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| Number 7 | December 2000 | ||
Contents |
Update on the Alliance 2000-2001 World Assembly Charter for a responsible, plural and united world The Syros workshop (Greece), organized from 30th October to 4th November, formulated an intercultural and multilingual contribution in the framework of drawing up a Charter for the Alliance. Their reflections followed on from the Naxos group (1998) on the difficulties of cultural interpretation encountered when translating the Alliance Platform into twenty different languages. The 23 participants, who represented 25 different languages, gathered at Syros to carry out a dual task:
Contact: reseau.cultures@skynet.be - www.alliance21.org Energy The meeting of the Energy Efficiency workshop was held in Paris from 28th to 30th June 2000, gathering participants from Western, Central and Eastern Europe; China; Southeast Asia and Argentina. It resulted in the setting up of a World Network for Energy Efficiency intended to act as a relay between organizations and persons concerned by this subject and to extend the debate to a wider public. The group underlined the need to continue exchanging experiences and new ideas and debated on initiatives to be supported or promoted at international institutions (thus the idea for an international convention on energy efficiency, or a United Nations Agency for Energy Efficiency). Contact: wise-paris@globenet.org Youth See the articles on the International Youth Parliament (Sydney, Australia, 19-28 October 2000) Soils A conference entitled "Soils in Central and Eastern Europe, in the Newly Independent States, in Central Asian countries and in Mongolia: present situation and perspectives" was held at Prague, Czech Republic from 26th to 29th August 2000. What made the conference original were the participants' diverse responsibilities and backgrounds. Thus, even though there were a great many scientists among the participants, the debates were mostly of a political nature. The discussions mainly focused on the causes and solutions (political, social and economic; local, regional and world-wide) related to soil degradation and its consequences. The perspective sought was better management of soil as a resource. This conference gave rise to very interesting debates and concrete proposals. To find out about its main conclusions and recommendations, access: Contact: pms@alliance21.org - www.alliance21.org Journalists The network "Transforming Word", set up by Siddhartha in Bangalore (India), to constitute a sociocultural alternative approach within the media world, gathered about 30 journalists and writers from all over Asia, as well as the Americas and Europe, from December 7 to 10, 2000 in Bangalore, India. This working meeting made it possible to achieve a critical overview of the content and commercial biases of "mainstream media", as well as to propose an alternative solution: creating a world network of journalists willing to contribute to another globalisation, structuring their exchanges of information and articles by opening a Web site in 2001, and, in the longer-term, creating an alternative news agency, publishing articles and inquiries on themes that are little or inappropriately dealt with in conventional medias: human rights, development, analysis of social, educational and geopolitical issues of globalisation, social movements, etc. Contact: Siddhartha: sidd@vsnl.com Organizations of Habitants The World Assembly of Habitants was held from 2nd to 6th October 2000 at Mexico City. Coordinated by the Habitants International Coalition (HIC) and the Alliance for a responsible, plural and united world, it brought together about 300 participants from 41 countries to discuss the strategies to be implemented for the habitat, health, education, urban management, etc. Discussions focused on five major issues and joint resolutions were made: the democratic city and the construction of a collective ideal; the inhabitable, sustainable and viable city; the safe city, the prevention of natural disasters and the combat against urban violence; the educative, productive and socially cohesive city; strengthening the organization and international actions. Contact: hic@laneta.apc.org - www.alliance21.org - www.home.mweb.co.za/hi/hic Fishermen The constitutive assembly of the World Forum of Artisan Fishermen was held at Loctudy from 2nd to 6th October. It aimed to lay the foundations of a world-wide organization and validate a project to set up the Forum as well as a political document intended to present a framework for making claims and setting out a common strategy for all the organizations represented. It was attended by 250 participants, delegates, observers and listeners from 32 countries. The Forum was composed of national delegations with equal gender representation, thus asserting the essential place of women. Several conflicts became apparent at the meeting, springing from the provisional coordination committee, about the issue of different fishing methods and above all how the different cultures presented at the Forum perceived social movements and the balances of power within these. The assembly terminated with the constitution of 2 forums, with distinct geocultural bases. World Governance See the dossier published in Caravan Nº6, especially the article on the meeting at Villarceaux (France), from 13th to 15th July 2000. Information and Communication Technologies The meeting of the Information and Communication Technologies workshop was held on the occasion of the CN Global 2000: building the Internet by and for citizens, the first international conference of citizen networks, organized at Barcelona (Spain) from 2nd to 4th November 2000. Contact: www.cnglobal2000.org - www.vecam.org | ||
