A new initiative Collaboration for Change which is bringing together radical initiatives proposing solutions to the economic, social, environmental and cultural challenges we are facing.

Please keep Sat 6th Oct 2018 free for an event in Derry’s Guildhall which marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Civil Rights Movement by bringing together radical environmental, economic, cultural and social initiatives to share and learn and possibly create something new together.

Eventbrite Invitation Link

This is an invitation for everyone involved in creating radical progressive alternatives and also for interested individuals.

The event will be a place where those who say it can’t be done take back seat to those who are doing it. (Laura Flanders)

Collaboration for Change is a gathering of citizen-led movements called to mark the anniversaries in 2018 of the Civil Rights Movement in Derry and the signing of the Universal Rights Declaration. We will explore the contributions already being made to building a just and resilient society in Northern Ireland and how we can develop that work by collaboration between the various economic, social, cultural and environmental alternatives. The organisers recognise that our own work can only be enhanced by learning and sharing and we are committed to creating spaces for this to happen.

American activist, speaker, economist and environmentalist Michael Albert will be there to offer his support and expertise.

The 6th October Gathering is the first of three planned events shaping a collaborative movement which puts people and planet first. After our first event on Sat 6th Oct, we will be building a network and making links with similar initiatives worldwide, including P2P.

Header image, the Guildhall: Wikipedia

The post Event: Collaboration for Change, in Derry, Oct. 6 appeared first on P2P Foundation.

We are living in turbulent times for electoral democracy. But it didn’t start with the Brexit referendum and the election of Trump. Over the period 2006 – 2016 the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index recorded a decline in democratic health for more than half the 167 countries it monitors.

Join the P2P Foundation’s Michel Bauwens and many others for this special day of Democracy, as part of the Imagine! festival of ideas and politics, celebrated in Belfast from the 12th to the 18th of March. The text below is taken from the Festival’s page on Democracy Day.

We are living in turbulent times for electoral democracy. But it didn’t start with the Brexit referendum and the election of Trump. Over the period 2006 – 2016 the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index recorded a decline in democratic health for more than half the 167 countries it monitors.

In many parts of the world citizens are losing faith in the electoral system that had been considered the consensus vehicle of human progress over much of the last century. Northern Ireland is no exception to this trend.

Whilst populist demagogues would have us believe ‘strong’ leadership and a return to authoritarianism is the answer, proponents of deliberative democracy believe quite the reverse – that a key part of the solution to this malaise is a deeper involvement of citizens in decision-making.

Democracy Day is a Building Change Trust event and is back for its second year at Imagine 2018. It’s a full dawn to dusk programme exploring the health of democracy, the role of citizens and the latest local and international thinking about what needs to be done to reinvigorate democracy and make it fit for purpose in the 21st Century.

Attendees will get a hands-on exploration of innovations like Citizens’ Assemblies and Participatory Budgeting, as well as hearing from inspiring international speakers including Michel Bauwens from the Peer to Peer Foundation and our evening keynote Carmen Perez, co-organiser of the Women’s March on Washington.

With the exception of the Michel Bauwens event ‘Commoning Our Democracy’, all of the daytime events for Democracy Day are covered by a single registration – simply register once on any of the Democracy Day daytime event pages to attend as many events as you wish. The evening events on the Good Friday Agreement and Carmen Perez’s talk also require separate registration. All events are free – here’s the lineup for the day.

Programme

the people’s breakfast

Kick off Democracy Day with a hearty free breakfast and a short drama performance to set the scene.

putting people at the heart of decision making

How will a Citizens’ Assembly for Northern Ireland work?

commoning our democracy

Michel Bauwens leads a workshop on the emerging crisis in democratic nation-states

the end of facts? taking on fake news

FactCheckNI introduces fact-checking champions from Methodist College Belfast.

debate, deliberate, decide: community conversations about education

A workshop exploring the emotive issue of the loss of primary schools within communities.

participatory budgeting works: a practical introduction

Find out about Participatory Budgeting and how you can decide!

the good friday agreement: is it still fit for purpose?

Twenty years on, participants in this session will examine the constitutional arrangements bequeathed by the Good Friday Agreement.

keynote speaker: carmen perez

Democracy Day’s keynote speaker is Carmen Perez, National Co-Chair of the Women’s March on Washington.

The post Commoning our Democracy: Democracy Day at Imagine! Belfast 2018 appeared first on P2P Foundation.