According to Fritjof Capra, in an open letter to President Obama, Brazil shows the way forward in institutionalizing channels of dialogue and cooperation with civil society.

We would only make one amendment. Civil society is not just an “international coalition of NGOs” and think thanks anymore (as implied in a paragraph by Capra in this text), but also now must include the formal and informal peer to peer networks.

Fritjof Capra:

“I have come to believe that there are three centers of power in today’s world — government, business, and civil society — and that we need the cooperation of all three to solve the world’s many problems. As far as I know, Brazil is the only major country in the world where such collaboration has been facilitated and institutionalized by its president. When President Lula da Silva took office in 2003 he had already many contacts in business and in civil society (he had regularly attended the World Social Forum, hosted in Porto Alegre by his party, the PT). He created special administrative channels through which members of the civil society had direct access to government, and he appointed many civil society leaders to important positions in government ministries.

In addition, it has become a tradition in Brazil for business executives to do volunteer work in NGOs, helping their members with accounting and management tasks. I believe that discussing with President Lula how this collaboration of government, business, and civil society is organized in Brazil might be helpful and inspiring for you if you want to create similar channels of communication in Washington.”