Crisis in policymaking for people and planet demands new politics of inclusion

"The failure of leadership at the Copenhagen climate change summit last December is just one example of a major crisis in environmental decision-making," says author Dr Michel Pimbert.

"Governments are proving ineffective custodians of the environment and human well being because their hands are tied by various interest groups that oppose changes that would benefit the majority of people. A more direct democracy is now needed for citizens to exercise their right to participate in decision-making and shape the future," he adds.

Pimbert's publication focuses on food and agriculture but is relevant to many other sectors of policymaking on environment and development.

It examines the institutions and approaches needed to invent a new form of politics that reflects the needs of groups who are most affected by social and environmental change but have so far been excluded from decision-making processes.

The e-book explores processes that can help reclaim active forms of citizenship —including learning from the rich history of face-to-face democracy, the importance of strengthening local organizations, building countervailing power from below and realizing the potential of community controlled media.

"Deliberative and inclusive processes that can significantly enhance citizen voice and agency in decision-making today," says Pimbert.

He also emphasizes how to nurture citizenship and competence to act in the public interest throughout his e-book.

Pimbert argues that the issue of who decides food and agricultural policies is central to ending hunger and malnutrition. He praises the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which agreed recently to let farmers’ organisations have their say in framing food-security policies.

"For the first time in the history of the UN system, the FAO’s Committee on World Food Security has opened its doors to civil society," he says. "Other governmental and intergovernmental bodies must follow its lead, and heed the need for greater inclusion of farmers, community groups, indigenous people and other marginalised people."

"But strengthening the voices of the excluded will also increasingly depend on linking the local to the global through many of the participatory processes described in this multimedia publication," Pimbert adds.

• Download the publication "Reclaiming citizenship: empowering civil society in policy-making"
• Download other publications in the series