International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #30
July 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES)
An inspiring network
The poor communities of Cape Verde organize themselves
A strategy to fight against poverty
German Conference on Solidarity Economy
Berlin, November 24th – 26th, 2006
France and rights of immigrants
Three battlefronts
************
Message from the Editorial Team
With this issue, we have practically finished three years of publication of this Newsletter. For your information, please note that each issue is sent to nearly 200 addresses, and that each number is disseminated more widely within certain organizations. Therefore, there are several hundred people throughout the world who receive this newsletter via email.
As the comments received are generally favourable, and very few people have stopped subscribing since the first number in the fall of 2003, we believe our work is useful. Thus, we intend to continue as long as we are capable, or until an organization or a network is willing to take this charge and see it through.
The challenge to produce our newsletter is not on the level of content. Our respective involvements put us in relationships with a considerable number of individuals and in a position to receive much relevant information.
Our main challenge, by far, is to succeed in producing our newsletter in four languages. We find it very important to establish bridges between experts and researchers of four rather widespread languages of use on our planet, that is to say French, Spanish, Portuguese and English. We think that it is important because the majority of our readers know rather well what happens in their cultural space, but often very little in the others. Within the current framework of globalization, any building of an alternative globalization requires this dialogue between people of various languages and cultures. Thus, in this number, we present two articles from countries whose language is Portuguese.
AN URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP
In order to continue our publication in four languages, we are launching an appeal for volunteer translators. Initially, we have an urgent need for translation into Spanish. Our current translator, Anne Vaugelade is returning to the full-time studies this autumn. Thus, the last number which she will be able to translate is the September 1st issue. We would also need more volunteers who are capable of translating into French, or from French towards the three other languages. For Portuguese and English, generally we are relying on one person in each case. In fact, we would prefer having several volunteer translators for each language. This would allow us to allocate timely assignments, in order to reduce the workload of the persons who do the translation on a regular basis. We do not know what we will decide if we do not have anyone who can translate into Spanish or eventually any of the other languages. On the other hand, there is no question of continuing the publication of the Newsletter if we cannot produce it in several languages.
NEXT ISSUE: September 1st, 2006
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
**************************************************************
Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES)
An inspiring network
Although extremely recent, the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES) is an inspiration which is also rich in lessons on how to organize oneself as a network.
At the time of the first World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre in 2001, participants from various areas of Brazil decided to work together to construct of a common platform in order to build an alternative economy to the dominant neo-liberal one. Two years of debates will have been necessary in order to agree on a charter of principles and a common platform.
Created in June of 2003 during the III Brazilian Solidarity Economy Plenary Meeting, the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES) is nowadays the national authority in charge of the organization, discussions, preparation of strategies and mobilization of the Solidarity Economy movement in Brazil. The FBES represents the Solidarity Economy movement regarding the public authority (at federal, state and local level, through its National Coordination and the State and Local Forums), and domestic and international organizations, networks and associations.
Brazil is a vast country of more than 180 million inhabitants, divided in 27 states. Thus, the FBES created its organization based on Forums in each of the 27 states and 16 national organizations or entities. The National Coordination is made up of 97 people, three per state and 16 from the other organizations. This coordination meets twice per year. Furthermore, a National Executive Coordination comprised of 13 individuals ensures a regular follow-up of the FBES. In support of the FBES, a National Executive Secretariat composed of 3 persons supports and leads the whole, ensures the information flow, in particular through a newsletter distributed to over 4000 subscribers.
President Lula, elected in 2002, carried out his promise to create a National Secretariat the Solidarity Economy (SENAES). The FBES and the SENAES organized eight joint Work Groups (WG) in order to concretely promote Solidarity Economy in Brazil: communication, geographic census, legal frameworks, public policies, production, marketing and consumption, international relations, solidarity finances and training.
At present, the FBES is very active in order to promote legislative changes. The years of dictatorship did not favour a suitable legislative framework. Therefore, more than 50% of the 14,000 companies listed are associations. However, the legal framework of associations is not adapted to specificities and the diversity of the businesses of solidarity economy. In the same way, the law of cooperatives, instituted during those years, supports mostly large cooperatives (mainly agri-business). For example, one needs a minimum of 21 members to create a cooperative and the requirements of incorporation and other formalities are such that they put a brake on solidarity economy ventures. Thus, only 8% of the listed businesses are cooperatives.
In June, a first national Conference of scale took place, gathering more than 1,200 participants designated by the forums in the 27 states. In the weeks which preceded this Conference, more than 10,000 people took part in these 27 official state forums.
The Conference was convened by three Departments: Social Development, Agriculture Development, and the SENAES (which is the Department for Employment and Work). The FBES was responsible for a vast movement of mobilization in the states, in order to assure debates and to broaden the participation of the actors of the civil society and the local governments which were not yet aware of Solidarity Economy. The topic of this Conference was: Solidarity Economy as a strategy and policy of development.
It is interesting to note that the BFSE does not yet have the status of a legal association. However, this does not prevent it from having an operation of scale. In comparison with what we know elsewhere, it is undoubtedly possible to say that it is a network, even an organization.
The word “forum” was retained because its original meaning signifies “public place”. Dictionaries give the following definition: “a place where a people held their assemblies and where the public affairs were discussed”.
This article was written following exchanges and discussions with the executive secretary of the FBES, Daniel Tygel, during his mission in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada last May 15th – 27th. A text presenting FBES is available at the following address: www.fbes.org.br/internacional ( English, French and Spanish translations available )
Author: Yvon Poirier
**************************
The poor communities of Cape Verde organize themselves
A strategy to fight poverty
The Program against Poverty in Rural Areas - PPRA, in Cape Verde, has been in effect for the past 5 and half years, with the support of IFAD – the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Inspired from the European LEADER Program, this program takes place over three phases of 3 years in duration.
The first phase (2000-2003), identified as a demonstration, aimed to show the way, to set up the organization of the program which is based on Regional Partnership Commissions (RPC) - one per island - integrating community associations, central and local public organizations (with the obligation of majority decisions by community associations). The second (2004-2006) and third phases (2007-2009) are phases of planning and implementation, of consolidation of the development plan carried out by each RPC.
The basis of the intervention is the mobilization of rural communities and their organization to take charge of their own development. The program already gathers 169 community associations on 5 islands - Santiago, Fogo, Brava, Santo Antão and S. Nicolau.
Last June 3rd – 8th, the participants of the Program met on the island of S. Nicolau for a meeting of reflection and experience sharing on their own intervention. These were very rich days revolving around 4 topics: Local Development and the fight against poverty; Participative Management of community projects; Community animation and Organisational Life. Directors of community associations, managers of the program at the national and regional level and members of public organizations exchanged their information and looked for the best way to achieve success in the fight against poverty. And, the main result is seen when one visits the poor communities - the population united around its own association, defining its own development plan and discussing with the persons in charge of the program and the national institutions the financing of its needs. It was clear to everyone that only the organization of poor communities and their fight for development allow to succeed.
With many problems, the least of which is not financing, the Program against Poverty in Rural Areas of Cape Verde has become a laboratory of intervention and an example for the areas of Africa and Asia. It is always with the awareness that the principal secret of success is the participation of populations in the construction of their own destiny.
Author: Francisco Botelho
************************************
German Conference on Solidarity Economy
Berlin, November 24th – 26th, 2006
Under the theme of How do we want to produce and live? The Solidarity-Based Economy in a Globalized Capitalism, a First National Congress (with international participation) will be held from the November 24th - 26th at Berlin’s Technical University.
The Solidarity-Based Economy is a growing worldwide movement, but yet not well known and acknowledged in Germany, although there is a growing sector of social and solidarity based activities in existence already: Old and new types of cooperatives, charities, social and solidarity enterprises, self managed and alternative enterprises, collective housing initiatives, local exchange and trading systems, fair trade organisations, solidarity finance institutions, producer and consumer and other rural initiatives, integration enterprises and other forms of economic self-help initiatives for and with unemployed, women, ethnic minorities or otherwise socially and/or economically disadvantaged. Although the sector employs almost two million people in Germany, it is not yet visible as such, because it is split up in a number of diverse milieus or approaches which do not know much about each other. Therefore, the congress will bring together these different activists, exchange experiences and organise a theoretical as well as practical debate about the underlying concepts and strategies. Furthermore, the congress will bridge the gap between economic self-help initiatives and the more politically oriented activists from other social movements. The time has come to work together for another type of economy based on democratic, social and/or ecological values aiming at socially useful products and services for the common good in an empowering, peaceful and socially just environment. To achieve this, the congress will offer an open space for exchange of experiences, controversial debate and learning from each other, including examples from abroad, representing Africa, Asia, Latin and Northern America, Eastern and Western Europe.
The programme is designed around 9 Forums with plenary sessions and workshops:
1. Good practise in the solidarity based economy: room for presentations and exchange of practical experiences
2. The solidarity based economy in education and training, science and research
3. The solidarity based economy and neo-liberalism:
precarious jobs, individualisation and social decline;
privatisation of services for the common good;
ambivalence of the self-help concept;
basic income strategies
4. Perspectives, opportunities and constraints of the solidarity based economy within the context of globalisation
5. Lifestyle and the solidarity based economy – from an individual perspective
6. Who owns the world? – The role of ownership in the solidarity based economy
7. The solidarity based economy – a worldwide movement: international experiences and co-operations
8. Working differently – practical tools for enterprises in the solidarity based economy
9. Political framework and necessary support structures for the solidarity based economy
Note: The term solidarity based economy is used here synonymously for related terms like social economy, community economy, third system, economía popular, people centred development etc.
Contact: Dagmar Embshoff, Bewegungsakademie e.V., Artilleriestr. 6, D-27283 Verden,
Tel.: +49-4231-957 512,
Email: info@solidarische-oekonomie.de,
website: www.solidarische-oekonomie.de
or: Karl Birkhölzer, TU Berlin, FR 4-8, Franklinstr. 28/29, D-10587 Berlin,
Tel.: +49-30-314 73394
Email: Karl.Birkhoelzer@tu-berlin.de
******************************************
France and rights of immigrants
Three battlefronts
Initiative to reject a disposable immigration policy, undignified of a country proclaiming human rights.
The new reform of the Code of Entry and Stay of foreigners and the right of asylum (CESEDA) has led to a radical negation of the basic rights of the person. It even more radically restricts the right to stay for families, spouses, and children of all those who build their lives in France. It ratifies the near disappearance of a tool for “integration” known as the resident card. It also attacks the stay of the foreign patients.
The project fits deliberately into a utilitarian prospect. The government proclaims its will to rampage the skills and talents in the world (which it wants). Only the foreigner perceived as profitable for the French economy will be “acceptable”. This project creates a new category of immigrant workers for whom the duration of their stay is limited to goodwill of their employer. Furthermore, the suppression of the right to stay permit, for foreigners having lived for at least ten years in France, has condemned them to be without papers in perpetuity. The project will be much more selective for the entry of the foreign students as well.
As for foreigners with papers, the right to live as a family becomes a challenge: the government is considering making more difficult the conditions for family regrouping (resources, housing, opinion of the mayor on the “integration” of the family). It throws suspicion on the foreign fathers of French children, who will have to justify of their paternity.
Knowing that a reform of the right of asylum should largely reduce the conditions for granting the statute of refugee, it is the entire rights of foreigners which are in danger. It is responsibility for each one among us to react. By stigmatizing foreigners, the government tries to oppose us one against the other as it sells off fundamental freedoms.
For more information and to sign the petition : www.contreimmigrationjetable.org
A campaign for the voting rights of all the residents of France, regardless of their nationality
The timeframe of 2007-2009, with the presidential, legislative, local and European elections, is particularly favourable to advance and to challenge all the political organizations, all the candidates, all the elected officials in place.
In the European Union, 17 countries out of 25 have a legislation more advanced than France: Spain is on the point of taking a step ahead, while the question is being discussed in Italy. In Belgium, the non EU foreign residents will take part on October 8th, for the first time, in the local elections.
Will France be the last country of the EU to give the voting and eligibility rights to all its residents regardless of their nationality?
In the absence of being able to change the law directly, all the inhabitants of this country are being asked to participate in “Voting citizen” from October 16th – 22nd, 2006. An important mobilization should result prior to important electoral deadlines.
For more information and to sign the LDH petition : pavlina.novotny@ldh-france.org
A collective support by poets for the children of families without papers
After June 30, 2006 the circular suspending the evictions of children without papers but who have been educated becomes null and void. Hundreds of children will then in danger of being detained with their families and put by force on airplanes.
Because the deportation of rejects is definitely unacceptable: companions, friends and brothers let us fight with our words, since we only have this strength.
For more information and to sign the petition: http://poetes.hautetfort.com/
Information gathered by Martine Theveniaut
*****************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Saturday, July 15, 2006
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #30
July 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES)
An inspiring network
The poor communities of Cape Verde organize themselves
A strategy to fight against poverty
German Conference on Solidarity Economy
Berlin, November 24th – 26th, 2006
France and rights of immigrants
Three battlefronts
************
Message from the Editorial Team
With this issue, we have practically finished three years of publication of this Newsletter. For your information, please note that each issue is sent to nearly 200 addresses, and that each number is disseminated more widely within certain organizations. Therefore, there are several hundred people throughout the world who receive this newsletter via email.
As the comments received are generally favourable, and very few people have stopped subscribing since the first number in the fall of 2003, we believe our work is useful. Thus, we intend to continue as long as we are capable, or until an organization or a network is willing to take this charge and see it through.
The challenge to produce our newsletter is not on the level of content. Our respective involvements put us in relationships with a considerable number of individuals and in a position to receive much relevant information.
Our main challenge, by far, is to succeed in producing our newsletter in four languages. We find it very important to establish bridges between experts and researchers of four rather widespread languages of use on our planet, that is to say French, Spanish, Portuguese and English. We think that it is important because the majority of our readers know rather well what happens in their cultural space, but often very little in the others. Within the current framework of globalization, any building of an alternative globalization requires this dialogue between people of various languages and cultures. Thus, in this number, we present two articles from countries whose language is Portuguese.
AN URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP
In order to continue our publication in four languages, we are launching an appeal for volunteer translators. Initially, we have an urgent need for translation into Spanish. Our current translator, Anne Vaugelade is returning to the full-time studies this autumn. Thus, the last number which she will be able to translate is the September 1st issue. We would also need more volunteers who are capable of translating into French, or from French towards the three other languages. For Portuguese and English, generally we are relying on one person in each case. In fact, we would prefer having several volunteer translators for each language. This would allow us to allocate timely assignments, in order to reduce the workload of the persons who do the translation on a regular basis. We do not know what we will decide if we do not have anyone who can translate into Spanish or eventually any of the other languages. On the other hand, there is no question of continuing the publication of the Newsletter if we cannot produce it in several languages.
NEXT ISSUE: September 1st, 2006
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
**************************************************************
Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES)
An inspiring network
Although extremely recent, the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES) is an inspiration which is also rich in lessons on how to organize oneself as a network.
At the time of the first World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre in 2001, participants from various areas of Brazil decided to work together to construct of a common platform in order to build an alternative economy to the dominant neo-liberal one. Two years of debates will have been necessary in order to agree on a charter of principles and a common platform.
Created in June of 2003 during the III Brazilian Solidarity Economy Plenary Meeting, the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES) is nowadays the national authority in charge of the organization, discussions, preparation of strategies and mobilization of the Solidarity Economy movement in Brazil. The FBES represents the Solidarity Economy movement regarding the public authority (at federal, state and local level, through its National Coordination and the State and Local Forums), and domestic and international organizations, networks and associations.
Brazil is a vast country of more than 180 million inhabitants, divided in 27 states. Thus, the FBES created its organization based on Forums in each of the 27 states and 16 national organizations or entities. The National Coordination is made up of 97 people, three per state and 16 from the other organizations. This coordination meets twice per year. Furthermore, a National Executive Coordination comprised of 13 individuals ensures a regular follow-up of the FBES. In support of the FBES, a National Executive Secretariat composed of 3 persons supports and leads the whole, ensures the information flow, in particular through a newsletter distributed to over 4000 subscribers.
President Lula, elected in 2002, carried out his promise to create a National Secretariat the Solidarity Economy (SENAES). The FBES and the SENAES organized eight joint Work Groups (WG) in order to concretely promote Solidarity Economy in Brazil: communication, geographic census, legal frameworks, public policies, production, marketing and consumption, international relations, solidarity finances and training.
At present, the FBES is very active in order to promote legislative changes. The years of dictatorship did not favour a suitable legislative framework. Therefore, more than 50% of the 14,000 companies listed are associations. However, the legal framework of associations is not adapted to specificities and the diversity of the businesses of solidarity economy. In the same way, the law of cooperatives, instituted during those years, supports mostly large cooperatives (mainly agri-business). For example, one needs a minimum of 21 members to create a cooperative and the requirements of incorporation and other formalities are such that they put a brake on solidarity economy ventures. Thus, only 8% of the listed businesses are cooperatives.
In June, a first national Conference of scale took place, gathering more than 1,200 participants designated by the forums in the 27 states. In the weeks which preceded this Conference, more than 10,000 people took part in these 27 official state forums.
The Conference was convened by three Departments: Social Development, Agriculture Development, and the SENAES (which is the Department for Employment and Work). The FBES was responsible for a vast movement of mobilization in the states, in order to assure debates and to broaden the participation of the actors of the civil society and the local governments which were not yet aware of Solidarity Economy. The topic of this Conference was: Solidarity Economy as a strategy and policy of development.
It is interesting to note that the BFSE does not yet have the status of a legal association. However, this does not prevent it from having an operation of scale. In comparison with what we know elsewhere, it is undoubtedly possible to say that it is a network, even an organization.
The word “forum” was retained because its original meaning signifies “public place”. Dictionaries give the following definition: “a place where a people held their assemblies and where the public affairs were discussed”.
This article was written following exchanges and discussions with the executive secretary of the FBES, Daniel Tygel, during his mission in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada last May 15th – 27th. A text presenting FBES is available at the following address: www.fbes.org.br/internacional ( English, French and Spanish translations available )
Author: Yvon Poirier
**************************
The poor communities of Cape Verde organize themselves
A strategy to fight poverty
The Program against Poverty in Rural Areas - PPRA, in Cape Verde, has been in effect for the past 5 and half years, with the support of IFAD – the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Inspired from the European LEADER Program, this program takes place over three phases of 3 years in duration.
The first phase (2000-2003), identified as a demonstration, aimed to show the way, to set up the organization of the program which is based on Regional Partnership Commissions (RPC) - one per island - integrating community associations, central and local public organizations (with the obligation of majority decisions by community associations). The second (2004-2006) and third phases (2007-2009) are phases of planning and implementation, of consolidation of the development plan carried out by each RPC.
The basis of the intervention is the mobilization of rural communities and their organization to take charge of their own development. The program already gathers 169 community associations on 5 islands - Santiago, Fogo, Brava, Santo Antão and S. Nicolau.
Last June 3rd – 8th, the participants of the Program met on the island of S. Nicolau for a meeting of reflection and experience sharing on their own intervention. These were very rich days revolving around 4 topics: Local Development and the fight against poverty; Participative Management of community projects; Community animation and Organisational Life. Directors of community associations, managers of the program at the national and regional level and members of public organizations exchanged their information and looked for the best way to achieve success in the fight against poverty. And, the main result is seen when one visits the poor communities - the population united around its own association, defining its own development plan and discussing with the persons in charge of the program and the national institutions the financing of its needs. It was clear to everyone that only the organization of poor communities and their fight for development allow to succeed.
With many problems, the least of which is not financing, the Program against Poverty in Rural Areas of Cape Verde has become a laboratory of intervention and an example for the areas of Africa and Asia. It is always with the awareness that the principal secret of success is the participation of populations in the construction of their own destiny.
Author: Francisco Botelho
************************************
German Conference on Solidarity Economy
Berlin, November 24th – 26th, 2006
Under the theme of How do we want to produce and live? The Solidarity-Based Economy in a Globalized Capitalism, a First National Congress (with international participation) will be held from the November 24th - 26th at Berlin’s Technical University.
The Solidarity-Based Economy is a growing worldwide movement, but yet not well known and acknowledged in Germany, although there is a growing sector of social and solidarity based activities in existence already: Old and new types of cooperatives, charities, social and solidarity enterprises, self managed and alternative enterprises, collective housing initiatives, local exchange and trading systems, fair trade organisations, solidarity finance institutions, producer and consumer and other rural initiatives, integration enterprises and other forms of economic self-help initiatives for and with unemployed, women, ethnic minorities or otherwise socially and/or economically disadvantaged. Although the sector employs almost two million people in Germany, it is not yet visible as such, because it is split up in a number of diverse milieus or approaches which do not know much about each other. Therefore, the congress will bring together these different activists, exchange experiences and organise a theoretical as well as practical debate about the underlying concepts and strategies. Furthermore, the congress will bridge the gap between economic self-help initiatives and the more politically oriented activists from other social movements. The time has come to work together for another type of economy based on democratic, social and/or ecological values aiming at socially useful products and services for the common good in an empowering, peaceful and socially just environment. To achieve this, the congress will offer an open space for exchange of experiences, controversial debate and learning from each other, including examples from abroad, representing Africa, Asia, Latin and Northern America, Eastern and Western Europe.
The programme is designed around 9 Forums with plenary sessions and workshops:
1. Good practise in the solidarity based economy: room for presentations and exchange of practical experiences
2. The solidarity based economy in education and training, science and research
3. The solidarity based economy and neo-liberalism:
precarious jobs, individualisation and social decline;
privatisation of services for the common good;
ambivalence of the self-help concept;
basic income strategies
4. Perspectives, opportunities and constraints of the solidarity based economy within the context of globalisation
5. Lifestyle and the solidarity based economy – from an individual perspective
6. Who owns the world? – The role of ownership in the solidarity based economy
7. The solidarity based economy – a worldwide movement: international experiences and co-operations
8. Working differently – practical tools for enterprises in the solidarity based economy
9. Political framework and necessary support structures for the solidarity based economy
Note: The term solidarity based economy is used here synonymously for related terms like social economy, community economy, third system, economía popular, people centred development etc.
Contact: Dagmar Embshoff, Bewegungsakademie e.V., Artilleriestr. 6, D-27283 Verden,
Tel.: +49-4231-957 512,
Email: info@solidarische-oekonomie.de,
website: www.solidarische-oekonomie.de
or: Karl Birkhölzer, TU Berlin, FR 4-8, Franklinstr. 28/29, D-10587 Berlin,
Tel.: +49-30-314 73394
Email: Karl.Birkhoelzer@tu-berlin.de
******************************************
France and rights of immigrants
Three battlefronts
Initiative to reject a disposable immigration policy, undignified of a country proclaiming human rights.
The new reform of the Code of Entry and Stay of foreigners and the right of asylum (CESEDA) has led to a radical negation of the basic rights of the person. It even more radically restricts the right to stay for families, spouses, and children of all those who build their lives in France. It ratifies the near disappearance of a tool for “integration” known as the resident card. It also attacks the stay of the foreign patients.
The project fits deliberately into a utilitarian prospect. The government proclaims its will to rampage the skills and talents in the world (which it wants). Only the foreigner perceived as profitable for the French economy will be “acceptable”. This project creates a new category of immigrant workers for whom the duration of their stay is limited to goodwill of their employer. Furthermore, the suppression of the right to stay permit, for foreigners having lived for at least ten years in France, has condemned them to be without papers in perpetuity. The project will be much more selective for the entry of the foreign students as well.
As for foreigners with papers, the right to live as a family becomes a challenge: the government is considering making more difficult the conditions for family regrouping (resources, housing, opinion of the mayor on the “integration” of the family). It throws suspicion on the foreign fathers of French children, who will have to justify of their paternity.
Knowing that a reform of the right of asylum should largely reduce the conditions for granting the statute of refugee, it is the entire rights of foreigners which are in danger. It is responsibility for each one among us to react. By stigmatizing foreigners, the government tries to oppose us one against the other as it sells off fundamental freedoms.
For more information and to sign the petition : www.contreimmigrationjetable.org
A campaign for the voting rights of all the residents of France, regardless of their nationality
The timeframe of 2007-2009, with the presidential, legislative, local and European elections, is particularly favourable to advance and to challenge all the political organizations, all the candidates, all the elected officials in place.
In the European Union, 17 countries out of 25 have a legislation more advanced than France: Spain is on the point of taking a step ahead, while the question is being discussed in Italy. In Belgium, the non EU foreign residents will take part on October 8th, for the first time, in the local elections.
Will France be the last country of the EU to give the voting and eligibility rights to all its residents regardless of their nationality?
In the absence of being able to change the law directly, all the inhabitants of this country are being asked to participate in “Voting citizen” from October 16th – 22nd, 2006. An important mobilization should result prior to important electoral deadlines.
For more information and to sign the LDH petition : pavlina.novotny@ldh-france.org
A collective support by poets for the children of families without papers
After June 30, 2006 the circular suspending the evictions of children without papers but who have been educated becomes null and void. Hundreds of children will then in danger of being detained with their families and put by force on airplanes.
Because the deportation of rejects is definitely unacceptable: companions, friends and brothers let us fight with our words, since we only have this strength.
For more information and to sign the petition: http://poetes.hautetfort.com/
Information gathered by Martine Theveniaut
*****************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #30
July 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES)
An inspiring network
The poor communities of Cape Verde organize themselves
A strategy to fight against poverty
German Conference on Solidarity Economy
Berlin, November 24th – 26th, 2006
France and rights of immigrants
Three battlefronts
************
Message from the Editorial Team
With this issue, we have practically finished three years of publication of this Newsletter. For your information, please note that each issue is sent to nearly 200 addresses, and that each number is disseminated more widely within certain organizations. Therefore, there are several hundred people throughout the world who receive this newsletter via email.
As the comments received are generally favourable, and very few people have stopped subscribing since the first number in the fall of 2003, we believe our work is useful. Thus, we intend to continue as long as we are capable, or until an organization or a network is willing to take this charge and see it through.
The challenge to produce our newsletter is not on the level of content. Our respective involvements put us in relationships with a considerable number of individuals and in a position to receive much relevant information.
Our main challenge, by far, is to succeed in producing our newsletter in four languages. We find it very important to establish bridges between experts and researchers of four rather widespread languages of use on our planet, that is to say French, Spanish, Portuguese and English. We think that it is important because the majority of our readers know rather well what happens in their cultural space, but often very little in the others. Within the current framework of globalization, any building of an alternative globalization requires this dialogue between people of various languages and cultures. Thus, in this number, we present two articles from countries whose language is Portuguese.
AN URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP
In order to continue our publication in four languages, we are launching an appeal for volunteer translators. Initially, we have an urgent need for translation into Spanish. Our current translator, Anne Vaugelade is returning to the full-time studies this autumn. Thus, the last number which she will be able to translate is the September 1st issue. We would also need more volunteers who are capable of translating into French, or from French towards the three other languages. For Portuguese and English, generally we are relying on one person in each case. In fact, we would prefer having several volunteer translators for each language. This would allow us to allocate timely assignments, in order to reduce the workload of the persons who do the translation on a regular basis. We do not know what we will decide if we do not have anyone who can translate into Spanish or eventually any of the other languages. On the other hand, there is no question of continuing the publication of the Newsletter if we cannot produce it in several languages.
NEXT ISSUE: September 1st, 2006
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
**************************************************************
Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES)
An inspiring network
Although extremely recent, the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES) is an inspiration which is also rich in lessons on how to organize oneself as a network.
At the time of the first World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre in 2001, participants from various areas of Brazil decided to work together to construct of a common platform in order to build an alternative economy to the dominant neo-liberal one. Two years of debates will have been necessary in order to agree on a charter of principles and a common platform.
Created in June of 2003 during the III Brazilian Solidarity Economy Plenary Meeting, the Brazilian Forum of Solidarity Economy (FBES) is nowadays the national authority in charge of the organization, discussions, preparation of strategies and mobilization of the Solidarity Economy movement in Brazil. The FBES represents the Solidarity Economy movement regarding the public authority (at federal, state and local level, through its National Coordination and the State and Local Forums), and domestic and international organizations, networks and associations.
Brazil is a vast country of more than 180 million inhabitants, divided in 27 states. Thus, the FBES created its organization based on Forums in each of the 27 states and 16 national organizations or entities. The National Coordination is made up of 97 people, three per state and 16 from the other organizations. This coordination meets twice per year. Furthermore, a National Executive Coordination comprised of 13 individuals ensures a regular follow-up of the FBES. In support of the FBES, a National Executive Secretariat composed of 3 persons supports and leads the whole, ensures the information flow, in particular through a newsletter distributed to over 4000 subscribers.
President Lula, elected in 2002, carried out his promise to create a National Secretariat the Solidarity Economy (SENAES). The FBES and the SENAES organized eight joint Work Groups (WG) in order to concretely promote Solidarity Economy in Brazil: communication, geographic census, legal frameworks, public policies, production, marketing and consumption, international relations, solidarity finances and training.
At present, the FBES is very active in order to promote legislative changes. The years of dictatorship did not favour a suitable legislative framework. Therefore, more than 50% of the 14,000 companies listed are associations. However, the legal framework of associations is not adapted to specificities and the diversity of the businesses of solidarity economy. In the same way, the law of cooperatives, instituted during those years, supports mostly large cooperatives (mainly agri-business). For example, one needs a minimum of 21 members to create a cooperative and the requirements of incorporation and other formalities are such that they put a brake on solidarity economy ventures. Thus, only 8% of the listed businesses are cooperatives.
In June, a first national Conference of scale took place, gathering more than 1,200 participants designated by the forums in the 27 states. In the weeks which preceded this Conference, more than 10,000 people took part in these 27 official state forums.
The Conference was convened by three Departments: Social Development, Agriculture Development, and the SENAES (which is the Department for Employment and Work). The FBES was responsible for a vast movement of mobilization in the states, in order to assure debates and to broaden the participation of the actors of the civil society and the local governments which were not yet aware of Solidarity Economy. The topic of this Conference was: Solidarity Economy as a strategy and policy of development.
It is interesting to note that the BFSE does not yet have the status of a legal association. However, this does not prevent it from having an operation of scale. In comparison with what we know elsewhere, it is undoubtedly possible to say that it is a network, even an organization.
The word “forum” was retained because its original meaning signifies “public place”. Dictionaries give the following definition: “a place where a people held their assemblies and where the public affairs were discussed”.
This article was written following exchanges and discussions with the executive secretary of the FBES, Daniel Tygel, during his mission in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada last May 15th – 27th. A text presenting FBES is available at the following address: www.fbes.org.br/internacional ( English, French and Spanish translations available )
Author: Yvon Poirier
**************************
The poor communities of Cape Verde organize themselves
A strategy to fight poverty
The Program against Poverty in Rural Areas - PPRA, in Cape Verde, has been in effect for the past 5 and half years, with the support of IFAD – the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Inspired from the European LEADER Program, this program takes place over three phases of 3 years in duration.
The first phase (2000-2003), identified as a demonstration, aimed to show the way, to set up the organization of the program which is based on Regional Partnership Commissions (RPC) - one per island - integrating community associations, central and local public organizations (with the obligation of majority decisions by community associations). The second (2004-2006) and third phases (2007-2009) are phases of planning and implementation, of consolidation of the development plan carried out by each RPC.
The basis of the intervention is the mobilization of rural communities and their organization to take charge of their own development. The program already gathers 169 community associations on 5 islands - Santiago, Fogo, Brava, Santo Antão and S. Nicolau.
Last June 3rd – 8th, the participants of the Program met on the island of S. Nicolau for a meeting of reflection and experience sharing on their own intervention. These were very rich days revolving around 4 topics: Local Development and the fight against poverty; Participative Management of community projects; Community animation and Organisational Life. Directors of community associations, managers of the program at the national and regional level and members of public organizations exchanged their information and looked for the best way to achieve success in the fight against poverty. And, the main result is seen when one visits the poor communities - the population united around its own association, defining its own development plan and discussing with the persons in charge of the program and the national institutions the financing of its needs. It was clear to everyone that only the organization of poor communities and their fight for development allow to succeed.
With many problems, the least of which is not financing, the Program against Poverty in Rural Areas of Cape Verde has become a laboratory of intervention and an example for the areas of Africa and Asia. It is always with the awareness that the principal secret of success is the participation of populations in the construction of their own destiny.
Author: Francisco Botelho
************************************
German Conference on Solidarity Economy
Berlin, November 24th – 26th, 2006
Under the theme of How do we want to produce and live? The Solidarity-Based Economy in a Globalized Capitalism, a First National Congress (with international participation) will be held from the November 24th - 26th at Berlin’s Technical University.
The Solidarity-Based Economy is a growing worldwide movement, but yet not well known and acknowledged in Germany, although there is a growing sector of social and solidarity based activities in existence already: Old and new types of cooperatives, charities, social and solidarity enterprises, self managed and alternative enterprises, collective housing initiatives, local exchange and trading systems, fair trade organisations, solidarity finance institutions, producer and consumer and other rural initiatives, integration enterprises and other forms of economic self-help initiatives for and with unemployed, women, ethnic minorities or otherwise socially and/or economically disadvantaged. Although the sector employs almost two million people in Germany, it is not yet visible as such, because it is split up in a number of diverse milieus or approaches which do not know much about each other. Therefore, the congress will bring together these different activists, exchange experiences and organise a theoretical as well as practical debate about the underlying concepts and strategies. Furthermore, the congress will bridge the gap between economic self-help initiatives and the more politically oriented activists from other social movements. The time has come to work together for another type of economy based on democratic, social and/or ecological values aiming at socially useful products and services for the common good in an empowering, peaceful and socially just environment. To achieve this, the congress will offer an open space for exchange of experiences, controversial debate and learning from each other, including examples from abroad, representing Africa, Asia, Latin and Northern America, Eastern and Western Europe.
The programme is designed around 9 Forums with plenary sessions and workshops:
1. Good practise in the solidarity based economy: room for presentations and exchange of practical experiences
2. The solidarity based economy in education and training, science and research
3. The solidarity based economy and neo-liberalism:
precarious jobs, individualisation and social decline;
privatisation of services for the common good;
ambivalence of the self-help concept;
basic income strategies
4. Perspectives, opportunities and constraints of the solidarity based economy within the context of globalisation
5. Lifestyle and the solidarity based economy – from an individual perspective
6. Who owns the world? – The role of ownership in the solidarity based economy
7. The solidarity based economy – a worldwide movement: international experiences and co-operations
8. Working differently – practical tools for enterprises in the solidarity based economy
9. Political framework and necessary support structures for the solidarity based economy
Note: The term solidarity based economy is used here synonymously for related terms like social economy, community economy, third system, economía popular, people centred development etc.
Contact: Dagmar Embshoff, Bewegungsakademie e.V., Artilleriestr. 6, D-27283 Verden,
Tel.: +49-4231-957 512,
Email: info@solidarische-oekonomie.de,
website: www.solidarische-oekonomie.de
or: Karl Birkhölzer, TU Berlin, FR 4-8, Franklinstr. 28/29, D-10587 Berlin,
Tel.: +49-30-314 73394
Email: Karl.Birkhoelzer@tu-berlin.de
******************************************
France and rights of immigrants
Three battlefronts
Initiative to reject a disposable immigration policy, undignified of a country proclaiming human rights.
The new reform of the Code of Entry and Stay of foreigners and the right of asylum (CESEDA) has led to a radical negation of the basic rights of the person. It even more radically restricts the right to stay for families, spouses, and children of all those who build their lives in France. It ratifies the near disappearance of a tool for “integration” known as the resident card. It also attacks the stay of the foreign patients.
The project fits deliberately into a utilitarian prospect. The government proclaims its will to rampage the skills and talents in the world (which it wants). Only the foreigner perceived as profitable for the French economy will be “acceptable”. This project creates a new category of immigrant workers for whom the duration of their stay is limited to goodwill of their employer. Furthermore, the suppression of the right to stay permit, for foreigners having lived for at least ten years in France, has condemned them to be without papers in perpetuity. The project will be much more selective for the entry of the foreign students as well.
As for foreigners with papers, the right to live as a family becomes a challenge: the government is considering making more difficult the conditions for family regrouping (resources, housing, opinion of the mayor on the “integration” of the family). It throws suspicion on the foreign fathers of French children, who will have to justify of their paternity.
Knowing that a reform of the right of asylum should largely reduce the conditions for granting the statute of refugee, it is the entire rights of foreigners which are in danger. It is responsibility for each one among us to react. By stigmatizing foreigners, the government tries to oppose us one against the other as it sells off fundamental freedoms.
For more information and to sign the petition : www.contreimmigrationjetable.org
A campaign for the voting rights of all the residents of France, regardless of their nationality
The timeframe of 2007-2009, with the presidential, legislative, local and European elections, is particularly favourable to advance and to challenge all the political organizations, all the candidates, all the elected officials in place.
In the European Union, 17 countries out of 25 have a legislation more advanced than France: Spain is on the point of taking a step ahead, while the question is being discussed in Italy. In Belgium, the non EU foreign residents will take part on October 8th, for the first time, in the local elections.
Will France be the last country of the EU to give the voting and eligibility rights to all its residents regardless of their nationality?
In the absence of being able to change the law directly, all the inhabitants of this country are being asked to participate in “Voting citizen” from October 16th – 22nd, 2006. An important mobilization should result prior to important electoral deadlines.
For more information and to sign the LDH petition : pavlina.novotny@ldh-france.org
A collective support by poets for the children of families without papers
After June 30, 2006 the circular suspending the evictions of children without papers but who have been educated becomes null and void. Hundreds of children will then in danger of being detained with their families and put by force on airplanes.
Because the deportation of rejects is definitely unacceptable: companions, friends and brothers let us fight with our words, since we only have this strength.
For more information and to sign the petition: http://poetes.hautetfort.com/
Information gathered by Martine Theveniaut
*****************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #29
June 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
The turning point of the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition - Mindanao
Community Economic Development (CED) in the Philippines
A new vision of the economy: reinventing the territorial economy to make it work more economically!
Vision of an elected local French official
***********************
Message from the Editorial Team
The two articles which are presented may appear very dissimilar, from the great poverty of the insular populations of Philippines to the devitalisation of the rural Languedocian areas of southern France. And yet, each in their own manner testifies to the same fact: the need for organizing oneself to regain autonomy on the economic development of the territories where one lives, where one produces and works, and where one votes.
They start from the reality of the activities and the potentials of their respective territories. They are based on the taking charge of their future by the communities, on the democratic debate, on the involvement of the local councillor, and on the onus that everyone has the power over his or her life’s situation. These two experiences call into question the dominating economic model (the paradigm?) which is supposed to generate the wealth and the well-being of all!
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
**************************************************************
The turning point of the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition - Mindanao
Community Economic Development (CED) in the Philippines
Founded in 1994 by 120 people’s organizations (PO’s) and cooperatives on the island of Mindanao, the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition (AADC) stems from the Congress for a People's Agrarian Reform. Its objective is to build a peasant’s coalition relying on principles of decision-making by consensus, collective claim-making and unity based on solidarity. Since 2002, AADC has decided that its community economic development (CED) will be the cornerstone program of its community organization in response to the decline in agricultural and fishing revenues in the southern Philippines. In effect, the deterioration of agricultural and fishing revenues further increases the poverty of local populations. Since 2002, AADC orchestrates the interaction of local government units (LGU), people's organizations (PO's) organized into local coalitions (LC's) and the private sector to plan and take action on the most sustainable ways to develop local economy to raise the quality of life of the rural poor and to enhance social cohesion at the community level.
At the core of the CED program is Community Enterprise Organizing (CEO). It prepares the organized poor to get involved in a meaningful way in local economic development and to claim its rightful share in the fruits of the local economy's growth. The CEO process has four phases, divided as follows:
• The social preparation of local people’s organizations because the passing to enterprise development is a change of paradigm.
• The cooperative re-organization for more professional effectiveness in economic activities.
• The development of Business Planning and Operationalization: to identify business opportunities, to put them into action, in partnership with LGU’s.
• Networking and the partnership between the cooperative and the business sector is the last step of the process. As much as possible, contracts are negotiated between the cooperative and the transformation entity or the marketplace. For example, a cooperative made up of rubber producers, obtained a price definitely superior than each producer individually. With Internet, the cooperative is able to know world prices and the negotiation of the prices is thus better balanced.
“Current research confirms that in economically progressive rural areas, three things are evident — a culture of participation in local organizations, locally-owned enterprises on the rise and the development of a middle class base. CEO sets in motion cooperatives of the poor and promotes entrepreneurship as a strategy for local economic growth.”
AADC summarizes the meaning of its action: “the purpose of CEO is to increase the financial, human and social assets of the poor so that they can make it on their own in the mainstream. Market forces alone cannot be relied upon to bring about economic development that benefits the poor. Social forces come into play through social capital building. As an intermediary organization, AADC not only facilitates resource linkages for the businesses of agricultural cooperatives to grow. More importantly, AADC builds deep solidarity relationships among peoples within communities, giving rise to the development of communities, and not simply development in communities. Where such is the case, the over-all social well-being of the people, including the poor, is achieved…
Ideology
Land to the tiller. Municipal waters exclusively for marginal fishermen. Clean and green environment for the next generations. Representation for the under-represented. Self-determination for indigenous peoples. Equal opportunities for men and women…
Ethics
Agri-Aqua's daily grind in the communities over the years are nourished by deep seated beliefs.
1. Power is derived from solidarity and mutual trust among its members.
2. Collective action brings a community closer to its developmental goals.
3. Participation is an exercise of people empowerment.
4. Generosity is a sustaining path towards righteousness and purity.
Above all these, the supreme values of love and faith, whose influences alleviate the burdens of poverty.”
For further information contact: aadc@agriaquamin.org
www.agriaquamin.org (English only)
By Yvon Poirier
A new vision of the economy: reinventing the territorial economy to make it work more economically!
Vision of an elected local French official
Eric Andrieu is the mayor of Villerouge-Termenès, a small village of Corbières, situated in the southern part of the department of Aude (France), the president of Pays Corbières Minervois, and an elected member with the regional Council. This local development militant is also president of the UNADEL (National Union of Actors and Structures of Local Development).
He writes that thirty years of local development in France has taught that interventionism has little success just by its’ simple transfer onto another territory, without serious reflection. The investment of public funds has allowed some spectacular communication events at the moment of inaugurations, without really changing the economic dynamics of a territory.
To speak about social and/or solidarity economy, residential economy, economy of public expenditure, the impact of services to the public on the dynamism of the territories, the territorial features, the weight of associations or agriculture seems heterodox, even not very serious. The economy, hammered at great lengths in newspapers, debates, is industry; the CAC 40 (Index of the Paris Stock Market), globalization and the migration of industries or populations, owners and workers, Marxism and liberalism, are two faces of the same coin. However, when a territorial elected official lowers his eyes and looks at his territory, he discovers the plethora of companies without paid employees, craftsmen and liberal professions, he realizes that a good number of his citizens work in the public services, either in territorial services or the health sector, he realizes that the living area he supports, the hospitality suite which he contributes to renovate, have a direct economic impact which is much more obvious than the one of the serious economy. The local elected official is faced with a paradox: either he realizes that there is no economy on his territory, or he realizes that the economy in his territory is not the one traditionally recognized! Thus to act on the economy closest to the territories, it may be above all to encourage and help to develop the economy which is really present.
At a time when the State concentrates on its prerogatives (without having really redefined them): redeploying public services to the public, at the territorial level close to where the person lives, can be a potential for employment, determining a new organization of non-marketable services may be a source of savings and economy. The elected officials of the general and regional councils can play an important role as long as they integrate well their modest and central function of accompaniment the policies of development. Where the local elected official has difficulty negotiating directly with the directors of decentralized services of the State, the presidents of the general or regional councils can get results, on condition that they are mandated by the elected officials of the territorial level.
How does one stabilize the level of public intervention, while imagining a more efficient organization? One needs a participative territorial diagnosis, a willingness of agents and local councillors, but also the support, the backing of the general or regional councils, according to the defined themes. The social action, health, training, and culture are areas where departments and regions have major roles and which will certainly expand. It is necessary to rehabilitate public expenditure and at the same time modernize its design. The traditional economic activity remains of course a dominant force. Even if is the object of all attention, gets the majority of (fiscal) exemptions, public intervention remains poorly evaluated. The INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) has just calculated that the social economy represented from 10 to 15% of salaried work. As for the public service, whether it is of State, territory or hospitals, they represent a little more than 20% of the amount. As for the unemployed, they make up little more than 10% officially and probably more than 15% unless one wishes to believe blindly that those who work a little more than one-third of the time are overjoyed and are in full activity. On the whole, it is more than 50% of the paid activity, which is in this “non economy”. The elected officials, the local authorities have a true responsibility, which they exert too little, preferring to succumb to the bells and whistles of the triumphing economy. The principal responsibility for an elected official of a collective territory is to contribute to the maintenance or development of employment. It is thus crucial that these jobs of the “non economy” be taken better into account.
The elected official has the duty to act, but does he have the power? The first task of the elected official is neither to imagine he has full power on the economy, nor to renounce because it is beyond his grasp. The question of economic development and employment, in terms of jurisdiction remain vague. Maybe it would be time, while working on subsidiarity, to clarify the roles and functions of everyone involved. Our communities are in major contradiction: we are led in the name of the job creation, to accentuate the hold of economic logic on politics and on culture, but by so doing, we occult the fact that synergy between economic and societal development is not automatic. It is necessary for us to be vigilant in order to revitalize democratic life against the underpinnings of the economy.
For further information: www.unadel.asso.fr
Summary of an article to be published by Martine Theveniaut
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #29
June 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
The turning point of the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition - Mindanao
Community Economic Development (CED) in the Philippines
A new vision of the economy: reinventing the territorial economy to make it work more economically!
Vision of an elected local French official
***********************
Message from the Editorial Team
The two articles which are presented may appear very dissimilar, from the great poverty of the insular populations of Philippines to the devitalisation of the rural Languedocian areas of southern France. And yet, each in their own manner testifies to the same fact: the need for organizing oneself to regain autonomy on the economic development of the territories where one lives, where one produces and works, and where one votes.
They start from the reality of the activities and the potentials of their respective territories. They are based on the taking charge of their future by the communities, on the democratic debate, on the involvement of the local councillor, and on the onus that everyone has the power over his or her life’s situation. These two experiences call into question the dominating economic model (the paradigm?) which is supposed to generate the wealth and the well-being of all!
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
**************************************************************
The turning point of the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition - Mindanao
Community Economic Development (CED) in the Philippines
Founded in 1994 by 120 people’s organizations (PO’s) and cooperatives on the island of Mindanao, the Agri-Aqua Development Coalition (AADC) stems from the Congress for a People's Agrarian Reform. Its objective is to build a peasant’s coalition relying on principles of decision-making by consensus, collective claim-making and unity based on solidarity. Since 2002, AADC has decided that its community economic development (CED) will be the cornerstone program of its community organization in response to the decline in agricultural and fishing revenues in the southern Philippines. In effect, the deterioration of agricultural and fishing revenues further increases the poverty of local populations. Since 2002, AADC orchestrates the interaction of local government units (LGU), people's organizations (PO's) organized into local coalitions (LC's) and the private sector to plan and take action on the most sustainable ways to develop local economy to raise the quality of life of the rural poor and to enhance social cohesion at the community level.
At the core of the CED program is Community Enterprise Organizing (CEO). It prepares the organized poor to get involved in a meaningful way in local economic development and to claim its rightful share in the fruits of the local economy's growth. The CEO process has four phases, divided as follows:
• The social preparation of local people’s organizations because the passing to enterprise development is a change of paradigm.
• The cooperative re-organization for more professional effectiveness in economic activities.
• The development of Business Planning and Operationalization: to identify business opportunities, to put them into action, in partnership with LGU’s.
• Networking and the partnership between the cooperative and the business sector is the last step of the process. As much as possible, contracts are negotiated between the cooperative and the transformation entity or the marketplace. For example, a cooperative made up of rubber producers, obtained a price definitely superior than each producer individually. With Internet, the cooperative is able to know world prices and the negotiation of the prices is thus better balanced.
“Current research confirms that in economically progressive rural areas, three things are evident — a culture of participation in local organizations, locally-owned enterprises on the rise and the development of a middle class base. CEO sets in motion cooperatives of the poor and promotes entrepreneurship as a strategy for local economic growth.”
AADC summarizes the meaning of its action: “the purpose of CEO is to increase the financial, human and social assets of the poor so that they can make it on their own in the mainstream. Market forces alone cannot be relied upon to bring about economic development that benefits the poor. Social forces come into play through social capital building. As an intermediary organization, AADC not only facilitates resource linkages for the businesses of agricultural cooperatives to grow. More importantly, AADC builds deep solidarity relationships among peoples within communities, giving rise to the development of communities, and not simply development in communities. Where such is the case, the over-all social well-being of the people, including the poor, is achieved…
Ideology
Land to the tiller. Municipal waters exclusively for marginal fishermen. Clean and green environment for the next generations. Representation for the under-represented. Self-determination for indigenous peoples. Equal opportunities for men and women…
Ethics
Agri-Aqua's daily grind in the communities over the years are nourished by deep seated beliefs.
1. Power is derived from solidarity and mutual trust among its members.
2. Collective action brings a community closer to its developmental goals.
3. Participation is an exercise of people empowerment.
4. Generosity is a sustaining path towards righteousness and purity.
Above all these, the supreme values of love and faith, whose influences alleviate the burdens of poverty.”
For further information contact: aadc@agriaquamin.org
www.agriaquamin.org (English only)
By Yvon Poirier
A new vision of the economy: reinventing the territorial economy to make it work more economically!
Vision of an elected local French official
Eric Andrieu is the mayor of Villerouge-Termenès, a small village of Corbières, situated in the southern part of the department of Aude (France), the president of Pays Corbières Minervois, and an elected member with the regional Council. This local development militant is also president of the UNADEL (National Union of Actors and Structures of Local Development).
He writes that thirty years of local development in France has taught that interventionism has little success just by its’ simple transfer onto another territory, without serious reflection. The investment of public funds has allowed some spectacular communication events at the moment of inaugurations, without really changing the economic dynamics of a territory.
To speak about social and/or solidarity economy, residential economy, economy of public expenditure, the impact of services to the public on the dynamism of the territories, the territorial features, the weight of associations or agriculture seems heterodox, even not very serious. The economy, hammered at great lengths in newspapers, debates, is industry; the CAC 40 (Index of the Paris Stock Market), globalization and the migration of industries or populations, owners and workers, Marxism and liberalism, are two faces of the same coin. However, when a territorial elected official lowers his eyes and looks at his territory, he discovers the plethora of companies without paid employees, craftsmen and liberal professions, he realizes that a good number of his citizens work in the public services, either in territorial services or the health sector, he realizes that the living area he supports, the hospitality suite which he contributes to renovate, have a direct economic impact which is much more obvious than the one of the serious economy. The local elected official is faced with a paradox: either he realizes that there is no economy on his territory, or he realizes that the economy in his territory is not the one traditionally recognized! Thus to act on the economy closest to the territories, it may be above all to encourage and help to develop the economy which is really present.
At a time when the State concentrates on its prerogatives (without having really redefined them): redeploying public services to the public, at the territorial level close to where the person lives, can be a potential for employment, determining a new organization of non-marketable services may be a source of savings and economy. The elected officials of the general and regional councils can play an important role as long as they integrate well their modest and central function of accompaniment the policies of development. Where the local elected official has difficulty negotiating directly with the directors of decentralized services of the State, the presidents of the general or regional councils can get results, on condition that they are mandated by the elected officials of the territorial level.
How does one stabilize the level of public intervention, while imagining a more efficient organization? One needs a participative territorial diagnosis, a willingness of agents and local councillors, but also the support, the backing of the general or regional councils, according to the defined themes. The social action, health, training, and culture are areas where departments and regions have major roles and which will certainly expand. It is necessary to rehabilitate public expenditure and at the same time modernize its design. The traditional economic activity remains of course a dominant force. Even if is the object of all attention, gets the majority of (fiscal) exemptions, public intervention remains poorly evaluated. The INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) has just calculated that the social economy represented from 10 to 15% of salaried work. As for the public service, whether it is of State, territory or hospitals, they represent a little more than 20% of the amount. As for the unemployed, they make up little more than 10% officially and probably more than 15% unless one wishes to believe blindly that those who work a little more than one-third of the time are overjoyed and are in full activity. On the whole, it is more than 50% of the paid activity, which is in this “non economy”. The elected officials, the local authorities have a true responsibility, which they exert too little, preferring to succumb to the bells and whistles of the triumphing economy. The principal responsibility for an elected official of a collective territory is to contribute to the maintenance or development of employment. It is thus crucial that these jobs of the “non economy” be taken better into account.
The elected official has the duty to act, but does he have the power? The first task of the elected official is neither to imagine he has full power on the economy, nor to renounce because it is beyond his grasp. The question of economic development and employment, in terms of jurisdiction remain vague. Maybe it would be time, while working on subsidiarity, to clarify the roles and functions of everyone involved. Our communities are in major contradiction: we are led in the name of the job creation, to accentuate the hold of economic logic on politics and on culture, but by so doing, we occult the fact that synergy between economic and societal development is not automatic. It is necessary for us to be vigilant in order to revitalize democratic life against the underpinnings of the economy.
For further information: www.unadel.asso.fr
Summary of an article to be published by Martine Theveniaut
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Sunday, April 30, 2006
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #28
May 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
The National Community Tourism Federation of Guatemala (FENATUCGUA)
Another approach to tourism
The 2nd International Forum of Fair Tourism and Fair Trade (FITS) March 24 - 27, 2006, Tuxtla Gutierez, Chiapas, Mexico
International Association of Investors in the Social Economy (INAISE)Annual Conference: June 1st – 2nd, 2006
First African Symposium on Fair Trade
April 6th – 9th, 2006 in Bénin
Announcements
A – 4th International Meeting on Globalisation Solidarity
B – 2007 World Social Forum
C – Cooperating in Portuguese
D – Workshop on the aging of rural populations and the development of their territories
****************************************************************
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, we are presenting an approach to tourism which integrates the dimension of community local development and an economic activity which is fully at the heart of social solidarity economy.
At the time of his participation in the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) which was held in Vancouver from March 15th – 18th, 2006 Yvon Poirier met with a representative of FENATUCGAU, Guatemala. In a workshop on community tourism, other similar examples were presented from Costa Rica, Thailand and Botswana.
The 2nd International Forum of Fair Tourism and Fair Trade which was held in Mexico testifies to the strength of these initiatives favouring the local communities.
We also wish to draw your attention to the next meeting of INAISE which will take place in San Sebastien, Spain June 1st – 2nd, 2006.
It is with pleasure that we present articles by Judith Hitchman and Norbert Tréhoux, as punctual contributions which enrich the information that we transmit in this Newsletter.
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
*************************************************************
The National Community Tourism Federation of Guatemala (FENATUCGUA)
FENATUCGUA was established in January of 2005 given the need to create an entity that brings together community tourism destinations in the country and that represents their different partners. The organization is made up of community representatives with an elected board of directors and the help of diverse institutions such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT) and the Technical Training Institute (INTECAP).
Mission: to be a non-profit organization that advocates at the national level, promoting the development and auto sustainability of the associated communities through productive tourism projects managed by local people, with a gender perspective, and respecting and valuing cultures and the environment.
Vision: we are a nationally and internationally recognized organization that contributes to the improvement of the quality and life conditions of people from the associated community organizations through their participation in the management and administration of productive tourism projects, based on the respect of cultures, gender equity, and the conservation of the environment.
For communities and organizations to be considered members of FENATUCGUA, an indispensable requirement is that they must be currently implementing community tourism activities. These are understood as those that principally benefit the local community and are not just used to provide specific services. The community or organization is also part of the administration y management of the destination. Additionally, the benefit generated should be for the community as a whole or a representative percentage of the population. Factors such as respect and conservation of natural resources, interculturalism and gender equity are essential within the different experiences in order to be an active member or beneficiary of the actions of the Federation.
Currently 29 communities and projects form part of FENATUCGUA:
Asociación Ak’ Tenamit (Izabal) ADIQK-Región Ixil (Quiché)
Asociación Rupalaj Kistalin (Sololá) Aventura Maya K’iche’ (Totonicapán)
Consejo Chajinel (Sololá) Comunidad Aquil Grande (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad Carmelita-El Mirador (Petén) Comunidad Chicacnab (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad Lajchimel (Quiché) Comunidad Pamuc (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad Paso Caballos (Petén) Comunidad Plan Grande Quehueche (Izabal)
Comunidad Roc já Pomtilá (Alta Verapaz) Comunidad San Lucas Sequilá (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad El Porvenir (Alta Verapaz) Comunidad Candelaria (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad La Unión (Petén) Finca Santa Anita (Quetzaltenango)
Comunidad Sepalau (Alta Verapaz) CASODI (Quiché)
Comunidad Santa Isabel (Alta Verapaz) Salto de Chilascó (Baja Verapaz)
San Juan Comalapa (Chimaltenango) San Vicente Pacaya (Escuintla)
Comunidad El Zapote (Petén) San Antonio (Retalhuleu)
Corazón del Bosque (Sololá) Comunidad Mucbilhá (Alta Verapaz)
CECEP (Alta Verapaz)
The destinations represented in FENATUCGUA are characterized for their natural richness and culture, providing added value to Guatemala’s tourist offering. This allows living ancestral cultures and the enormous biodiversity to be known through direct contact with the local and authentic population, experiences which complement those traditional destinations known worldwide.
For more information about our partners´ projects, please communicate with:
Francisco Enríquez.
Tel. (502) 5565-9164.
turismo_comunitario@yahoo.es
Or visit www.redturs.org, where you will find more detailed information on each destination that has its own electronic site.
**************************************************************
The 2nd International Forum of Fair Tourism and Fair Trade (FITS)
From March 24 to 27, 2006, Tuxtla Gutierez, Chiapas, Mexico
The purpose of this Forum was to facilitate the exchange, to promote the reflection and to contribute to the concrete construction of alternatives, combining ecological safeguarding, economic equity, social justice and cultural valorisation. It allowed grassroots organizations from the South to be able to meet those which are specialized in tourism and those specialized in agricultural or handicraft productions, and to meet other actors of these "fair exchanges": NGOs, local governments, consumers associations, media and professionals of the concerned sectors, from North and South.
Increasingly, many grassroots organizations carry out sustainable local development projects, with the concern of using respectful technologies, both for Man and Earth. The reinforcement of these communities depends at the same time on their involvement in national and regional networks and in the implementation of a – scarce - synergy between the various products and services like tourism, each one being able to reinforce the other and the economic autonomy of the communities. Ground visits took place, as well as conferences and workshops, gathering about sixty countries.
Among these workshops, several insisted on the sustainable development of the territory, in particular through tourism. It is the case of a project supported in the Cape Verde by the French network T2D2 (Tourisms, Territories and Sustainable Development). In response to the expressed request, T2D2 proposed to intervene, according to its Alticoba21 methodology (presented in the Newsletters n° 11, 12, 13) to contribute to the creation of a responsible and adapted tourism offer. This approach makes it possible to set up an offer which is at the same time: a) a tool of cultural and tourism development for the rural inheritance of Cape Verde and to succeed in making a differentiated product, accentuating these islands’ tourism identity; b) an income generating activity, in order to fight against desertification and poverty; c) an instrument for a more integrated and more participative management of its natural resources.
Article written by Norbert Trehoux
www.fits.chiapas.gob.mx/
www.t2d2.org
********************************
International Association of Investors in the Social Economy (INAISE)
2006 Annual Conference
INAISE, the International Association of Investors in the Social Economy, is organising its annual conference Innovation for Social Finance on June 1st – 2nd, 2006 in San Sebastian, Spain. The conference is organised in collaboration with Fiare. The programme and registration form are available on the association’s website - http://www.inaise.org as well as on the conference website - www.inaise2006.org.
The conference will be opened by Carlos Ballesteros, University of Comillas, Esteban Barroso, Managing Director of Triodos Bank, Peru Sasia, general manager of Fiare, and Raul Contreras from Enclau. There will be three round tables on different topics, field visits including a visit to MCC Mondragon, as well as workshops : From microfinance to social banking, new tools to finance development; the problem of housing in Europe: financial tools to allow disadvantaged people or joint effort to invert the process?; the financing of small scale renewable energies; social inclusion – in the wake of globalisation, more and more people are becoming informal, casual, temporary or home-based workers. How can INAISE members serve these groups?; production and consumption, financing organic production and fair trade.
Viviane Vandemeulebroucke
Coordinator
www.inaise.org
www.inaise2006.org
***********************************************************
First African Symposium on Fair Trade
April 6th – 9th, 2006 in Bénin
The first African Symposium on Fair Trade was held in Cotonou (Bénin) from April 6th – 9th, with around sixty participants from the various regions of Africa as well as Europe and Canada.
The stakes for Fair Trade in Africa are many and varied. The ex French and British colonies represent sub-regions that share neither the same language nor the same culture, which does not facilitate communication. The lack of infrastructure is a further hindrance to the development of potential African trade (lack of adequate roads, railways and airlines).
Fair Trade is one of the key enabling factors of endogenous local development. Originally an approach based on North-South solidarity, Fair Trade is now in the process of coming of age, to become a tool that the peoples of the South (from Africa and elsewhere) can seize to develop a more equitable alternative to the long-standing form of conventional trade, which exploits grass-roots producers. It allows the preservation and even logical and coherent development and enhancing of traditional and other production (this is particularly for agricultural products, transformed or not, and crafts). It is the opposite of international trade that aims to maximise profits for some, to the detriment of small local producers, whose quality of life is continually diminishing in the North and in the South. It also allows short supply chains to be established between producers and consumers, where all stakeholders are winners in terms of both price and quality. This approach should lead to the added value stages of transformation and packaging being done locally, rather than in the North, as is often the case today. Hopefully it will also lead to development of mutual sales between countries of the South, while respecting the necessity of growing of food crops, which is not always the case today.
In order to become adult, a sector, like a human being needs to overcome certain challenges. This is the present case of Fair Trade. The stakeholders need to learn to work together, mutualise their energies and strengths, build joint capacities, and capitalise on the collective cultural strengths of Africa.
Coming of age also implies learning how to make a point and be heard and to earn respect by being assertive and recognised as a fully-fledged player. This is what is at stake in imposing the voice of Fair Trade in international trade negotiations, be it with the EU (the EPA agreements) or the WTO.
These changes in logic and practice require raising awareness at all levels. They entail reinforcing capacities and communication. The Cotonou symposium laid the foundations for what should be sound future construction, based on people who got to know each other, who are aware of the importance of collective benefits that can come from overcoming language or country barriers and borders, and the importance of working together to jointly develop a true African Fair Trade, as an indispensable element of sustainable and endogenous local development.
Author: Judith Hitchman
***********************************************************************
Announcements
A – 4th International Meeting on Globalisation Solidarity (Belgium)Please note that the next meeting will be held April 5th – 8th, 2007. We will share the official announcement in an upcoming newsletter.
B – World Social Forum 2007
The International Council for the WSF has decided the dates for the 2007 meeting. It will be held on January 20th – 25th, in Nairobi, Kenya.
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/index.php?cd_language=2&id_menu=
C – Cooperating in Portuguese
This cooperative initiative dedicated to local development, which Francisco Botelho already shared with us, now hosts its own website.
http://www.cooperaremportugues.org/
D – Workshop on the aging of rural populations and the development of their territories
The Portuguese Association on local development ADRACES is organizing this exchange of experiences among Europeans, with the participation of Gérard Peltre, president of MER (European Countryside Movement). This workshop is one of the itineraries of the Rural European University which will be held in Szolnoz, Hungary from June 29th – July 2nd , 2006. During this event, Camilo Mortagua will present the new magazine, VIVER “Vidas e Veredas da Raia”.
For more information contact : celso.lopes@adraces.pt
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #28
May 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
The National Community Tourism Federation of Guatemala (FENATUCGUA)
Another approach to tourism
The 2nd International Forum of Fair Tourism and Fair Trade (FITS) March 24 - 27, 2006, Tuxtla Gutierez, Chiapas, Mexico
International Association of Investors in the Social Economy (INAISE)Annual Conference: June 1st – 2nd, 2006
First African Symposium on Fair Trade
April 6th – 9th, 2006 in Bénin
Announcements
A – 4th International Meeting on Globalisation Solidarity
B – 2007 World Social Forum
C – Cooperating in Portuguese
D – Workshop on the aging of rural populations and the development of their territories
****************************************************************
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, we are presenting an approach to tourism which integrates the dimension of community local development and an economic activity which is fully at the heart of social solidarity economy.
At the time of his participation in the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) which was held in Vancouver from March 15th – 18th, 2006 Yvon Poirier met with a representative of FENATUCGAU, Guatemala. In a workshop on community tourism, other similar examples were presented from Costa Rica, Thailand and Botswana.
The 2nd International Forum of Fair Tourism and Fair Trade which was held in Mexico testifies to the strength of these initiatives favouring the local communities.
We also wish to draw your attention to the next meeting of INAISE which will take place in San Sebastien, Spain June 1st – 2nd, 2006.
It is with pleasure that we present articles by Judith Hitchman and Norbert Tréhoux, as punctual contributions which enrich the information that we transmit in this Newsletter.
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
*************************************************************
The National Community Tourism Federation of Guatemala (FENATUCGUA)
FENATUCGUA was established in January of 2005 given the need to create an entity that brings together community tourism destinations in the country and that represents their different partners. The organization is made up of community representatives with an elected board of directors and the help of diverse institutions such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT) and the Technical Training Institute (INTECAP).
Mission: to be a non-profit organization that advocates at the national level, promoting the development and auto sustainability of the associated communities through productive tourism projects managed by local people, with a gender perspective, and respecting and valuing cultures and the environment.
Vision: we are a nationally and internationally recognized organization that contributes to the improvement of the quality and life conditions of people from the associated community organizations through their participation in the management and administration of productive tourism projects, based on the respect of cultures, gender equity, and the conservation of the environment.
For communities and organizations to be considered members of FENATUCGUA, an indispensable requirement is that they must be currently implementing community tourism activities. These are understood as those that principally benefit the local community and are not just used to provide specific services. The community or organization is also part of the administration y management of the destination. Additionally, the benefit generated should be for the community as a whole or a representative percentage of the population. Factors such as respect and conservation of natural resources, interculturalism and gender equity are essential within the different experiences in order to be an active member or beneficiary of the actions of the Federation.
Currently 29 communities and projects form part of FENATUCGUA:
Asociación Ak’ Tenamit (Izabal) ADIQK-Región Ixil (Quiché)
Asociación Rupalaj Kistalin (Sololá) Aventura Maya K’iche’ (Totonicapán)
Consejo Chajinel (Sololá) Comunidad Aquil Grande (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad Carmelita-El Mirador (Petén) Comunidad Chicacnab (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad Lajchimel (Quiché) Comunidad Pamuc (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad Paso Caballos (Petén) Comunidad Plan Grande Quehueche (Izabal)
Comunidad Roc já Pomtilá (Alta Verapaz) Comunidad San Lucas Sequilá (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad El Porvenir (Alta Verapaz) Comunidad Candelaria (Alta Verapaz)
Comunidad La Unión (Petén) Finca Santa Anita (Quetzaltenango)
Comunidad Sepalau (Alta Verapaz) CASODI (Quiché)
Comunidad Santa Isabel (Alta Verapaz) Salto de Chilascó (Baja Verapaz)
San Juan Comalapa (Chimaltenango) San Vicente Pacaya (Escuintla)
Comunidad El Zapote (Petén) San Antonio (Retalhuleu)
Corazón del Bosque (Sololá) Comunidad Mucbilhá (Alta Verapaz)
CECEP (Alta Verapaz)
The destinations represented in FENATUCGUA are characterized for their natural richness and culture, providing added value to Guatemala’s tourist offering. This allows living ancestral cultures and the enormous biodiversity to be known through direct contact with the local and authentic population, experiences which complement those traditional destinations known worldwide.
For more information about our partners´ projects, please communicate with:
Francisco Enríquez.
Tel. (502) 5565-9164.
turismo_comunitario@yahoo.es
Or visit www.redturs.org, where you will find more detailed information on each destination that has its own electronic site.
**************************************************************
The 2nd International Forum of Fair Tourism and Fair Trade (FITS)
From March 24 to 27, 2006, Tuxtla Gutierez, Chiapas, Mexico
The purpose of this Forum was to facilitate the exchange, to promote the reflection and to contribute to the concrete construction of alternatives, combining ecological safeguarding, economic equity, social justice and cultural valorisation. It allowed grassroots organizations from the South to be able to meet those which are specialized in tourism and those specialized in agricultural or handicraft productions, and to meet other actors of these "fair exchanges": NGOs, local governments, consumers associations, media and professionals of the concerned sectors, from North and South.
Increasingly, many grassroots organizations carry out sustainable local development projects, with the concern of using respectful technologies, both for Man and Earth. The reinforcement of these communities depends at the same time on their involvement in national and regional networks and in the implementation of a – scarce - synergy between the various products and services like tourism, each one being able to reinforce the other and the economic autonomy of the communities. Ground visits took place, as well as conferences and workshops, gathering about sixty countries.
Among these workshops, several insisted on the sustainable development of the territory, in particular through tourism. It is the case of a project supported in the Cape Verde by the French network T2D2 (Tourisms, Territories and Sustainable Development). In response to the expressed request, T2D2 proposed to intervene, according to its Alticoba21 methodology (presented in the Newsletters n° 11, 12, 13) to contribute to the creation of a responsible and adapted tourism offer. This approach makes it possible to set up an offer which is at the same time: a) a tool of cultural and tourism development for the rural inheritance of Cape Verde and to succeed in making a differentiated product, accentuating these islands’ tourism identity; b) an income generating activity, in order to fight against desertification and poverty; c) an instrument for a more integrated and more participative management of its natural resources.
Article written by Norbert Trehoux
www.fits.chiapas.gob.mx/
www.t2d2.org
********************************
International Association of Investors in the Social Economy (INAISE)
2006 Annual Conference
INAISE, the International Association of Investors in the Social Economy, is organising its annual conference Innovation for Social Finance on June 1st – 2nd, 2006 in San Sebastian, Spain. The conference is organised in collaboration with Fiare. The programme and registration form are available on the association’s website - http://www.inaise.org as well as on the conference website - www.inaise2006.org.
The conference will be opened by Carlos Ballesteros, University of Comillas, Esteban Barroso, Managing Director of Triodos Bank, Peru Sasia, general manager of Fiare, and Raul Contreras from Enclau. There will be three round tables on different topics, field visits including a visit to MCC Mondragon, as well as workshops : From microfinance to social banking, new tools to finance development; the problem of housing in Europe: financial tools to allow disadvantaged people or joint effort to invert the process?; the financing of small scale renewable energies; social inclusion – in the wake of globalisation, more and more people are becoming informal, casual, temporary or home-based workers. How can INAISE members serve these groups?; production and consumption, financing organic production and fair trade.
Viviane Vandemeulebroucke
Coordinator
www.inaise.org
www.inaise2006.org
***********************************************************
First African Symposium on Fair Trade
April 6th – 9th, 2006 in Bénin
The first African Symposium on Fair Trade was held in Cotonou (Bénin) from April 6th – 9th, with around sixty participants from the various regions of Africa as well as Europe and Canada.
The stakes for Fair Trade in Africa are many and varied. The ex French and British colonies represent sub-regions that share neither the same language nor the same culture, which does not facilitate communication. The lack of infrastructure is a further hindrance to the development of potential African trade (lack of adequate roads, railways and airlines).
Fair Trade is one of the key enabling factors of endogenous local development. Originally an approach based on North-South solidarity, Fair Trade is now in the process of coming of age, to become a tool that the peoples of the South (from Africa and elsewhere) can seize to develop a more equitable alternative to the long-standing form of conventional trade, which exploits grass-roots producers. It allows the preservation and even logical and coherent development and enhancing of traditional and other production (this is particularly for agricultural products, transformed or not, and crafts). It is the opposite of international trade that aims to maximise profits for some, to the detriment of small local producers, whose quality of life is continually diminishing in the North and in the South. It also allows short supply chains to be established between producers and consumers, where all stakeholders are winners in terms of both price and quality. This approach should lead to the added value stages of transformation and packaging being done locally, rather than in the North, as is often the case today. Hopefully it will also lead to development of mutual sales between countries of the South, while respecting the necessity of growing of food crops, which is not always the case today.
In order to become adult, a sector, like a human being needs to overcome certain challenges. This is the present case of Fair Trade. The stakeholders need to learn to work together, mutualise their energies and strengths, build joint capacities, and capitalise on the collective cultural strengths of Africa.
Coming of age also implies learning how to make a point and be heard and to earn respect by being assertive and recognised as a fully-fledged player. This is what is at stake in imposing the voice of Fair Trade in international trade negotiations, be it with the EU (the EPA agreements) or the WTO.
These changes in logic and practice require raising awareness at all levels. They entail reinforcing capacities and communication. The Cotonou symposium laid the foundations for what should be sound future construction, based on people who got to know each other, who are aware of the importance of collective benefits that can come from overcoming language or country barriers and borders, and the importance of working together to jointly develop a true African Fair Trade, as an indispensable element of sustainable and endogenous local development.
Author: Judith Hitchman
***********************************************************************
Announcements
A – 4th International Meeting on Globalisation Solidarity (Belgium)Please note that the next meeting will be held April 5th – 8th, 2007. We will share the official announcement in an upcoming newsletter.
B – World Social Forum 2007
The International Council for the WSF has decided the dates for the 2007 meeting. It will be held on January 20th – 25th, in Nairobi, Kenya.
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/index.php?cd_language=2&id_menu=
C – Cooperating in Portuguese
This cooperative initiative dedicated to local development, which Francisco Botelho already shared with us, now hosts its own website.
http://www.cooperaremportugues.org/
D – Workshop on the aging of rural populations and the development of their territories
The Portuguese Association on local development ADRACES is organizing this exchange of experiences among Europeans, with the participation of Gérard Peltre, president of MER (European Countryside Movement). This workshop is one of the itineraries of the Rural European University which will be held in Szolnoz, Hungary from June 29th – July 2nd , 2006. During this event, Camilo Mortagua will present the new magazine, VIVER “Vidas e Veredas da Raia”.
For more information contact : celso.lopes@adraces.pt
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Saturday, April 01, 2006
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #27
April 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
1 - The International Alliance of InhabitantsFight to preserve social rights
2 - National Institute for Local Development in FranceThe birth of a new organization
3 - The Bamako Appeal - January 18th, 2006Polycentric World Social Forum, Bamako
4 - Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisisRegarding avian influenza
5 - Social Inclusion and Community Economic DevelopmentResearch done in Canada
6 - Newsletters and information available on the WEBAn invitation to subscribe
7 - Social Solidarity Economy and Europe : what future ?Upcoming conference
************************************************************************
Message from the Editorial Team
Through our respective activities, we have access to relevant information for other people concerned with the development of their communities, whether they be rural or urban, from the South or the North.
Thus, in this number, we have chosen to share with you a variety of summaries on different topics, which are related to our fields of interest. For example, the avian flu: On the one hand, it touches the control by local populations of their food supply, but on the other hand it shows clearly how the world industry of poultry and neo-liberal globalisation affect seriously and very directly small backyard poultry farms.
Concerning the Bamako Appeal, it is interesting to note that this action caused controversy within the organization of the World Social Forum. This is because this Appeal was prepared beforehand and was signed by a group of alternative globalisation leaders who wished to promote a more political action to the WSF’s approach. As such, this meeting did not appear in the program of the Polycentric World Social Forum of Bamako (although announced on the website of the WSF as being held the day before). Thus, it is not a question of a political message which comes from the Africans, except for those who were associated with the signature of the Appeal. This Appeal caused controversy because it gave the impression of emanating from the WSF itself. However, until now the organization of the WSF has refused to adopt political positions of this nature and maintains its objective of making these annual meetings a place open to all the organizations and tendencies who wish to partake, without giving a precise political orientation. See the Charter of Principles on the website of the WSF : www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/
These questions of orientation, transparency and strategy, which arise at the majority of international movements of civic action will be on the agenda of the next meeting of the international Council of the WSF which will take place at the end of March 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya, ahead of the next edition of the WSF in January 2007.
At the end of this Newsletter, you will find reference to several new publications. Over the past years, several organizations were born in various countries and publish information bulletins. In spite of their unilingual character (three are in English, one is in French, and the other is in Portuguese) they are extremely interesting, if you able to read one or the other of these languages.
Please do not hesitate to send us information which we could publish in upcoming newsletters. We cannot promise to publish every submission, in particular because the translation of our newsletter in four languages is a very demanding task, but we will do our best to give access to information that you have provided.
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
********************************************************************
1 - The International Alliance of Inhabitants
The International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI) founded in 2003 has the following objective: how to jointly stand against the perverse effects of exclusion, poverty, environmental degradation, exploitation, violence, and problems related to transportation, housing and urban governance produced by the neo-liberal globalisation. It is a global network of associations and social movements of inhabitants, cooperatives, communities, tenants, house owners, homeless, slum dwellers, indigenous populations and people from working class neighbourhoods. Every month it puts out an on-line publication called The IAI Newsletter.
In 1996 the Croatian Parliament passed a law modifying the disposition of property, by which it allowed for the privatization of housing, thus allowing residents to be evicted. Since 1945 in the former Yugoslavia, occupancy/tenancy rights meant having all rights of ownership: the right to possession in perpetuity, the perpetual, unhindered and free use of a dwelling-place, to have it at one's disposal, as well as having the right to participate in the management of the building. The only thing that a tenant was unable to do was to sell the flat. Since the passage in 1996 of this law, 40 000 evictions have occurred and they are increasing regularity. For old persons for example, it means they are often placed in retirement homes, their upkeep being paid for not by the State but from individuals’ pension. This is why the Alliance of Tenants’ Associations of Croatia is promoting the campaign Zero Eviction in Croatia, Restoring the Tenancy Right to Security of Tenure.
See the methods of support on the website www.habitants.org
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
2 - National Institute for Local Development in France
Within the framework of the national activities dedicated to the rural territories, it was decided in September 2003 to make the Agen Institute, which was founded in 2001, a national center for continuing education and application of research articulating from its action with the other existing national centers. Its missions privilege a pedagogy based on the gathering of data from experiments, case studies and transfers of practices. The four areas of study are documentary information, network leadership, applied research with universities and research centers, and applied training for the performance of territorial and rural duties.
For more information: www.indl.fr
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
3 - The Bamako Appeal - January 18th, 2006Polycentric World Social Forum, Bamako
It is a result of more than five years of worldwide gatherings of people and organizations who oppose neo-liberalism and work together in social forums -- world, thematic, continental or national -- and the Assembly of Social Movements. They have been the principal architects of this conscience. This appeal prepared at the time of the 50e anniversary of Bandung, on the eve of the opening of the Polycentric World Social Forum which was held in Bamako, is the outlet of an awakening. It is built around the broad themes and affirms the commitment to construct:
• an internationalism joining the peoples of the South and the North who suffer the ravages engendered by the dictatorship of financial markets and by the uncontrolled global deployment of the transnational firms;
• the solidarity of the peoples of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas confronted with challenges of development in the 21st century;
• political, economic and cultural consensus that is an alternative to militarized and neo-liberal globalization and to the hegemony of the United States and its allies.
It states the 8 guiding principles for another development based on the balance of the societies and the abolition of all the forms of exploitation (class, kind, race or caste). This appeal is based on a strategy which is grounded on a long tradition of popular resistances and which takes into account the essential small steps to the everyday life of the victims.
It proposes long-term objectives and proposals for the immediate action, because in order to progress from a collective conscience to the building of collective, popular, plural and multipolar actors, it has always been necessary to identify precise themes to formulate strategies and concrete proposals. Ten topics are proposed, largely inter-connected: the political organization of globalization; the economic organization of the world system; the future of peasant societies; the building of a workers’ united front; regionalization for the benefit of the peoples; the democratic management of the societies; gender equality; the sustainable management of the resources of the planet; the democratic management of the media and the cultural diversity; democratization of international organizations.
The Bamako Appeal is an invitation to all the organizations of struggle, representative of the vast majorities that comprise the working classes of the globe, to all those excluded from the neo-liberal capitalist system, and to all people and political forces who support these principles-- to work together in order to put into effect the new collective conscience, as an alternative to the present system of inequality and destruction.
Complete text available on following site :
http://www.forumtiersmonde.net/fren/FSM/fsm_bamako/appel_bamako_en.htm
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
4 - Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisisRegarding avian influenza
This well documented article shows the determining importance of the of the poultry industry in the spread of avian influenza. The virus travels much more likely via the highways and railroads of Asia than the air routes of the migratory birds. A breeding ground for this virus is much more likely to be found where are gathered the most significant colonies of industrial chickens, chicken incubators, poultry feed mills (which include faeces, feathers and litter from poultry!) and establishments for the production of eggs to be brooded which can transmit the virus. Everywhere one finds the presence of the poultry multinational, Charoen Pokphand, in Turkey and elsewhere. And since 2004, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Roche, holder of the patent of Tamiflu has seen its sales and its profits soar!
Whereas bird flu has prevailed in Asia for several years, the launch of a very media savvy campaign has focused on small chicken farms of poor rural populations in these countries, with the explicit intention of definitively closing down as many backyard farms as possible (Margaret Say, USA Poultry and Egg Export Council).
The silence of FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation) is questioned since until 2004 this organization defended the biodiversity of the species, supported small animal farms financially, and praised their contributions. Backyard poultry farms contribute to a third of proteins consumed by the average rural family of Asia. Perhaps these leaders await evidence before taking a position in the debate. Also, it should not be forgotten that the concentration of the production is also due to the density of population of Asia. The family and rural farms would not be sufficient to feed everyone.
The counterexample of Laos is very significant. Surrounded by countries where avian influenza prevails, it is almost ignored, but why? Because it is almost self-sufficient for its own domestic production, spread between its open air small-scale poultry farms (around 350 chickens, ducks, turkeys and quail being raised in small flocks interspersed among village homes of about 78 families), throughout the country. What one can call bio-security. A total of 45 outbreaks of avian influenza were confirmed, with 42 of these occurring on commercial enterprises (broiler and layer farms), 38 of these in Vientiane, the capitol and primary city of Laos.
Against the intoxication by the virus of fear, why not mobilize to obtain a rigorous and legal control of the international poultry-farming industry?
For more information, see the site called GRAIN, www.grain.org - an NGO whose goal is to promote the management and the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity based on the control exerted by the populations on the genetic resources and local knowledge.
More information on the avian influenza is available on the following sites:
http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=194
www.novethic.fr/novethic/site/article/index.jsp?id=98419 (French only)
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
5 - Social Inclusion and Community Economic DevelopmentResearch done in Canada
Excerpt from the website :
“The Pan-Canadian Community Development Learning Network (PCCDLN) is a two and a half year project of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) that seeks to promote learning about and examine how comprehensive, community-based initiatives contribute to social inclusion.
Running from October 2003 to March 2006, the project facilitates peer learning and develops evidence-based research to strengthen integrated models of service delivery that build assets, skills, learning, social and economic development opportunities relevant to local community conditions.
The first major publication of the project, this document reviews literature on social inclusion and its related concepts, and examines the strengths of integrated, community-based responses such as community economic development to promote social inclusion.
The impacts of social exclusion and marginalization in Canada are difficult to fully measure.
From a range of health deficiencies to lost productivity and additional social costs, it is clear that social exclusion is not only personally damaging and socially disruptive, but it is also extremely expensive. Federal and provincial governments have taken some action to improve conditions, but already policy deficiencies can be identified.”
Beyond the review of literature, an assessment of 15 initiatives in diverse communities illustrates well how community economic development is an approach which fights social exclusion.
Downloadable publications are available in English and French:
http://www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/en/pages/learningnetwork.asp
Summary by Yvon Poirier
6 - Newsletters and information available on the WEB
An invitation to subscribe
A - Fórum Brasileiro de Economia Solidária (FBES)
The FBES publishes a monthly News bulletin. The FBES is actively involved in international networking concerning social solidarity economy. Therefore, the FBES was present in Dakar last November. Rosemary Gomes of the FBES now occupies one of the two seats for Latin America on the Board of Directors of RIPESS.
To subscribe: www.fbes.org.br/maladireta (available in PORTUGUESE only)
B - Solidarity Economy of Ontario
This network of solidarity economy among French-speaking people of the province of Ontario (Canada) publishes a monthly newsletter since its inception one year ago. Already, more than a thousand people receive this Newsletter. Mrs. Éthel Côté, president of Solidarity Economy Ontario and editor of the newsletter, is also a member of the Board of Directors of RIPESS and of the Canadian Network of Community Economic Development.
To subscribe: economiesolidaire@rdee-ont.ca (available in FRENCH only)
C - Social Entreprise Alliance
This North-American organization, which has over six years of existence, hosts a forum of discussion. More than 3000 individuals are registered with the npEntreprise list. The letters np mean non-profit. The contents of the discussions are rather rich in information, although mostly focusing on context relevant to the United States.
To subscribe : www.npenterprise.net/ (in ENGLISH only)
Social Entreprise Alliance website : www.se-alliance.org (in ENGLISH only)
D - Social Edge
This is a weekly Bulletin addressed to social entrepreneurs. It is an initiative of the Skoll Foundation (Germany). Initiated in 2003, the bulletin Social Edge is disseminated to over 6 000 persons. Their website is also rich in information. Social Edge has an international scope and covers a broad range of countries who use the English language (Northern Europe and Asia). Social Edge also organizes seminars and other activities useful for the social entrepreneurs.
To subscribe : www.socialedge.org/ (in ENGLISH only)
E - Social Enterprise Coalition Newsletter
The Social Entreprise Coalition (SEC) is the UK's national body for social enterprise and gathers the large majority of the actors of the social economy. Although in the United Kingdom, the expression social enterprise is used, in fact it is similar to the expression social economy used elsewhere. The organization publishes a weekly newsletter. The website also gives relevant information on social economy in the UK, including the public policies in force.
To subscribe : www.socialenterprise.org.uk (in ENGLISH only)
7 - Social Solidarity Economy and Europe: what future ?Upcoming conference
The Inter-University Network on Social Solidarity Economy is pleased to invite you to the International Conference organized by the Institute of Political Studies of Grenoble.
The conference will be held on June 1st -2nd, 2006 in Lyon. French is the language of use of this conference.
For information: colloqueESgrenoble@iep.upmf-grenoble.fr
Summary by Yvon Poirier
**************************************************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #27
April 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
1 - The International Alliance of InhabitantsFight to preserve social rights
2 - National Institute for Local Development in FranceThe birth of a new organization
3 - The Bamako Appeal - January 18th, 2006Polycentric World Social Forum, Bamako
4 - Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisisRegarding avian influenza
5 - Social Inclusion and Community Economic DevelopmentResearch done in Canada
6 - Newsletters and information available on the WEBAn invitation to subscribe
7 - Social Solidarity Economy and Europe : what future ?Upcoming conference
************************************************************************
Message from the Editorial Team
Through our respective activities, we have access to relevant information for other people concerned with the development of their communities, whether they be rural or urban, from the South or the North.
Thus, in this number, we have chosen to share with you a variety of summaries on different topics, which are related to our fields of interest. For example, the avian flu: On the one hand, it touches the control by local populations of their food supply, but on the other hand it shows clearly how the world industry of poultry and neo-liberal globalisation affect seriously and very directly small backyard poultry farms.
Concerning the Bamako Appeal, it is interesting to note that this action caused controversy within the organization of the World Social Forum. This is because this Appeal was prepared beforehand and was signed by a group of alternative globalisation leaders who wished to promote a more political action to the WSF’s approach. As such, this meeting did not appear in the program of the Polycentric World Social Forum of Bamako (although announced on the website of the WSF as being held the day before). Thus, it is not a question of a political message which comes from the Africans, except for those who were associated with the signature of the Appeal. This Appeal caused controversy because it gave the impression of emanating from the WSF itself. However, until now the organization of the WSF has refused to adopt political positions of this nature and maintains its objective of making these annual meetings a place open to all the organizations and tendencies who wish to partake, without giving a precise political orientation. See the Charter of Principles on the website of the WSF : www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/
These questions of orientation, transparency and strategy, which arise at the majority of international movements of civic action will be on the agenda of the next meeting of the international Council of the WSF which will take place at the end of March 2006 in Nairobi, Kenya, ahead of the next edition of the WSF in January 2007.
At the end of this Newsletter, you will find reference to several new publications. Over the past years, several organizations were born in various countries and publish information bulletins. In spite of their unilingual character (three are in English, one is in French, and the other is in Portuguese) they are extremely interesting, if you able to read one or the other of these languages.
Please do not hesitate to send us information which we could publish in upcoming newsletters. We cannot promise to publish every submission, in particular because the translation of our newsletter in four languages is a very demanding task, but we will do our best to give access to information that you have provided.
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
********************************************************************
1 - The International Alliance of Inhabitants
The International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI) founded in 2003 has the following objective: how to jointly stand against the perverse effects of exclusion, poverty, environmental degradation, exploitation, violence, and problems related to transportation, housing and urban governance produced by the neo-liberal globalisation. It is a global network of associations and social movements of inhabitants, cooperatives, communities, tenants, house owners, homeless, slum dwellers, indigenous populations and people from working class neighbourhoods. Every month it puts out an on-line publication called The IAI Newsletter.
In 1996 the Croatian Parliament passed a law modifying the disposition of property, by which it allowed for the privatization of housing, thus allowing residents to be evicted. Since 1945 in the former Yugoslavia, occupancy/tenancy rights meant having all rights of ownership: the right to possession in perpetuity, the perpetual, unhindered and free use of a dwelling-place, to have it at one's disposal, as well as having the right to participate in the management of the building. The only thing that a tenant was unable to do was to sell the flat. Since the passage in 1996 of this law, 40 000 evictions have occurred and they are increasing regularity. For old persons for example, it means they are often placed in retirement homes, their upkeep being paid for not by the State but from individuals’ pension. This is why the Alliance of Tenants’ Associations of Croatia is promoting the campaign Zero Eviction in Croatia, Restoring the Tenancy Right to Security of Tenure.
See the methods of support on the website www.habitants.org
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
2 - National Institute for Local Development in France
Within the framework of the national activities dedicated to the rural territories, it was decided in September 2003 to make the Agen Institute, which was founded in 2001, a national center for continuing education and application of research articulating from its action with the other existing national centers. Its missions privilege a pedagogy based on the gathering of data from experiments, case studies and transfers of practices. The four areas of study are documentary information, network leadership, applied research with universities and research centers, and applied training for the performance of territorial and rural duties.
For more information: www.indl.fr
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
3 - The Bamako Appeal - January 18th, 2006Polycentric World Social Forum, Bamako
It is a result of more than five years of worldwide gatherings of people and organizations who oppose neo-liberalism and work together in social forums -- world, thematic, continental or national -- and the Assembly of Social Movements. They have been the principal architects of this conscience. This appeal prepared at the time of the 50e anniversary of Bandung, on the eve of the opening of the Polycentric World Social Forum which was held in Bamako, is the outlet of an awakening. It is built around the broad themes and affirms the commitment to construct:
• an internationalism joining the peoples of the South and the North who suffer the ravages engendered by the dictatorship of financial markets and by the uncontrolled global deployment of the transnational firms;
• the solidarity of the peoples of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas confronted with challenges of development in the 21st century;
• political, economic and cultural consensus that is an alternative to militarized and neo-liberal globalization and to the hegemony of the United States and its allies.
It states the 8 guiding principles for another development based on the balance of the societies and the abolition of all the forms of exploitation (class, kind, race or caste). This appeal is based on a strategy which is grounded on a long tradition of popular resistances and which takes into account the essential small steps to the everyday life of the victims.
It proposes long-term objectives and proposals for the immediate action, because in order to progress from a collective conscience to the building of collective, popular, plural and multipolar actors, it has always been necessary to identify precise themes to formulate strategies and concrete proposals. Ten topics are proposed, largely inter-connected: the political organization of globalization; the economic organization of the world system; the future of peasant societies; the building of a workers’ united front; regionalization for the benefit of the peoples; the democratic management of the societies; gender equality; the sustainable management of the resources of the planet; the democratic management of the media and the cultural diversity; democratization of international organizations.
The Bamako Appeal is an invitation to all the organizations of struggle, representative of the vast majorities that comprise the working classes of the globe, to all those excluded from the neo-liberal capitalist system, and to all people and political forces who support these principles-- to work together in order to put into effect the new collective conscience, as an alternative to the present system of inequality and destruction.
Complete text available on following site :
http://www.forumtiersmonde.net/fren/FSM/fsm_bamako/appel_bamako_en.htm
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
4 - Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisisRegarding avian influenza
This well documented article shows the determining importance of the of the poultry industry in the spread of avian influenza. The virus travels much more likely via the highways and railroads of Asia than the air routes of the migratory birds. A breeding ground for this virus is much more likely to be found where are gathered the most significant colonies of industrial chickens, chicken incubators, poultry feed mills (which include faeces, feathers and litter from poultry!) and establishments for the production of eggs to be brooded which can transmit the virus. Everywhere one finds the presence of the poultry multinational, Charoen Pokphand, in Turkey and elsewhere. And since 2004, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Roche, holder of the patent of Tamiflu has seen its sales and its profits soar!
Whereas bird flu has prevailed in Asia for several years, the launch of a very media savvy campaign has focused on small chicken farms of poor rural populations in these countries, with the explicit intention of definitively closing down as many backyard farms as possible (Margaret Say, USA Poultry and Egg Export Council).
The silence of FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation) is questioned since until 2004 this organization defended the biodiversity of the species, supported small animal farms financially, and praised their contributions. Backyard poultry farms contribute to a third of proteins consumed by the average rural family of Asia. Perhaps these leaders await evidence before taking a position in the debate. Also, it should not be forgotten that the concentration of the production is also due to the density of population of Asia. The family and rural farms would not be sufficient to feed everyone.
The counterexample of Laos is very significant. Surrounded by countries where avian influenza prevails, it is almost ignored, but why? Because it is almost self-sufficient for its own domestic production, spread between its open air small-scale poultry farms (around 350 chickens, ducks, turkeys and quail being raised in small flocks interspersed among village homes of about 78 families), throughout the country. What one can call bio-security. A total of 45 outbreaks of avian influenza were confirmed, with 42 of these occurring on commercial enterprises (broiler and layer farms), 38 of these in Vientiane, the capitol and primary city of Laos.
Against the intoxication by the virus of fear, why not mobilize to obtain a rigorous and legal control of the international poultry-farming industry?
For more information, see the site called GRAIN, www.grain.org - an NGO whose goal is to promote the management and the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity based on the control exerted by the populations on the genetic resources and local knowledge.
More information on the avian influenza is available on the following sites:
http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=194
www.novethic.fr/novethic/site/article/index.jsp?id=98419 (French only)
Summary by Martine Theveniaut
5 - Social Inclusion and Community Economic DevelopmentResearch done in Canada
Excerpt from the website :
“The Pan-Canadian Community Development Learning Network (PCCDLN) is a two and a half year project of the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet) that seeks to promote learning about and examine how comprehensive, community-based initiatives contribute to social inclusion.
Running from October 2003 to March 2006, the project facilitates peer learning and develops evidence-based research to strengthen integrated models of service delivery that build assets, skills, learning, social and economic development opportunities relevant to local community conditions.
The first major publication of the project, this document reviews literature on social inclusion and its related concepts, and examines the strengths of integrated, community-based responses such as community economic development to promote social inclusion.
The impacts of social exclusion and marginalization in Canada are difficult to fully measure.
From a range of health deficiencies to lost productivity and additional social costs, it is clear that social exclusion is not only personally damaging and socially disruptive, but it is also extremely expensive. Federal and provincial governments have taken some action to improve conditions, but already policy deficiencies can be identified.”
Beyond the review of literature, an assessment of 15 initiatives in diverse communities illustrates well how community economic development is an approach which fights social exclusion.
Downloadable publications are available in English and French:
http://www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/en/pages/learningnetwork.asp
Summary by Yvon Poirier
6 - Newsletters and information available on the WEB
An invitation to subscribe
A - Fórum Brasileiro de Economia Solidária (FBES)
The FBES publishes a monthly News bulletin. The FBES is actively involved in international networking concerning social solidarity economy. Therefore, the FBES was present in Dakar last November. Rosemary Gomes of the FBES now occupies one of the two seats for Latin America on the Board of Directors of RIPESS.
To subscribe: www.fbes.org.br/maladireta (available in PORTUGUESE only)
B - Solidarity Economy of Ontario
This network of solidarity economy among French-speaking people of the province of Ontario (Canada) publishes a monthly newsletter since its inception one year ago. Already, more than a thousand people receive this Newsletter. Mrs. Éthel Côté, president of Solidarity Economy Ontario and editor of the newsletter, is also a member of the Board of Directors of RIPESS and of the Canadian Network of Community Economic Development.
To subscribe: economiesolidaire@rdee-ont.ca (available in FRENCH only)
C - Social Entreprise Alliance
This North-American organization, which has over six years of existence, hosts a forum of discussion. More than 3000 individuals are registered with the npEntreprise list. The letters np mean non-profit. The contents of the discussions are rather rich in information, although mostly focusing on context relevant to the United States.
To subscribe : www.npenterprise.net/ (in ENGLISH only)
Social Entreprise Alliance website : www.se-alliance.org (in ENGLISH only)
D - Social Edge
This is a weekly Bulletin addressed to social entrepreneurs. It is an initiative of the Skoll Foundation (Germany). Initiated in 2003, the bulletin Social Edge is disseminated to over 6 000 persons. Their website is also rich in information. Social Edge has an international scope and covers a broad range of countries who use the English language (Northern Europe and Asia). Social Edge also organizes seminars and other activities useful for the social entrepreneurs.
To subscribe : www.socialedge.org/ (in ENGLISH only)
E - Social Enterprise Coalition Newsletter
The Social Entreprise Coalition (SEC) is the UK's national body for social enterprise and gathers the large majority of the actors of the social economy. Although in the United Kingdom, the expression social enterprise is used, in fact it is similar to the expression social economy used elsewhere. The organization publishes a weekly newsletter. The website also gives relevant information on social economy in the UK, including the public policies in force.
To subscribe : www.socialenterprise.org.uk (in ENGLISH only)
7 - Social Solidarity Economy and Europe: what future ?Upcoming conference
The Inter-University Network on Social Solidarity Economy is pleased to invite you to the International Conference organized by the Institute of Political Studies of Grenoble.
The conference will be held on June 1st -2nd, 2006 in Lyon. French is the language of use of this conference.
For information: colloqueESgrenoble@iep.upmf-grenoble.fr
Summary by Yvon Poirier
**************************************************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #26
March 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Development controlled from below
A vision from Hungary
Global Democracy: Civil Society Visions and Strategies
Conference held in Montreal, May 2005
European Institute of Solidarity-based Economy (INESS) Newsletter
An invitation to subscribe
**************************************************************************
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, we are presenting an excerpt of an article published by Éva G. Fekete of Hungary describing an approach to development controlled from the bottom. Besides some more theoretical elements prepared in a chart by Mrs. Fekete, the text explains the challenges of local and regional development in Hungary. The complete text of 12 pages is available upon request (English only).
Mrs. Fekete is a social geographer attached to the Center of Regional Studies of the Academy of Science of Hungary and to the University of Miskolc. She is involved in many organizations in Hungary and Europe. Notably, she is a member of the board of directors of VIRGILE, a European network of associations for rural development. Mrs. Fekete was a founding member with Francisco Botelho and Yvon Poirier of the project for an international network of actors of local development (2002-2003).
In another article, Martine Theveniaut analyzes and summarizes a report, which has just been released, on the Conference of Montreal in 2005 dealing with the development of visions and strategies of the civil society in order to build a world democracy.
For us, it is encouraging that this approach makes a place for a bottoms-up construction of these visions and strategies and that it grants a central place to the cultural dimension as one of the decisive forms of resistance to the dominant models and to democratization.
Finally, we invite you to subscribe to a new Newsletter about socio-solidarity economy in Europe.
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
********************************************************************
Some aspects of the Regional Development from below
By Éva G. Fekete
In this text the author explains that throughout history geographical space has lived in alternation of two models of development. We believe that externally-controlled (from above) and internally-controlled (from below) phases of regional development have traded places throughout human history (p.1). Therefore, during recent times, the failure of development initiatives in the countries of the third world called attention to the deficiencies of neo-classical development concepts and of the regional policies built upon them. The regional differences did not decrease at all as a result of external development (from above); instead, the gap widened further (p. 2). Thus, alternative approaches consisting of a more self-reliant development appeared. These aim to satisfy local needs by mobilising local resources, by local organisation and control of external support (p. 3).
Moreover, it appears that the differences between the policies of local and regional development controlled by the top and by the bottom are not limited to the decentralization of the decision-making.
A brand new philosophy shall support it. The most important elements of these two development models can be compared in Table 1. (see the chart p.2-3)
Characteristics of development controlled from above and from below
Development controlled from above
Development controlled from below
Theory of development^
Monolithic theory of development, backed by a uniform system of values and a concept of human happiness, which automatically or by political pressure infiltrates the entire society
Different elements can be the vehicle of development in the case of different communities, the systems of value are variable and multicolour
Prevailing theory.
Neo-classical concept of development theory of growth pole
Alternative theories of development
Driving force of development
Development starts pursuant to external need from relatively few dynamic sectors and geographic areas and expands to the other sectors and areas
Stimulated and controlled from below
Development model
Competition based in the exploitation of comparative advantages
Development target
Economic growth
To satisfy the basic need of those living in the given area
Development target group beneficiaries
Large companies are thought to be the engine of development
Small and medium-sized ventures: civil society and production sectors controlled by and co-operating therewith
Women, people of decreased ability to work, minorities, informal participants of economy
Development methods and tools;
Large, basically city-like, mainly industrial capital-intensive projects connected to high
technology
Small projects utilizing the local resources, country-centred, labour-intensive projects utilizing the technology most appropriate under the circumstances, instead of high technology
Basic hypothesis of development•
Functional or regional integration
Wide range of organisations intermediating development
Serious re-distribution mechanisms:
• development is generated by a few selected participants
• the remaining part of the population is unable to initiate development;
• only a few participants are able and are ready to allow others to take part in the development process;
• others are ready to take over the intermediated development model;
• the initiated development is the most appropriate for every member or the system becoming more and more interactive
Regional inequalities are basically due to the differences in living conditions arising from inappropriate preparation of major economic interventions.
Regional inequalities are basically due to the differences in living conditions of populations which explains that they are not prepared for major economic interventions
Development potential is determined by the cultural and natural resources and only to a small extent by the nameless market mechanisms
It is not obligatory that the poor develop only in the ways the rich think to be good, thus the only way of development is not necessarily to increase the production (but with reduced costs) for the markets of the developed, with technology, capital and organisational model taken over from the developed
Spatial networks, disadvantages
Vertical, hierarchical spatial organisations, not taken into consideration:
• the multi-colouredness of systems of values and intentions;
• the variability of natural resources;
• the fact that the underdeveloped groups will progress in an even more disadvantageous situation if they take over the systems of values of the developed;
•dependency is generated, the adversary effects of dependency;
Historical spatial organisation:
• more difficult to organise, to follow;
• its management time and labour consuming
•professional soundness can be jeopardized
In the continuation of her text, Mrs. Fekete explains the importance of this approach controlled from below for a country like Hungary, because during the time which preceded the collapse of the centralized regimes of Soviet type, the development was uniquely an approach from the top. In Hungary, as in the case of neighbouring countries, all was to be rebuilt in order to support an approach controlled from below, to build associations and civil society as well as to organize local representative democracy. Thus, a good understanding of the model of development for the country, particularly in the light of the evolution of the paradigms of development in a great number of countries of the South, will have made it possible to adopt such an approach in Hungary. The work is always a process, but it progresses. The article by Mrs. Fekete summarizes the situation.
Synthesis and presentation by Yvon Poirier
*****************************************************************
A Report on the Conference on Global Democracy:
Civil Society Visions and Strategies (G05), Montreal, May, 2005
Approximately 400 participants from 45 countries gathered in Montreal, Quebec, from May 29th to June 1st, 2005. Work was divided between plenary sessions and discussion groups within the framework of the six tracks of the G 05:
1) Intervention of the civil society: territorial priorities in change?
2) International treaties, international law: a hierarchy of values?
3) World security: a threat to democracy?
4) Participation of the civil society: possibilities and responsibilities?
5) How to control the world economy in a democratic way?
6) Maintaining cultural diversity in world solidarity?
It is impossible to give an account of the debates, which are well synthesized in a thick report of 85 pages. Here are a few excerpts.
Serious observations. Rajesh Tandon, founder of Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), and President of the executive committee of G05 underlined the gravity of the crisis in world governance. He explained that the social, human, and economic agenda decisions made in the 1990s have not been implemented because of ineffective enforcement mechanisms, particularly at the UN level. Most governments (particularly those in rich countries) of the world have reneged on their commitments, especially in environment and development. In addition, the proliferation of agreements and regimes has resulted in confusion and conflict between jurisdictions…. Most citizens of the world have been treated as mere voters, and more efforts are being invested into fixing elections than in engaging citizens. National governments are often run by a few ministers and a “large coterie of unelected officials”. (p 2).
What is civil society? Nothing is less clear. And the vision of what it is does not achieve unanimity. The term is too generic. It includes a vast range of organizations and objectives. It creates confusion, because it implies solidarity between its members, whereas in reality, there may be vast differences among groups. (p. 17).
The base, a lever of world democratization - A minority speech
Lalita Ramdas, a community educator involved with Greenpeace India and PRIA, described her personal journey to make linkages between working locally on the west coast of India (the source of her inspiration) and thinking globally. She explained that she had consulted with the women in her village about their message for G05 and their issues were clear: peace, education, shelter, employment, and health. The women pointed out that lack of peace comes from lack of water and other basic needs. “How do you build a truly peaceful democratic polity when that is the situation on the ground?” Ramdas asked. She added: “I do not believe we have any deficit of vision at the local level.”… . In India, for example, a massive grassroots movement has mobilized to protest against a new forest bill being presented in Indian parliament. Indigenous people who have lived all their lives in the forest have come together and descended on Delhi “This is how you begin to influence public policy,” she said…. The framework for developing democracy is very much in place, but civil society members need to work together to identify the obstacles on the ground and overcome them. (p. 6-7).
Cultural diversity: a major concern at all levels
Cultural diversity is an asset, an inalienable right, and the basis for any sustainable democratic gain. For culture to be sustainable, it should therefore be higher up on the agenda of international NGOs active in governance issues, the present Forum included. It needs to be articulated from the international to the national to the local level, and vice versa, and the language used should be understandable at the local level. (p. 65).
The two global objectives from the framework of Regional Blocks
1. To encourage and promote regional integration among civil society organizations, in order to enhance their role and influence in regional blocks and treaties. Beyond abstract goals like coalition building and networking, there is a need to develop substantive strategies, tools, and mechanisms to optimize civil society engagement in global governance.
2. To create alternative, community-based knowledge, drawing from and responding to community needs. The creation of regional clearinghouses would improve discourse among regional coalitions. Many processes, networks, campaigns, and initiatives already exist. The Global Campaign Against Poverty is a good example of how mobilization can take place using existing global networks. (p. 25-26).
Available on the site of the Montreal International Forum: www.fimcivilsociety.org
Martine Theveniaut
European Institute of the Solidarity-based Economy (INESS) Newsletter:
An Invitation to Subscribe
Please find through the enclosed link below, a copy of the first issue of the monthly INEES (Institut Européen de l’Economie Solidaire – European Institute of the Solidarity-based Economy) Newsletter. The first issue sets out a detailed description of the aims and mission of INEES, an institute that benefits from the support of the OPE network. Each month, the newsletter will discuss a specific topic that is of particular relevance to the solidarity-based economy and/or will present a prominent actor or event from the solidarity-based economy.
Available (in FR + EN + De) at www.inees.org
To subscribe newsletter@inees.org
**************************************************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #26
March 1, 2006
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Development controlled from below
A vision from Hungary
Global Democracy: Civil Society Visions and Strategies
Conference held in Montreal, May 2005
European Institute of Solidarity-based Economy (INESS) Newsletter
An invitation to subscribe
**************************************************************************
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, we are presenting an excerpt of an article published by Éva G. Fekete of Hungary describing an approach to development controlled from the bottom. Besides some more theoretical elements prepared in a chart by Mrs. Fekete, the text explains the challenges of local and regional development in Hungary. The complete text of 12 pages is available upon request (English only).
Mrs. Fekete is a social geographer attached to the Center of Regional Studies of the Academy of Science of Hungary and to the University of Miskolc. She is involved in many organizations in Hungary and Europe. Notably, she is a member of the board of directors of VIRGILE, a European network of associations for rural development. Mrs. Fekete was a founding member with Francisco Botelho and Yvon Poirier of the project for an international network of actors of local development (2002-2003).
In another article, Martine Theveniaut analyzes and summarizes a report, which has just been released, on the Conference of Montreal in 2005 dealing with the development of visions and strategies of the civil society in order to build a world democracy.
For us, it is encouraging that this approach makes a place for a bottoms-up construction of these visions and strategies and that it grants a central place to the cultural dimension as one of the decisive forms of resistance to the dominant models and to democratization.
Finally, we invite you to subscribe to a new Newsletter about socio-solidarity economy in Europe.
Editorial Team
Francisco Botelho
Yvon Poirier
Martine Théveniaut
********************************************************************
Some aspects of the Regional Development from below
By Éva G. Fekete
In this text the author explains that throughout history geographical space has lived in alternation of two models of development. We believe that externally-controlled (from above) and internally-controlled (from below) phases of regional development have traded places throughout human history (p.1). Therefore, during recent times, the failure of development initiatives in the countries of the third world called attention to the deficiencies of neo-classical development concepts and of the regional policies built upon them. The regional differences did not decrease at all as a result of external development (from above); instead, the gap widened further (p. 2). Thus, alternative approaches consisting of a more self-reliant development appeared. These aim to satisfy local needs by mobilising local resources, by local organisation and control of external support (p. 3).
Moreover, it appears that the differences between the policies of local and regional development controlled by the top and by the bottom are not limited to the decentralization of the decision-making.
A brand new philosophy shall support it. The most important elements of these two development models can be compared in Table 1. (see the chart p.2-3)
Characteristics of development controlled from above and from below
Development controlled from above
Development controlled from below
Theory of development^
Monolithic theory of development, backed by a uniform system of values and a concept of human happiness, which automatically or by political pressure infiltrates the entire society
Different elements can be the vehicle of development in the case of different communities, the systems of value are variable and multicolour
Prevailing theory.
Neo-classical concept of development theory of growth pole
Alternative theories of development
Driving force of development
Development starts pursuant to external need from relatively few dynamic sectors and geographic areas and expands to the other sectors and areas
Stimulated and controlled from below
Development model
Competition based in the exploitation of comparative advantages
Development target
Economic growth
To satisfy the basic need of those living in the given area
Development target group beneficiaries
Large companies are thought to be the engine of development
Small and medium-sized ventures: civil society and production sectors controlled by and co-operating therewith
Women, people of decreased ability to work, minorities, informal participants of economy
Development methods and tools;
Large, basically city-like, mainly industrial capital-intensive projects connected to high
technology
Small projects utilizing the local resources, country-centred, labour-intensive projects utilizing the technology most appropriate under the circumstances, instead of high technology
Basic hypothesis of development•
Functional or regional integration
Wide range of organisations intermediating development
Serious re-distribution mechanisms:
• development is generated by a few selected participants
• the remaining part of the population is unable to initiate development;
• only a few participants are able and are ready to allow others to take part in the development process;
• others are ready to take over the intermediated development model;
• the initiated development is the most appropriate for every member or the system becoming more and more interactive
Regional inequalities are basically due to the differences in living conditions arising from inappropriate preparation of major economic interventions.
Regional inequalities are basically due to the differences in living conditions of populations which explains that they are not prepared for major economic interventions
Development potential is determined by the cultural and natural resources and only to a small extent by the nameless market mechanisms
It is not obligatory that the poor develop only in the ways the rich think to be good, thus the only way of development is not necessarily to increase the production (but with reduced costs) for the markets of the developed, with technology, capital and organisational model taken over from the developed
Spatial networks, disadvantages
Vertical, hierarchical spatial organisations, not taken into consideration:
• the multi-colouredness of systems of values and intentions;
• the variability of natural resources;
• the fact that the underdeveloped groups will progress in an even more disadvantageous situation if they take over the systems of values of the developed;
•dependency is generated, the adversary effects of dependency;
Historical spatial organisation:
• more difficult to organise, to follow;
• its management time and labour consuming
•professional soundness can be jeopardized
In the continuation of her text, Mrs. Fekete explains the importance of this approach controlled from below for a country like Hungary, because during the time which preceded the collapse of the centralized regimes of Soviet type, the development was uniquely an approach from the top. In Hungary, as in the case of neighbouring countries, all was to be rebuilt in order to support an approach controlled from below, to build associations and civil society as well as to organize local representative democracy. Thus, a good understanding of the model of development for the country, particularly in the light of the evolution of the paradigms of development in a great number of countries of the South, will have made it possible to adopt such an approach in Hungary. The work is always a process, but it progresses. The article by Mrs. Fekete summarizes the situation.
Synthesis and presentation by Yvon Poirier
*****************************************************************
A Report on the Conference on Global Democracy:
Civil Society Visions and Strategies (G05), Montreal, May, 2005
Approximately 400 participants from 45 countries gathered in Montreal, Quebec, from May 29th to June 1st, 2005. Work was divided between plenary sessions and discussion groups within the framework of the six tracks of the G 05:
1) Intervention of the civil society: territorial priorities in change?
2) International treaties, international law: a hierarchy of values?
3) World security: a threat to democracy?
4) Participation of the civil society: possibilities and responsibilities?
5) How to control the world economy in a democratic way?
6) Maintaining cultural diversity in world solidarity?
It is impossible to give an account of the debates, which are well synthesized in a thick report of 85 pages. Here are a few excerpts.
Serious observations. Rajesh Tandon, founder of Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), and President of the executive committee of G05 underlined the gravity of the crisis in world governance. He explained that the social, human, and economic agenda decisions made in the 1990s have not been implemented because of ineffective enforcement mechanisms, particularly at the UN level. Most governments (particularly those in rich countries) of the world have reneged on their commitments, especially in environment and development. In addition, the proliferation of agreements and regimes has resulted in confusion and conflict between jurisdictions…. Most citizens of the world have been treated as mere voters, and more efforts are being invested into fixing elections than in engaging citizens. National governments are often run by a few ministers and a “large coterie of unelected officials”. (p 2).
What is civil society? Nothing is less clear. And the vision of what it is does not achieve unanimity. The term is too generic. It includes a vast range of organizations and objectives. It creates confusion, because it implies solidarity between its members, whereas in reality, there may be vast differences among groups. (p. 17).
The base, a lever of world democratization - A minority speech
Lalita Ramdas, a community educator involved with Greenpeace India and PRIA, described her personal journey to make linkages between working locally on the west coast of India (the source of her inspiration) and thinking globally. She explained that she had consulted with the women in her village about their message for G05 and their issues were clear: peace, education, shelter, employment, and health. The women pointed out that lack of peace comes from lack of water and other basic needs. “How do you build a truly peaceful democratic polity when that is the situation on the ground?” Ramdas asked. She added: “I do not believe we have any deficit of vision at the local level.”… . In India, for example, a massive grassroots movement has mobilized to protest against a new forest bill being presented in Indian parliament. Indigenous people who have lived all their lives in the forest have come together and descended on Delhi “This is how you begin to influence public policy,” she said…. The framework for developing democracy is very much in place, but civil society members need to work together to identify the obstacles on the ground and overcome them. (p. 6-7).
Cultural diversity: a major concern at all levels
Cultural diversity is an asset, an inalienable right, and the basis for any sustainable democratic gain. For culture to be sustainable, it should therefore be higher up on the agenda of international NGOs active in governance issues, the present Forum included. It needs to be articulated from the international to the national to the local level, and vice versa, and the language used should be understandable at the local level. (p. 65).
The two global objectives from the framework of Regional Blocks
1. To encourage and promote regional integration among civil society organizations, in order to enhance their role and influence in regional blocks and treaties. Beyond abstract goals like coalition building and networking, there is a need to develop substantive strategies, tools, and mechanisms to optimize civil society engagement in global governance.
2. To create alternative, community-based knowledge, drawing from and responding to community needs. The creation of regional clearinghouses would improve discourse among regional coalitions. Many processes, networks, campaigns, and initiatives already exist. The Global Campaign Against Poverty is a good example of how mobilization can take place using existing global networks. (p. 25-26).
Available on the site of the Montreal International Forum: www.fimcivilsociety.org
Martine Theveniaut
European Institute of the Solidarity-based Economy (INESS) Newsletter:
An Invitation to Subscribe
Please find through the enclosed link below, a copy of the first issue of the monthly INEES (Institut Européen de l’Economie Solidaire – European Institute of the Solidarity-based Economy) Newsletter. The first issue sets out a detailed description of the aims and mission of INEES, an institute that benefits from the support of the OPE network. Each month, the newsletter will discuss a specific topic that is of particular relevance to the solidarity-based economy and/or will present a prominent actor or event from the solidarity-based economy.
Available (in FR + EN + De) at www.inees.org
To subscribe newsletter@inees.org
**************************************************************
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Anne Vaugelade from France for the Spanish translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
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