The Peoples and citizens, their networks and organisations, are already starting to converge their efforts and proposals to Rio+20. All participants who wish to nurture this process are invited to link and share their initiatives, their thoughts and their proposals.

 

This convergence has started since 2010 in various forms in different regions of the world. It will intensify until early June 2012, building on the agenda of important international events of 2011 and 2012 (G20, Social Forum of Porto Alegre… see the section Stages).

 

To move forward together towards the same horizon, it is necessary to keep in mind which will be the actors, the spaces, the key issues of debate and the stakes placed at the heart of the process.

 

 

The actors and the spaces

Three key actors will be present at Rio:

1. Governments and heads of state gathered in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (commonly called the “Earth Summit”).

2. Non-Governmental Organisations of the UN system, grouped  in 9 socio-professional groups within an informal Stakeholder Forum: women, children and youth, indigenous peoples, local authorities, NGOs, workers and unions, businesses and industries, scientific and technological communities, farmers and peasants (the groups groups have their own 2 (or more) Organising Partners (OP).

3. Citizens and organisations of civil society, i.e. social movements, multiple networks and thematic or socio-professional organisations, among them migrants, religious and spiritual leaders, social leaders, artists, journalists, urban planners, fishermen, lawyers, elected politicians and parliamentarians, the military, unions, educators and teachers, municipalities and cities… to name a few. They will form a “Peoples Summit” that will not be a parallel summit nor a counter summit, but rather a fundamental actor for Rio+20.

 

 

The key issues

Three key issues are being debated, underlying those raised by sustainability and the conceptual framework proposed by the United Nations.

1. What ethics do we need to lay the groundwork for a new civilization facing the dangers of the world today, founding new lifestyles and opening new perspectives to the human adventure in the early 21st century?

2. What organisation should be conceived to build a new global governance?

3. How to build a sustainable economy capable of coping with poverty and the concentration of wealth?

 

 

The challenges

There are now three challenges that the world community must address:

1. Controlling climate change;

2. Designing a new architecture of global governance;

3. The transition to a new model of civilisation.

 

To face these challenges and develop strategies for change, it will be inevitably necessary to experiment with new ways to interact, build proposals and alliances to promote them. Three closely interrelated efforts are needed:

  • Reflect the global diversity: i.e. how to ensure that stakeholders from all regions of the world and all social and professional environments can join in the march.
  • Bring together the proposals and build a connecting and systemic vision: this needs an effort requiring synthesis and linking of proposals.
  • Experiment with modes of dialogue combining effective participation, interactivity and conceptual enhancement.