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Numerous grassroots initiatives devoted to fostering sustainable and equitable alternatives to the dominant economic development model have recently sprung up in India and other parts of the world. The emergent framework of radical ecological democracy can inspire such a values-led transition to a better future.

Commentary by David Barkin, Federico Demaria, Helena Norberg-Hodge, and Neera Singh, and a response by the author.

The Future ICSO
Interview
July 2014

An interview with Burkhard Gnärig, the Executive Director of the International Civil Society Centre, about the current landscape of international civil society organizations (ICSOs) and what they must do to adapt to a world filled with new challenges and opportunities.

In an increasingly interdependent world, the question is not whether there will be global governance, but whether it will be democratic and integrative. To democratize international affairs, we must expand the concept and practice of citizenship through a global citizens movement.

With commentary by John Bunzl, Peter Christoff, Richard Falk, John Martin Gillroy, Liisa Horelli, and Michael Karlberg

The corporate sustainability movement has yet to fully grasp the risk of looming social and ecological tipping points. To avoid the trap of incrementalism, we need a systemic understanding of how a truly sustainable corporation would operate.

With commentary by Manuel Escudero, Stuart Hart, Mark McElory, Alan Willis, and Simon Zadek

An interview with Kumi Naidoo, International Executive Director of Greenpeace International, about how to fix the current democratic deficit and strengthen the role of civil society in pushing for fundamental change.

Recent demographic, economic, social, cultural, and resource trends may foretell the decline of consumer society in the US. The question then becomes what system will come next.

With commentary by Julian Agyeman, John Ehrenfeld, Emily Huddart-Kennedy, and William Rees

An interview with the former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about how to build the political will to address the climate crisis and why a rights-based approach must lie at the core of 21st century development.

Vishaan Chakrabarti’s recent book A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America makes a compelling case that future prosperity lies in cities. But his vision of the built environment, this review argues, leaves out an essential element: the people who inhabit it.

We are not only in ecological overshoot, but "financial overshoot" as well. The time has come to reimagine the system.

Commentary by Gar Alperovitz, Herman Daly, Marjorie Kelly, and Hunter Lovins.

By helping diverse communities bypass dysfunctional government and predatory markets, the commons approach can serve a key strategic role in the transition to an alternative system.

With commentary by Arthur Dahl, Liisa Horelli, Ashish Kothari, James Quilligan, and Wolfgang Sachs

World Social Forum co-founder Oded Grajew discusses his career transformation, the history of the WSF, and what lies ahead.