Brief Summary:

The launch of Earth One India signals the start of a new phase for Earth One gatherings—one focused on action. Drawing from the insights gained during this upcoming immersion, we will establish a new Water Guild dedicated to pursuing key objectives identified through our collective discussions.

This Guild will operate for one year, meeting both virtually and in person at strategic milestones to advance its goals. It will also leverage external platforms—such as international conferences, think tanks, and summits—to amplify its impact on a global scale. Beyond those attending the Earth One India immersion, the Guild will engage key stakeholders, subject-matter experts, and global allies to further this shared mission.

Selection & Initiation

• Patrons: Chairs of Biocultures Guild, Manvendra Singh, and the Resilience Guild, Agam Khare, as established during the Atlantic Crossing. Through this event will be seeding the new Water Guild.
• Site Selection: The hosts are spearheading land-based projects that inspired the mission of this Guild.
• Curation of Guild Members: Immersion participation was determined through collective curation by the Earth One team and immersion hosts as well as an open call to the Earth One Alliance for applications and nominations. Additional stakeholders, individuals and institutions are added to the Guild through the engagement of the initial Guild Members and wider Earth One Alliance.

Guild

Please note that this is all a DRAFT proposal: details to be aligned on and worked out by the Guild Members as facilitated by the Steward.

Mission

• Mission Statement: Protect water security through ecosystem restoration.
• How might we? Deepen the narrative of water conservation beyond infrastructure innovation to ecosystem restoration.
• Key Objectives (3-5):
  1. Transform the global paradigm of water conservation to center ecosystem-based approaches:
     1. At the policy level.
     2. At the investment level.
     3. At the storytelling / narrative / global convening / movement-building level.
  2. Create momentum and shared learnings for watershed protection projects in bioregions around the world.
     1. Guild to identify 3-5 bioregions in the world to focus on where Guild members are active practitioners. Here are some proposals based on Guild Member composition:
        1. India - Himalaya watershed / Ganga River watershed (?)
        2. Andes
        3. Aotearoa (?)
        4. Great Green Wall of Africa
        5. Amazon Sacred Headwaters
     2. Regional coordination of water and soil conservation projects for solidarity and international steering committee with select representatives to open pathways of shared learning.
  3. Bridge the investment and governance gap (or overcome other barriers) for the selected bioregional projects.
     1. Identify investment needs per bioregion. Identify financial vehicles to direct funds. Funder <> bioregion matching.
     2. Identify governance mechanisms to facilitate bioregional projects (ie. does policy need to change, are there barriers, can we create enabling conditions to support these pathways).
     3. Identify other barriers to an ecosystemic approach for water conservation in each bioregion and what is needed to overcome those barriers.
  4. Present case study at the XIX World Water Congress in Marrakech in December 2025 (or other global platforms throughout the year).
• Final Outcome: the Guild is a genuine coalition / community-of-practice supporting each other.

Structure