Laurence Brahm has 25 plus years experience in Asia developing and implementing his own brand of pragmatic, culturally sensitive economic development.

Consensus Communities

Consensus Communities are The Himalayan Consensus paradigm at work. In total, three Consensus Communities are up and running on the Tibetan Plateau with plans for another community in Nepal is underway. Read the following articles to learn more.

  • Small can be Beautiful

    Sep 30, 2007

    Professor Muhammad Yunus has altered our understanding of traditional economic theories and micro-economic lending through his Bangladesh-based ‘Grameen Bank’, a bank which gives small loans to impoverished Bangladeshi women in order to assist them in starting their own business and lifting themselves out of poverty. What makes the Grameen Bank unique is that it does not loan on the basis of collateral as an assurance that the loan will be paid back, but on a simple relationship of trust between the Bank and its creditors. The results have been astoundingly successful. Shambhala has taken on this groundbreaking approach to micro-financing with a number of initiatives in Tibet, not only by supplying financing, but by becoming an investor in these small but life-changing micro-enterprises.

  • Tibetan Artisan Jewellery Revival

    Jun 30, 2007

    Although there is no shortage of Tibetan looking traditional jewellery available in Lhasa and beyond, the traditional art of making genuine Tibetan jewellery by Tibetans, is slipping away into obscurity. In fact, most traditional style jewelry in Lhasa today is imported from China. Shambhala has established a Tibetan jewellery revival co-operative in Lhasa’s historic Barkhor area, where underprivileged, marginalized and unemployed Tibetan women are gaining empowerment and skills by making and selling traditional and new-age jewellery.

  • Mala Bead Breakfast Club

    Feb 9, 2007

    Mala Beads are used in Tibetan Buddhism as a way of reciting mantras, connecting with the Buddhist universe, refocusing the mind, helping to bring order to the chaotic world around us, and even as an everyday fashion item. A close-knit group of Tibetan women and nuns gather everyday in Lhasa’s’ Barkhor Square, the cultural and spiritual centre of Tibet, to make these mala beads. With input from Shambhala, this group has been able to turn their past-time into a micro-enterprise which brings income to its members and helps sustain an important traditional Tibetan craft.

  • Helping The Blind See Again

    Jul 31, 2007

    A partnership between Seva, an organization which provides eye care operations and services, and Menzikhang, Tibet’s only traditional medicine hospital, is bringing back light to Tibetans who once lived out their lives in darkness. In the hospital and in satellite clinics, doctors are performing hundreds of cataract operations for those Tibetans who normally could not afford it, while at the same time facilitating skills transfers from Western, Indian and Nepali doctors to local Tibetan doctors. The initiative has been structured to allow the Menzikhang hospital and other partner clinics to become self-sustaining in their eye-operations over time, and local input has witnessed a unique fusion between the healing benefits of Western and traditional Tibetan medicine.

  • 社会企业 逆市而行

    Nov 14, 2008

    美国人龙安志在西藏开展大量半公益性质项目，涉及白内障手术、复兴藏区绿松石、藏区孩子计划等。龙安志先生旨在通过帮扶伤残藏民的微型股份计划来推动藏民搞经济，促进当地发展，提高藏区人民生活水平和鼓励藏族身份认同及获得更高的生存价值。而这项事业对龙安志而言是一项真正有意义的使命，在帮助他人的同事也获得真正的幸福