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Introductory document for the topic 6 - Next steps for actually creating the WP
Rob WHEELER WP21 team
Saturday, 12 April 2003
Dear Friends,
We come now to the last month of this first phase of the e-Forum on creating
a World Parliament and strengthening and democratizing global governance.
This month's topic will focus on what are the next steps that we could take
for actually creating the WP.
It has been a busy time of late for the WP21 Facilitation Team, as we have
just drafted and submitted a major grant application to the Ford Foundation
for this project. We also intend to apply to a number of other foundations.
In addition, I have recently talked with some of the leaders of the Assembly
of the UN of the Peoples (Perugia, Italy), EarthAction Network, and the
Ubuntu Forum of Civil Society Networks (Josep Xercavins, who some of you may
remember from the Alliance's Lille Assembly). All of these folks expressed
an interest in working cooperatively with us in the future.
We want to mention the project areas that we are have thought could be most
productive and ask for your response in terms of what we can do next to
actually create the World Parliament. We have had many ideas shared on the
list serve, so those are certainly ideas that could be included and that we
could start working on, such as an artists committee, a group that can work
on translation and communications, activities to ensure that our existing
systems of global governance are respected and enforced, and effective
processes for our on-going discussions.
We want to continue with the e-Forum through the summer months; however we
will not be able to continue to do the translations by ourselves; thus we
have two ideas. The first is that we could separate the WP21 list into
several groupings according to language types. Thus we would have one list
for English speakers, one for Spanish, and a third for French. Then
periodically we could draft summaries (as we have been doing) and translate
them into the other two languages so that we would all know what is being
discussed by the other groups. Participants would be welcomed to subscribe
to more than one list, and lists in other languages could be open if there
are volunteers for doing abstracts and translate them to and from one of the
3 current languages
The other possibility would be to stay as one group and focus much more
specifically on one issue or matter at a time; however in this case we would
need also volunteers to help us do the translations. We would need at least
one person to translate between any two sets of the languages. Is there
anyone that would like to help with this; or would you just as soon use
separate lists for now? We do hope to continue once again with the type of
format and process that we have been using if we receive sufficient funding;
however we do want to focus more specifically on particular topics.
I am including brief descriptions of the project areas below, that we have
thought could help us to establish the world parliament and that we are
interested in working on. Please think about how we might best proceed with
either these project areas or with other steps that you think could move us
forward. We look forward to receiving your responses.
Finally, if any of you would be willing to help us develop proposals and
apply for grants, or to carry out other fundraising activities, would you
please let us know.
Rob Wheeler
WP21 Team
Primary Project Areas
The wp21 process can include, during the coming year, the interconnected
areas of research, promotion, collective deliberation and self-development
of this idea. The aim of this multiple approach is to reach and involve the
different strata and sensibilities of the whole world society (institutions,
civil society, whole common citizenship.). We want to do this, on one hand,
by informing people about the need for world democracy and a WP at both the
scientific and popular levels, and on the other, by starting putting it in
practice through participatory and deliberative processes:
1) Research activities
Publish a Report and Analysis on the WP21 e-Forum process. Collect
information about what other organizations concerned with WP and global
institutional reforms are doing. Collect and articulate information about
proposals on substantive and issue areas (such as education, poverty,
environment, peace)
2) Prepare promotional material and common tools
Develop different kinds of promotional materials inspired by the research
advances, create a modular media kit. Develop in a web based common
structure: a) a common space - newsletter (also to be distributed in
physical format), web promotional general and specific media-oriented
materials. - b) mail and web based lists, still to determine if to be
developed either by languages (and regions), topics (and specific debates),
and simplified larger global discussions connected with non-virtual
promotional activities (like to answer * how in practice can world democracy
be peacefully achieved as quickly as possible? *), c) interactive data bank,
including articles and books - references and whole contents - on world
democracy, module-based proposals of projects for substantive basic needs,
and the international registry, and establishing the pertinent links between
registered people, articles, proposals, etc in order to make easier the
consultation of the public available data.
3) Promotional activities
Give presentations and workshops about the World Parliament initiative
around the world in different conferences and meetings.
Prepare to present our Campaign for a World Parliament and transition to
global democracy at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India next January.
Encourage different social actors (students, journalists, activists,
citizens in general, etc.) to use the different tools (lists, interactive
data bank.)
4) Setting up deliberative processes
Establish a Network of Local and Regional Peoples Assemblies addressing the
linkages between local and global issue areas; do popular consultations for
decide on the structure and processes for the Parliament and register the
participants. Agree on a plan for the preparatory process and prepare to
hold a Constituting Assembly for the WP within a number of years. In regard
of the substantive issue areas or basic needs, establish deliberative
systems through the lists in order to develop and improve the projects and
legislative initiatives and their subsequent actions to be done.
WP21 Alliance Forum on a World Parliament for the 21st Century
E-mail : world-parl@forums.alliance21.org
Fax 1 717 264 5036
Information, inscriptions, désinscriptions: germa@alliance21.org
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