by kultur.work | Sep 23, 2015 | News and Comment
In his latest essay Climate Policy: Democracy is not an inconvenience, Professor Nico Stehr—founding director of the European Center for Sustainability Research—reflects on the growing number of climate scientists who are not only expressing their impatience with...
by kultur.work | Sep 16, 2015 | News and Comment
Ecological crises can make politics horrible: panic-inducing scarcity, ethnic and religious conflict, hunger driven imperialism. In his latest essay “Climate Apocalypse and/or Democracy”, Professor Jedediah Purdy is shedding light on the fact that an...
by Ann Thorpe | Jul 25, 2015 | News and Comment
Felix Dodd has blogged about this new book, Governance for Sustainable Development, that collects the best insights from three recent workshops held by the “Group of Friends of the Governance for Sustainable Development” that was created to help prepare the Rio + 20...
by Cat Tully | Jun 22, 2015
There is an opportunity now for the Government to learn from the comprehensive Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act and establish an early form of a Future Generations Commissioner for the whole UK by October’s Budget. The danger is that in the forthcoming...
by Ann Thorpe | Jun 20, 2015 | News and Comment
The group 10:10 “is about doing practical stuff that helps solve climate change” and has a particular interest in community energy. In 2013 the group helped set up a renewable energy co-op in Balcombe, refocusing a “fracking village” around solar power. The Back...
by Ann Thorpe | Jun 12, 2015 | News and Comment
You’re probably familiar with the United Nation’s (UN)Millenium Development Goals (MDG), adopted in 2000, for improving well being for the world’s poorest. They carried the tagline, “we can end poverty.” It’s estimated that roughly 40% of the eight goals, listed at...
by Ann Thorpe | May 25, 2015 | News and Comment
“There remains a democratic deficit within planning.” -Five Radical Ideas for a Better Planning System A group at University College London’s Bartlett School of Planning, led by Professor Yvonne Rydin, has proposed five radical ideas for better planning, with two...
by Ann Thorpe | May 16, 2015
A right to know, a right to be heard, a right to access justice The Access Initiative and the World Resources Institute will launch the first ever Environmental Democracy Index (EDI) on May 20th at the National Press Club. Speakers Avi Garbow (Keynote...
by Ann Thorpe | May 16, 2015 | News and Comment
The Access Initiative and the World Resources Institute are launching the first ever Environmental Democracy Index (EDI) on May 20th. EDI is the first index to measure how well countries’ national laws protect environmental democracy rights, namely, the right of the...
by Ann Thorpe | Apr 27, 2015 | News and Comment
In March the European Environment Agency published its State and Outlook Environment Report (SOER) 2015 (available here). The report highlights innovations in governance needed for long term sustainability. In addition, a section of the SOER website highlights global...
by Ann Thorpe | Apr 24, 2015 | News and Comment
How should we account for the fact that a great deal of environmental damage associated with one’s own country actually occurs overseas? For example, Chinese manufacturers making our shoes, electronics and bicycles emit a lot of carbon on our behalf. Are...
by Graham Smith | Apr 23, 2015
An Office for Future Generations is an independent institution designed to promote long-term interests in the political process. A small number of examples exist in countries such as Hungary – and very soon Wales. This report, first published in 2015, supports the...
by Andrea Westall | Oct 20, 2014
The German Council for Sustainable Development advises “the government on its sustainable development policy and, by presenting proposals for targets and indicators, seeks to advance the Sustainability Strategy as well as propose projects for its realization.”...
by Andrea Westall | Oct 20, 2014
The Canadian Commisioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development is appointed by the Auditor General of Canada for a seven year term, and “provides parliamentarians with objective, independent analysis and recommendations on the federal government’s efforts to...
by Andrea Westall | Oct 20, 2014
The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights in Hungary is responsible particularly for the rights of children, nationalities in Hungary, vulnerable social groups, and the interests of future generations. He or she has Deputy Commissioners, elected by the Hungarian...
by Andrea Westall | Oct 20, 2014
The Committee for the Future in Finland is a Standing Permanent Committee of 17 parliamentarians representing all parties and is underpinned by the Constitution. They deliberate about matters affecting future development, research and the impacts of technological...
by Ann Thorpe | Oct 13, 2014
2015 October Policy Dialogue: “Democracy In a Sustainable Future” (Minnesota, October 13-15, 2015), co-organized by Club de Madrid and Partnership for Change. An international conference in Minneapolis, co-hosted by the University of Minnesota.This Policy Dialogue...
by Andrea Westall | Aug 28, 2014
FDSD submitted a response on 1st September 2015 to the Environmental Audit Committee’s consultation on The Government’s Approach to Sustainable Development. The EAC’s consultation aims to stocktake the current UK Government approach to sustainable...
by Ann Thorpe | May 7, 2014
7 May 2015 Policy Dialogue: “Reconciling Democratic Governance and Sustainability: Trends and Remedies”, Oslo, May 2015; organized by Partnership for Change (PfC). This Policy Dialogue will be focused on Next Generation Democracy (NGD) track III (‘Resources and...
by Andrea Westall | Nov 21, 2012
Nicolò Wojewoda asks whether we can draw lessons about the strengths and limits of unelected government from the recent Italian experience of technocracy, not party political government. Mario Monti became Italian Prime Minister of a technocratic government to deal...
