What it’s all about
Do you care about democracy? Do you want to find ways to make sure that everyone lives in a healthy environment and in a world that is fair for people now and in the future? Are you concerned that our current democracies are unable to tackle the challenges of sustainable development. Then this website is for you.
Read the Manifesto for Democracy and Sustainability. Take a look at what people around the world are doing. And if you’d like to get involved, sign up to join us and share your thoughts about what is already happening or could happen.
Together, if we take immediate action, we can re-shape democracy so that it becomes a powerful force for sustainability. This website is about sharing ideas and actions so that we get there.
Introducing the Manifesto for Democracy and Sustainability
Watch our fun video, read the Manifesto, look around the site, and sign up to get involved!
Featured member: Jane Davidson from INSPIRE
Founder member Jane Davidson, Director of the Institute of Sustainable Practice, Innovation and Resource Effectiveness at the University of Wales, talks about why we need the Manifesto.
Ripples from the Manifesto
Gathering examples of putting it into practice
Signing up to the Manifesto involves a commitment to sharing ideas and examples of work and actions that put the Principles of the Manifesto into practice. One year on from our launch we have started to gather and publish these examples on this website. Under each Manifesto Principle or Theme you can click through to “Putting it into practice”, here you will find the examples we’ve been sent or had suggested to us.
Here are just a few examples;
Nick Perks of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust has told us of their new Sustainable Futures grant programme. Further details can be found on the Trust’s own website at www.jrct.org.uk/sustainable-future
Tom Wakeford pointed us in the direction of The Democratising Food and Agricultural Research Initiative which aims “to make the voices of small scale producers and other excluded citizens heard – and count – in the governance and process of agricultural research”. Details of their regional projects are on their own website at www.excludedvoices.org
From The Access Initiative we heard about their work on procedural rights and ability of communities to influence decisions about their natural resources, on both an international and a local level. Their work, along with that of their recently merged sister team, the Governance of Forests Initiative, “operate within the space created at the intersection of environmental sustainability and democracy under the belief that when procedural rights are upheld, the result is better environmental management.” You can read more about their work and sign up for their newsletter at www.accessinitiative.org
Call for social media Advocates to spread the word
Do you care about democracy, fairness and the environment? Frustrated that connections between these important issues are rarely considered? Faced with challenges such as climate change and growing inequalities, we urgently need to re-imagine and strengthen our democratic ideas and practices so that we can build a more sustainable future. And it is only in a sustainable world that democracy in turn can truly flourish. This demands creative thinking and action…. Do you want to be part of this process of change?
This Manifesto is about sharing ideas and actions so that we get there. We’re looking for social media Advocates to spread the word and support our online activities. If you are interested and would like to help manage our Facebook and Twitter accounts, or if you would like to help develop the website, please contact us at: manifesto at fdsd dot org
We are looking for a commitment of about two to three hours per week for an initial six-month period. Our key criteria are simple: you are excited about supporting the goals of the Manifesto and passionate about networking with others in the democracy and sustainability space. We can pay a contribution to living expenses to the tune of a London living wage.
Watch our video
Take a look at our four-minute video, where people from around the world make the case for change so that democracy works better for sustainability.
Read what others are saying
Article about the Manifesto in Coop News: Coops encouraged to get involved in building a sustainable democracy
Audio interview about the Manifesto and global democracy with Brian Coughlan and Halina Ward (from the website of Platform member Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly)
The launch of the Manifesto was announced by Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal
Huffington Post article on the Manifesto by members John Lotherington, Nick Aveling and Halina Ward
Blog post about the Platform and Manifesto by Salzburg Global Seminar: Cherishing “Democrability”
Article about the Platform and Manifesto by member Dean Tony la Viña in the Manila Standard Today: Democracy and Sustainability
Platform member Miljenko Williams (@eiohel) blog post highlighting the Manifesto
Christian Ecology Link Press Release: Democracy can deliver integrity of creation
FDSD Blog post: Launching the Democracy and Sustainability Platform
Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly article (“Manifesto highlights connection of democracy and sustainability ‘at all levels’”) in English, German, French, and Spanish
Heinrich Boell Foundation blog announcement (in German)
Alliance for Future Generations blog post
International Institute for Environment and Development Press Release
The Access Initiative announcement, en español, in English
Blogging! Publishing! Events!
If you’d like to write about the Democracy and Sustainability Platform or the Manifesto for Democracy and Sustainability, or if you’d like to organise an event in an organisation or community you’re involved with, just let us know.