A Growing World Community
November 2007

What exactly are we aiming at? It may not be easy to say in a few words, but with all those amazing things you are all doing all over the world, in a multitude of fields, through all different walks of life, the keywords here are "linking," "experience sharing," "mutual reinforcement," and ... "emergence of a world community." No less! The conviction is that the planet’s survival, the human species included, is at stake.

It took quite a shot of adrenaline for our talented webmistress, Natalia Massa, to revamp the Alliance 21 Web site to support all this movement. She beautified the layout, dug out the old workgroup archives to make them available (yes! they are still relevant!), and made sure we could access the currently active workgroups. The keyword here is "resources." Still a couple of new tools being fine tuned to facilitate greater networking, and then we should be able to coast for awhile... while you do the work ;-).

Take a breath, take a look.

On the home page, the latest news from active workgroups is now automatically, and randomly displayed under the biannual dossier. The international Alliance of Journalists is on the job to spread awareness among journalists on the enormity of media responsibility, while the military are reconsidering their mission as one of making peace, not war.

The latest articles you have submitted tell stories of seeds planted and growing. The methodology developed in the course of the Alliance’s first ten years or so is now fueling other, critical dynamics, so that when Europe meets China, and vice-versa, a truly fruitful encounter can be expected. The School of Peace, which in 2002 coordinated our worldwide multilingual Internet-based debate after 9/11 on how to build a culture of peace is now ten years old, and its director tells us that this game, is definitely not over. Or, to take another coined expression, where peace is concerned, the fight goes on.

Hit "All the news" to see your latest briefs: sustainable tourism takes form in Cambodia, while in France, for a week, a multitude of nationwide educational activities celebrate international solidarity. Move on down, and check out the latest news from the Web sites connected to ours. Is yours not connected yet? Then take a few minutes to do so.

The next "What’s New?" will be with you mid-January of next year, so we’d like to take this opportunity to ask you to join us in our wishes that 2008 will be Citius, Altius, Fortius, or Faster, Higher, Stronger, not only in the year’s Olympic Games, but for all of our endeavors as a world community. Coming soon, a new Dossier: The fantastic travels of Traversées.

Looking forward!