What were we expecting from this meeting of the Alliance for a responsible and united world? Why was it organized in Brazil?

The event was organized to bring in elements in order to work out a proposal for the Assembly of Citizens of the Earth in the year 2000, and to make headway in the dynamics of constructing the network. These objectives were decided before hand at Barcelona. For us, it meant that we were to concretize links between actors in the social sphere, working groups and networks, and define strategies of action which would reveal the specificity and originality of the Alliance, since all this allows a large public visibility.

Being the São Paulo group, our effort was to associate Brazilian actors in the social sphere who express themselves in different key areas: sciences, arts, issues that are economic, political, social, racial, ethnic, cultural and environmental in nature and man-woman relationships.

The idea was to give importance to already existing spaces which help build solidarity (instead of inventing new ones) and to give more visibility to the Alliance through concrete players and not through abstract proposals. The bid to integrate the network also took into account our collective thought of whatever we possessed so far in terms of experience and capital resources in various domains; there was also a reflection on strategies to assert the strength of solidarity in a renewed vision of internationalisation. On the other hand, we knew that socio-cultural movements generally evolve in the corporate direction. Asking them to incorporate a local/global linking process was an occasion to go beyond the natural tendency of compartmentalization.

Brazil, a continent, happened to be the right venue for this meeting of the Alliance given the importance of its political position in the world, its cultural diversity and artistic creativity, the fact that it has the largest wealth of biodiversity on the planet, its innumerable innovative experiences of citizenship and forms of democratic governance and the amplitude of movements of solidarity.

It is important to understand that the 97 Assembly was not a conventional event. On the contrary it was a self-created complex process which linked several actions.

This process started by sensitizing Brazilian actors in the social sphere -- almost 40 participants who have credibility and recognition at the national and international level -- and continued till it expressed itself publicly (the night celebration of Sesc Pompeia attended by around 1000 people). Handicraft products, works of art and music which express the diversity of our culture were presented to a large audience at ‘Sesc Pompeia’, a former factory that has been renovated as an excellent cultural center.

Another important aspect was the presence of the Alliance in the Brazilian media which helped communicate its image to millions of people in the country.

By relating to Brazilians we were somehow made to question our identity that is, "the space where we were speaking from" -- the movement of the Blacks asserts, rightly so, that it is not possible to "cross out" history, to deny discriminatory reflexes of colonisation. The indigenous leaders strongly point out the need to inherit and be aware of cultural heritage for the construction of a humanistic model. Women stress the need to balance production and reproduction of life, the latter always being left to women. Scientists insist on well-founded dialogue with other kinds of wisdom and knowledge beyond the boundaries of universities. Artists speak of changing the world through poetic language and understanding life as a work of art. It was impressive and revealing to see the force of spirituality in numerous agents of change, who turn towards the construction of a world of peace, a world that is more generous and humane.

The complexity of this process also shows us that inspite of the wealth that unites us, we are blinkered to a near total lack of inter-culturality between diverse movements and joint experiences.

In this way, the dialogue between entities having diverse profiles through the entire organisation of the event was both a challenge and an element of growth. The São Paulo Group - which is formed by Sesc São Paolo, Instituto Polis, Cives, Rede Mulher de Educaçao, Imagens, Instituto Ecoar para a Cidadania, Crescente Fertil and Rolle Playing -- responsible for the co-ordination of the event, not only made the 97 meeting possible but also made us experience a rich process of mutual questioning.

The description of the process goes to show that the 97 meeting was a unique moment in the history of the Alliance and opened a new direction in the construction of a responsible and united world.

One of the major outcomes of the meeting was the dialogue on diversities and the initiatives that were already taken. This entire process brought about a considerable wealth of methodology in diversity.

How can such diverse cultural experiences be united under the same banner while retaining their specific contexts in different countries of the world? How does one make a Himalayan nomad meet a French intellectual? How do we create a rapport between coconut breakers of Tocantin in the Brazilian Amazonia with Buddhist monks of Asia or with Chinese allies?

One way or the other, this challenge was confronted during the meeting. What remains to be done however, is to work out a collective plan and programme of action in view of the event for the year 2000 and to prepare the Assembly that will mark the entry into the next millennium.

Long-distance communication has consolidated a unique methodology: the first test of a world assembly was successfully carried out in 1997 by linking six meetings held in different continents in an effort to establish a dialogue which allowed for an exchange of proposals between participants.

But the main challenge that São Paulo is still faced with, is to deepen the quest for diversity by developing local and global actions against the imbalances on the planet.

Working with diversity and constructing new ways of being and living does not only mean being involved with struggles that are sector-based or collective for a certain period of time. It implies that we must be closer to our desires, dreams, myths, traditions, practices, experiences in order to redefine values and strategies, by trying to achieve a richness of human values and by making fraternity possible in the human condition given the differences. This is the wealth of the Alliance!

The São Paulo Group

Return to Top

The Zéralda meeting (29th November - 4th December 1997) which comes within the framework of all the international meetings of the Alliance for a responsible and united world had a two point agenda: first to participate in the totality of meetings to be held at the same time in different parts of the world and secondly to concretely evaluate the degree of our involvement towards the development of the Alliance in the Maghreb countries. The Zéralda meeting has thus allowed visibility to a committed process - which is a little over a year old now - through the geocultural group of Maghreb.

The diversity of participants was a source of wealth and opened new vistas for the debate. We found the same concerns and a strong motivation to act and change the order of things. But besides this profusion of energies, each one insisted on his/her lack of ability to act. In all the accounts, what came across very often, was the difficulty to go beyond the level of discourse and the inability to translate it into action. The Zéralda meeting opened new perspectives to individual initiatives that are often ignored and isolated, by organizing our action into a collective approach of solidarity and sharing.

The debate was often dedicated to local concerns but these rarely overshadowed the global dimension. Somewhere, each one was aware of the profound meaning of globalisation and its positive and negative implications on our destiny.

The meeting was organized around two themes:

1. The theme of values and knowledge: Abderahmane Moussaoui, group leader of the workshop along with Mohamed Benguerna began the debate with a presentation of water management in the Touât (in the Sahara region). This example, which was illustrated with the foggara (traditional technique of exploitation and management of underground water) raised questions on local wisdom and scientific knowledge, on social organisation, their capacity to innovate and resist, and values of solidarity. Modernisation of our societies sets forth the problem of preservation and appreciation of this heritage.

2. The theme of Humanity and the Bioshpere: Ismaïl Selim Khaznadar, group leader of this workshop along with Abdelhafidh Hamdi Cherif and Daho Djerbal introduced the debate by presenting the principle of responsibility. This theme questioned each one of us and gave way to numerous queries. This concept presented in this particular manner is new to us.

The following observations emerged from all the working sessions of the meeting:

Observation n°1.: Algeria has a rich cultural heritage: song and poetry, cottage industry and art, history and archaeology etc. We are losing testimonies, traces are disappearing and memories are fading. Some facets of our identity are disappearing forever. Our societies need these landmarks to live the present and construct their future.

Observation n°2.: "Development" policies have neglected and dangerously altered natural resources such as biodiversity, water and soil. Wisdom, knowledge and popular practices of traditional and innovative exploitation are often sidelined by a "technical" approach whose success is yet to be proved. The most dramatic case is the phenomenon of desertification that leaves thousands of hectares of land sterile every year.

Observation n°3.: Through its young and feminine component, the society has a strong potential energy to begin the necessary changes and correct the imbalances. These energies remain marginal and do not find the necessary anchor to their project. Faced with emptiness and indifference, they choose evasion.

From these observations, the participants came up with a series of proposals in the form of two projects entitled: "network of young initiatives" and "network of local initiatives for preservation of indigenous knowledge". [see also articles in Reflections & News]

The Algiers Group

Return to Top

From 30th November to 3rd December 1997, African allies from all parts of the continent met at the Martin Luther King International Centre, Kigali.

After being in touch with the other meetings, four objectives were accepted at Kigali

• To formulate an African discourse on the major challenges of our continent
• To conduct an exchange of experiences between partners belonging to different regions of Africa.
• To identify some stakes and make necessary recommendations to end the crisis
• To think of a coordinating system between allies

Initially the discussions were centered around the theme of Governance and Citizenship arising from a basic question, which was to determine the content of the term ‘democracy’ and its application in a modern African society. We then took up the theme, Economy and Society from the perspective of the peasantry and food security.

All the participating allies were visibly satisfied with this occasion that was meant to get to know each other and develop an understanding. New stakes, commitments and deadlines were established in order to set up a mechanism for a mutual follow-up.

The sessions that began with a visit to an exhibition on Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela were marked by the visit to Ntarama, where 5000 persons were assassinated in a small church during the 1994 genocide. It is imperative for heads of states and political authorities - who are obsessed by power and prefer sacrificing human lives in order to remain in power - to visit sites such as this one so that they may change their behaviour and advocate peace.

A message of peace was sent to other meetings during the concert of drummers from Burundi on the last day. The vigour and liveliness of their music touched all the participants deeply.

The Kigali Group

Return to Top

The interest in the São Paulo meeting led to the December 1997 experiment of active participation in the debates at São Paulo through the use of Internet. The francophone group of Belgium was asked to be associated with it. The equipment at the International Centre for Communication at Roubaix was used for this purpose.

Our region has 4 million inhabitants. Since 30 years, the industrial and economic transformations have had a major impact on this region. It has gone through painful changes, still suffers from unemployment but has shown an amazing creativity in numerous areas.

We worked on the following five themes:

• creative teaching and learning
• humankind and urbanization
• citizen’s university
• consumer power
• globalisation

After the preliminary work on the preparatory documents for the São Paulo meeting, the group met every morning from December 2 to 6, 1997. These were in fact small groups of 4 to 10 persons who would read out and discuss the messages received on the previous day. In this way they could send their reactions and messages before the São Paulo meeting.

The daily sessions were sustained by a large meeting that was held on 2nd December towards the end of the day. 50 participants prepared messages through group work, which was later validated by the general assembly.

The messages were about

• workshops: event for the Year 2000 and the platform’s enrichment.
• themes: values and knowledge, economy and society, governance and citizenship.

The regional group of Lille is now pursuing action around the theme of sustained and united development. The work will possibly be enriched by the think tank of the Alliance, thanks to effective links with the allies of other regions. This is how the visibility of the Alliance can improve -- by giving substance to a process that can defeat the feeling of helplessness.

The Lille Group

Return to Top

Forty participants, mainly from Asia, but also from other parts of the world, gathered in Bangalore, India to be part of the Assembly 97 of the Alliance that took place in different parts of the world. It was a historic occasion for us in Asia to be connected with this movement of hope that will make its small contribution to making the XXIst century more compassionate and livable.

Mahatma Gandhi once used an interesting metaphor to describe his cultural position. He spoke of building a house with firm foundations, rooted in the earth, but whose windows were wide open to let the winds blow freely from every direction: "I want the winds from every corner to blow through my house but I refuse to be swept off my feet by any of them." Here in South Asia we are celebrating the 50th year of our independence, and Mahatma Gandhi is one of the persons whose life and thoughts are often recalled. At the Bangalore meeting of the Alliance for a responsible and united world, Gandhi's life and thoughts have become a useful focal point to start meaningful explorations of the impact of globalisation on the peoples of the world in general, and Asia in particular. They also help us to expore the cultural and spiritual resources from our richly diverse continent which could form the bases from which the choking embrace of globalisation can be fought.

Now, 50 years on, we find ourselves faced with dehumanisation from another quarter: the homogenising bulldozer of globalisation. We are finding ourselves strengthened in our struggle by those very same sources Gandhi brought to his struggle more than half a century ago: culture, spirituality and pluralism. The principles he employed in his struggle, such as Ahimsa (non-violence), Sathya (truth), Aparigraha (non-possession, non-grasping), Astheya (non-stealing), Sparshabhavana (freedom from social exclusion) and Swadeshi (belonging to one's own space, rooted in a local community and yet a world citizen) were not his own but selected from his cultural roots and embodied powerfully in his life.

The many spiritual and cultural traditions of Asia provide us with rich resources to create an alternative consciousness vis-a-vis the aridity of globalisation as a worldview. Buddhist spirituality, for example, offers us a deep awareness of the impermanence of everything, an awareness that leads to non-attachment towards material things. This consciousness together with the deep compassion for all beings makes Buddhist spirituality an enabling and nourishing resource in the struggle against the soulless consumerism that is ruining our physical and human world today. For indigenous peoples we are all children of Mother Earth. Hence a caring and nurturing attitude to nature comes naturally to them. The Christian and Islamic traditions also offer similar enrichment.

These spiritual traditions still have deep roots in the peoples of Asia. There is also the rich potential of the creative energies of the poor waiting to be released. the deeply humanising power of women also constitutes a countervailing force and the more the creative energies of women are released, the more humane a world we can create. It is now possible to see that however formidable a force globalisation appears to be with its negative impact, it is at bottom quite a fragile phenomnon and can be countered. The contours of a counter-response are already visible in the multiple initiatives and movements that mirror the deeply felt aspirations of local communities for enhanced self-expression and a life of dignity. With creativity and imagination, it is possible to enlarge the already existing spaces within the broader framework of globalisation in a way that loosens its stranglehold over our lives. When these varied and pluralist movements communicate with each other, we will be moving towards a world where we celebrate the unity in diversity of the whole of humanity.

Here in the Bangalore meeting, we have come to see that all our strategies for social transformation and resistance to globalisation must spring from personal transformation, drawing upon spiritualities contained in the myriad local cultures that inhabit this part of the globe. It is in this way that we draw upon the wisdon built over millenia by people rooted in a particular place. This reliance on "Truth experienced" rather than on "Truth known" that characterises ideologies and theoretical systems, makes personal living and social action much more integrated, holistic and fulfilling.

The way we carried on our deliberations at the Bangalore meeting is also illustrative of our dependence on practices rooted in local culture. We met as human persons and told each other our stories, something that happens under many a banyan tree in many a village square in Asia. We found this a deeply enriching experience, one that enhanced the quality of our relationship as expressed in the lovely Maori saying "love is the space you give to the other to tell his or her story."

The Bangalore Group

Return to Top

A meeting was held at Barcelona from 29th November to 3rd December 1997, under the auspices of the Centre for Social Innovation. The meeting was continental in nature and was linked to the world dynamics of the Alliance for a responsible and united world. The participants came from the Mediterranean region (Italy, France, Spain) and from Belgium and Switzerland as well. The objectives of this meeting were to launch a dynamics related to the continent within the framework of the Alliance and to analyze four of the eight themes discussed at São Paulo: the Platform, event for the year 2000, working groups, political renewal.

We decided to pursue our work on the following themes

• Conflict and violence
• Re-thinking political discourse/Law/Citizenship
• Importance of childhood
• Beauty & Politics / Art & Aesthetics / Politics & Ethics

We assess this meeting as being positive given that the emergence of an European dynamics -- on a short and medium time basis -- was made possible. Two activities have already been planned for the next year and the participants showed an interest in participating in a dynamics that is more general at the European level.

The Barcelona Group

Return to Top

In Tolga, Norway, a parallel meeting to the São Paulo Meeting was organised on 1 December 1997. The meeting was focused as a strategy conference "Sound food from local resources." 47 people participated from food, health and environmental alliances, farmers' organisations and the Norwegian GATT WTO Campaign. The meeting made the decision to send recommendations to the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation stating that the different trade agreements such as WTO, EEC, NAFTA, APEC, MERCOSUR, etc. have great negative effects for nature and people. Driving rules on trade with food have been proposed and endorsed during the conference.

Return to Top

The Alliance is a learning organization, one that learns from its successes and its mistakes. Our concern in carrying out an evaluation of the ‘Assembly 97’ was to help the Alliance learn from its experiences in order to strengthen its ability to effectively confront the challenges outlined in its Platform.

The Evaluation Report has been based on a questionnaire sent out to all participants of the meeting held in Bertioga, Brazil. In addition, some participants in meetings at other locations also responded to it. We received 52 responses from 26 countries from four continents. The responses to the questionnaire give us an overview of participants’ perceptions of the Assembly in terms of its preparation, their participation in it, their feeling of progress in the issues that are central to the Alliance, their assessment of the remote participation process, and their feeling of commitment to participate in the building of the future of the Alliance.

The Assembly appears to have successfully reflected the diversity of our planet, and was more or less successful in integrating special interest groups to the Alliance. The most salient result is that the Assembly was a successful activity that engaged the enthusiasm and commitment of participants to continue building the Alliance in the future. This is especially important considering that a very large proportion of the participants were very new to the Alliance. In a way, this success counterbalances the overall perception of little progress in discussing the contents, themes and issues that are central to the Alliance, which was a clear perception for a large proportion of participants. This confirms the idea that the Assembly was more a meeting space to make contact, exchange experiences and strengthen human relationships, rather than a conventional conference to discuss particular topics or make progress around specific issues. Remote participation, on the other hand, was generally perceived to be very valuable but not very successfully integrated into the Assembly process.

It is most striking that the participants perceived the least progress was made in the discussion of the workshops and the main themes identified as central to the internal organization of the Alliance (workshops) and to its intervention to shape a better future of the planet (main themes). It is particularly striking that there is a general perception of least progress made in the preparation of the 2000 Event, which will be the next major collective meeting of the Alliance and of which the Assembly 97 was to be a dry run.

Nonetheless, much was accomplished in other aspects that are also essential to the consolidation of the Alliance: strengthening human relationships, and engaging the interest and enthusiasm of participants to continue building the Alliance in the future. This should help us strengthen our efforts and commitment for the times to come.

Ricardo Gomez,
for the evaluation team

Return to Top