Loka Institute

About us

The Loka Institute is a non-profit research and advocacy organization concerned with the social, political, and environmental repercussions of research, science and technology. Loka works to make science and technology more responsive to social and environmental concerns by expanding opportunities for grassroots, public-interest group, everyday citizen, and worker involvement in vital facets of science and technology practices and policies.

Loka's Vision: To kindle a vibrant popular movement for community-driven policies in research, science, and technology that will advance democracy, social justice, and ecological sustainability at every level - from neighborhoods to nations.

In this high-stakes century, community-initiated and community-directed policies for research and technology are among the most powerful new tools available to nurture the health of families, communities, and the local ecologies they depend upon. Families and neighborhoods under the most stress stand to gain the most from such social change. Research and technology policies are now primarily driven by the competitive needs of corporations and militaries - not by collaborative community efforts to address our most pressing social and environmental problems. Community-driven policies will shift public attention and financial resources from that top-down approach to grassroots priorities.

Yet community-based research is still dramatically under-funded. And promising new methods to help communities participate with far more breadth and depth in decisions about the design and use of technologies are even more rarely applied. At a time when advanced technologies so profoundly change our lives, technology policy remains primarily in the hands of scientists, engineers, and the commercial and military interests that support them. To redirect technology policies to meet the most pressing human needs at every sphere of community - locally, nationally, and internationally - a coordinated campaign to bring the missing perspective of communities to the table is essential. Loka has the vision, the credibility, the connections, and the focused sense of purpose to catalyze such a campaign.

Our emphasis on "community" conveys Loka's core commitments. We seek broad inclusiveness and collaboration with all whose lives are touched and who choose to apply their skills and interest to the issue at hand. We convene open dialogues as opportunities for listening, learning, and shared leadership by all participants, especially youth, who are every community's future. We identify, develop, and promote collaborative methods for planning and conducting research and for evaluating technological issues. We honor and help to develop the leadership and expertise of each individual, especially those who have traditionally been marginalized because of race, income, or age.

As per agreement, I / we can offer other net participants expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion and deliver a lecture in the field of our work.