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Protect the Future!. Globalisation and Development: Recent Debates and Policies. Protect the Future!. Eco-politics: radical democracy and participation social justice and solidarity environment future generations
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Protect the Future! Globalisation and Development: Recent Debates and Policies
Protect the Future! Eco-politics: radical democracy and participation social justice and solidarity environment future generations Founded in 2000, working with 30 committed activists and staff, and 700 registered supporters Védegylet is…
Activities • REFUGE: legal assistance and campaigning for preserving local environmental and cultural heritage • Ombudsman for Future Generations – and for Europe! • Policy proposals, lobbying and campaigning: forestry, agriculture, public services, climate policy • Awareness raising, public education: publications, conferences, debates, films, festivals • Supporting alternatives, demonstration projects: Fair Trade, organic farming, participative governance
Alterglob Working Group Globalisation: not anti, but critical! • Understanding globalisation: publications, conferences, festivals • GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services): position papers, lobbying • GATS-free zones in Hungary • Public services on the market: research and publications • Trade policy and fair trade
The project:Capacity building for NGOs & local grass-roots organisations in the Czech Republic and Hungary to raise awareness in development issues. Building capacity for Glopolis (CS) and Védegylet (HU) and their local partners to develop a coherent strategy of awareness raising and knowledge, skills & techniques for agenda setting & influencing public opinion. Organisations involved in the project: • Weltwirtschaft, Ökologie & Entwicklung - WEED, Germany (lead org.) • Védegylet Egyesület (“Protect the Future”), Hungary (consortium member) • 3. Prague Global Policy Institute - Glopolis, Czech Republic
Activities: • Course • Research • Publication • Campaigning The course: The course beginning in Autumn, 2007 aims at giving an introduction to: • development theories • development policies • international development institutions • meanings of sustainability • indicators of development • major North-South/development-related issues, such as trade, debt, aid, investment and finance, etc.
Development in CEE Dev is reduced to its economic meaning. • Regime change was accompanied by a deep economic depression. • Social dev has been relatively high in CEE (‘primature born welfare state’), • Regime change led to political dev • Environmental quality have improved. However: • Economic growth of the past decade has not been able to reduce social inequalities, on the contrary. • New ecological problems (climate change) • Formal democracy. There is a need to redefine development.
Development in CEE There is a lack of global solidarity and global consciousness in CEE countries. • No colonial past: no feeling of responisibility or guilt towards poor countries. • ‘Communist solidarity’ devaluated the meaning of international solidarity, global responisbility. • Lack of knowledge about the ‘3rd world’. • Self-pity and self-centred thinking. However: • We are part of the developed world (OECD, EU) • Globalisation brings somehow similar challenges everywhere. There is a need to (re)invent our place, our role in global development.
Development in CEE: questions to be answered • How far is the crisis of development obvious for people in CEE countries? Is there a crisis anyway? Why (not)? • Is there any chance for CEE to find its own development path under the conditions of globalisation? • If so, what would be this path? Are there any dev alternatives present here? • Who would be the main change agents in this respect? Civil society organisations? Others? What is the relation between them (us)? • How can we link our dev problems to global challenges? What kind of dev discourse would best fit our cultural and political legacy? • What are the similarities between our problems and the ‘3rd world’? • What role could CEE countries play in global dev?