Climate Change and Democracy

Met with Halina Ward from the Foundation for Sustainable Development and Democracy today which sparked a number of interesting potential collaborations; on a general level it is strange just how cautious the sector is about inhabiting some of the bigger social issues of our time - Urban Forum's work on the community reinvestment act beign a departure from the norm. Increasingly post Every Action Counts, I've been looking at what next, given there simply has to be a push made on the worrying impacts of inevitable climate change. Community action will always quietly get on and do at the local level but it is increasinly untenable that we have a top down or two tier policy that constantly misses them out. The general focus on capacity building the sector as slighlty wayward public sector relations, in order to fulfil targets on individual behaviour change, is a waste of time but there is always the uneasy feleing that this is where money and partnership slide into once the rhetoric fades. My working solution to this at present is to run, as all community groups inevitbaly do, away from such things, I do not need to hear another third sector giant advocate on behalf of the sector that the problem is about poor VCS governance and a lack of leadership - talk about putting the ball in the back of your own net. We need to occupy the higher ground - the state and market has failed, big style, all we have left increasingly, esp if you buy into Tony Gibson's bleak prognistications, is each other, at a very local level, as the emmodiment of associative action. But from there we can as Cameron says, reimagine society, we'll suspend belief on the Tory vision for now, because I see little difference between the parties, all espouse localism. Joining up with the meeting with Halina made me realise I think the way forward is to reclaim the bigger debates about what kind of democracy we want, what kind of economic system can create socially useful outcomes and who can speak with independence and integrity on such things - not the bankers, not the pols, not even the contract led third sector, but in community associative action as the majority presence in civil society - yes we can.