The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote systemic solutions to today’s social and environmental crises. Our in-depth educational work seeks to reveal the root causes of those crises—from unemployment to climate change, from ethnic conflict to loss of biodiversity— while promoting grassroots and policy-level strategies for ecological and community renewal.

For over three decades ISEC, and its predecessor, The Ladakh Project, have organized, hosted and delivered hundreds of lectures, film screenings, workshops and international conferences across the world – from high on the Tibetan plateau to the UK, from Australia to South Africa, Japan and the USA. Our staff experts regularly participate in events ranging in size from informal community meetings to large international gatherings. We also produce books, articles, pamphlets and films. Our materials are used in high school and university classrooms internationally and have been invaluable resources for individuals and NGOs in every corner of the world. In total our books and films have been translated into nearly 50 different languages. Please visit our ISEC website to learn more about our work.

Our other films

Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh (1993)

In early 1993, ISEC completed an hour-long documentary film, Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, based on Helena Norberg-Hodge's book of the same title. Responses to the film exceeded all our expectations. In America, it won top honors (a 'Gold Apple') in its category at the National Educational Film and Video Festival. In England it was a lead film at the London International Environmental Film Festival. It was also broadcast nationwide on Canadian television, as part of David Suzuki's popular series, 'The Nature of Things'.

Ancient Futures is a timeless classic providing a richly intimate look at the traditional culture of Ladakh, and an unflinching description of the psychological, social, and environmental costs of western-style 'modernization'. The film chronicles some of the negative impacts that unfolded in Ladakh after it was opened to “development” in 1975. The story of Ladakh teaches us about the root causes of our own social and ecological challenges and provokes viewers to re-examine the meaning of "progress". Profound insights into what the modern world can learn from traditional cultures make Ancient Futures an inspiration for all who seek a better world.

Together with the book, Ancient Futures has been translated into more than forty languages - from Spanish to Burmese, from Czech to Navajo. In all of these languages and many more, people around the world have told us, "This is our story too."

Paradise with Side Effects (2004)

Paradise with Side Effects follows two Ladakhi women on a trip to England as part of an ISEC “reality tour.” ISEC's reality tours introduce Ladakhi participants to everyday life in the West as it really is, thereby helping to balance some of the glamorised images of the modern world that are generated by tourism, advertising and the media. Claus Schenk originally made this film for German and French television.