaigns that bring Hindu
wisdom to bear on environmental challenges, and through a combination of on-the-
ground and online activity, Bhumi is a unique and unifying voice for Hindus worldwide.
An initiative of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, in partnership with GreenFaith,
our work reflects a dual commitment to high academic standards and cutting-edge
methods of engagement. Bhumi is faithful to Hindu teachings and able to reach
Hindus from an incredible range of circumstances, from rural villages in India to
younger, urban Hindus in India and the West.
Bhumi works directly with Hindus in India, the UK, Europe, US, Africa and Oceania.
Our unique mission and strong track record, coupled with the hard work of Gopal
Patel, Bhumi’s joint-founder and director, have enabled us to develop close ties with
the United Nations and environmental thought leaders in India, the US and UK. Bhumi
has also forged strong working relations with Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish and
Sikh environmental organisations and is the leading Hindu voice in fast-growing the
religious-environmental movement.
Through its initial six-year pilot period, the Bhumi Project has been supported by the
UN Development Programme, the US Agency for International Development, the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Alliance of Religions and Conservation and
GreenFaith. Now, in the wake of the Paris Climate Agreement and with the importance
of its advocacy and community engagement roles clearly established, Bhumi is now
seeking to develop a new base of support to sustain and increase its impact.

3. A Strong Track Record
The Bhumi Project was founded in 2009. Since then, we’ve been hard at work.
Bhumi has helped major Hindu pilgrimage sites, including Dwarka, Rishikesh and•
Puri, raise awareness about climate change and the importance of caring for the
natural world, attracting regional and national media attention.
We authored and helped publicize last year’s Hindu Declaration on Climate•
Change, signed by over 60 respected international Hindu leaders and organisations
from a wide range of lineages in the lead-up to the Paris Climate negotiations.
Released at an event in Delhi, the Declaration received media coverage in India
and internationally.
Our annual Hindu Environment Week, now in its third year, has engaged more than•
25,000 Hindus in practical action to care for the planet in India, the US and UK.
Our Green Temples Initiative offers resources for temples in India and globally on•
best environmental practices for Hindu places of worship.
Our 2015 Clean Kumbh campaign at the Kumbh Mela in Nasik, which included a•
solar lamp giveaway and a tuktuk and online campaign in support of renewable
energy, attracted coverage on 3 national Indian TV channels and 10 Indian
newspapers, over 200,000 Facebook likes, and more than 12 million in-person
views over a 10-day period.
We have conducted more than 50 environmental workshops and trainings across•
India on topics including climate change, waste management, and wildlife
conservation.

4. Our Future,
the World’s Future
For the world to achieve an environmentally sustainable future, the Hindu community’s
leadership is indispensable. The Bhumi Project is uniquely positioned to foster that
leadership, helping one of the world’s most ancient spiritual traditions address the
most pressing ecological issues of our time.
To meet the great challenges that face the planet, we have ambitious goals for 2017-2018.
Accelerating Renewable Energy Development in India
The rapid adoption of clean energy in India is vital to the country’s development
and to global efforts on climate change. In response, Bhumi will coordinate Hindu
participation in One For All, an international faith-philanthropy-NGO campaign to
end energy poverty with clean energy by 2030. By raising awareness, advocating for
policies that support the rapid deployment of distributed clean energy systems, and
fostering commitments by Hindu groups and leaders that will help bring renewable
energy access to rural and vulnerable communities, Bhumi will galvanize Hindus in
support of this goal.
Hindu Youth Leadership
60% of India’s population is under the age of 35, making youth a key to the country’s
environmental future. In the US, UK, and elsewhere in the Hindu diaspora, 2nd and 3rd
generation Hindu youth are looking to connect their religious identities and beliefs with
national and global concerns.
Through our Bhumi Pledge campaign, we will engage the social-media savvy youth on
environmental concerns. Through our highly skilled team’s creative use of social media,
we will raise awareness of the environmental challenges the world faces and how
everyone can play their part to address them.
We will also play a central role in organizing a South Asian multi-faith Convergence
– a gathering and training for 100 youth leaders (ages 21-35) from India and other
South Asian countries. After the three day Convergence, these young leaders will
implement climate and environmental action plans in their home communities. Bhumi
has organized Hindu participation in similar successful Convergences in Europe
and North America, and will help convene and support this groundbreaking event
on the subcontinent. Following the Convergence, we will be active partners in the
development of a multi-faith environmental hub in India, working with colleagues from
the Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Christian communities. These first-ever initiatives
will lay the foundation for a heretofore unimagined level of Hindu and multi-faith
support for sustainable development.

5. EcoDevi
Across the world, women are on the rise, with governments, businesses and civil
society recognising the need to empower women for positive social change.
Combined with this is the fact that the worship of the feminine aspect of the divine
within Hindu traditions - Radha, Sita, Parvati, Bhumi Devi, Shakti, Maa Ganga - offers
a unique lens through which to understand our relationship with the natural world.
Based on this, Bhumi believes that the time is ripe for a strong, women-led Hindu
environmental voice and for women as environmental leaders.
In 2017, we will organise a week-long EcoDevi festival in a major Indian city. Bringing
together activists, scholars, artists, business and religious leaders and working with
experienced festival planners, EcoDevi will combine workshops, seminars, exhibitions
and hands-on training. City, State and National Government representatives, alongside
religious and NGO leaders, will also participate. Creative and compelling social media
and press outreach will attract national and international media coverage.
Later in the year we will organise an EcoDevi Solar Rickshaw Run, a week-long, well-
publicized travelling campaign from Delhi to Varanasi. Working with high-profile female
celebrities, we will highlight the powerful role women have in addressing climate
change and elevate the issue of energy access through clean energy among Hindus globally.
Hindu Climate Narratives
Hinduism offers a unique and distinct understanding of the world in comparison to
non-Dharmic traditions. As yet, however, there has not been any major research to
understand how Hindus view the natural world, and how such understandings can help
address climate change.
In 2015 Bhumi was the Hindu partner in a groundbreaking multi-faith research project
to understand how to communicate climate change to people from different religious
traditions. We wish to expand on this research by conducting a two-year research
project to closely examine how Hindus understand the natural world, climate change,
and their responsibility towards caring for the earth. Working with a variety of Hindu
traditions and organisations, the findings of this research will be shared through
workshops and trainings.
For this work, Bhumi will partner with GreenFaith, Climate Outreach - international
experts on developing climate narratives, and the CP Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation - a
leading environmental education institute based in Chennai, headed by Dr. Nanditha Krishna.
The Time is Now
The climate and environmental crises represent grave threats to human well-being.
Rooted in strong environmental ethics, there is much Hinduism can contribute in
addressing the environmental challenges of our time.
With India on the rise, fuelled by aspirational young people, and a global diaspora who
are leaders in technology, science, and business, there is much Hindus can do to show
the world how to live in harmony with the natural world.
The Bhumi Project is the world’s only organisation that directly engages the intersection
of these powerful realities. This is a vital mission at a critical time.
As we rise to meet this challenge, we hope you will support us.

6. The Bhumi Project is an initiative of the
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies in partnership with GreenFaith.
The increasing involvement of Hindus in the conservation
of the world’s natural environment is greatly welcomed. I
hope that the Bhumi Project will have a galvanising effect
on the whole Hindu Community world wide.
— His Royal Highness The Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh
I commend the Bhumi Project for their efforts to clean
sacred cities and the pilgrimage routes around them. I
encourage all Hindus to take part in the work that the
Bhumi Project is doing, and to support them in all their
endeavors.
— Sri Rameshbhai Oza
www.bhumiproject.org
For more information and enquires, please contact:
Gopal Patel, Director: gopal@bhumiproject.org