Changing Our World: Ideas for New Times 2020
This cycle explores the 2030 Agenda and the opportunities for advancing the construction of different social models and relations between peoples.
Is it still possible to change the world? There has been much debate about the need to change the world we live in. From international laws to supranational organisations, through international conferences and movements, all of these changes are focused on the same objective: to reduce inequality, the violation of human rights and the degradation of the planet.
We are well in to the 21st century and inequality is rampant, manifested for example by the fact that just eight men hold more wealth than half the global population and that, for the first time in the last fifteen years, over 815 million people in the world are undernourished.
The alarming statistics don't end there: more than 65 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflicts, environmental disasters, poverty and the violation of human rights; and one third of women worldwide have suffered acts of violence at least once in their lifetime.
Furthermore, gender inequality persists around the globe, depriving women and girls of basic rights and opportunities. The quality of democracy is declining, as are working conditions.
Plus, the planet is drowning and suffocating. Every year, the sea level rises, desertification encroaches over more land and 13 million hectares of forests are lost. And along the way, 200 people have been murdered for trying to slow climate change.
At the same time, global military expenditure is rising sharply and in countries like Spain the defence budget will see an 80% increase over the next seven years. Meanwhile, major corporations avoid 100 billion dollars in taxes every year and the world's wealthiest are welcomed into tax havens with open arms.
Although the outlook is less than optimistic, real change is already occurring in many parts of the globe. It may not make it to our TV screens, but change is happening around us every day, proving that other options are possible. The collective construction of alternatives is already a reality, to the extent that it offers a vital tool for challenging the dominant discourses that impose a single way.
During the Changing Our World: Ideas for New Times cycle, guest experts will discuss robust institutions and peace-building, the dependency of terrestrial ecosystems, access to clean, sustainable energy, and the steps that are being taken to reduce inequalities.
Coordinated by: NGDO Coordination Group – Spain
The talks in this cycle will be live streamed through La Casa Encendida's YouTube channel.
