Beyond Rio + 20: Next Steps for the Widening Circle Campaign for a Global Citizens Movement

Warmly,

Nancy

RIO +20

We were prepared for the disappointment of Rio+20. Twenty years after the first conference governments and corporations have made little progress. However, global citizens are rising to the occasion, realizing that the momentous changes that must occur to save our planet’s life support system will be primarily up to us, the people. Uchita de Zoysa,a passionate activist global citizen, will be leading KOSMOS and The Widening Circle (TWC) in Phase Two. Uchita launched 14 Sustainability People’s Treaties at Rio+20 and a Manifesto which we hope some of you will sign and become part of the Global Citizens Movement?more

LANDSCAPE RESTORATION

John Liu was also active at Rio+20 presenting new films and participating in a UN CSD rountable. But the exciting news is John will be delivering weekly programmes in about 12 countries in Africa with ecological messages delivered directly to the people. Re-balancing the world?s carbon equilibrium is not just a matter of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. ?If we restore all degraded land on the entire planet as well as reduce emissions, you can extrapolate massive carbon uptake. www.eempc.org

HAPPY PLANET INDEX

We thought you would like to see where your country stands in the 3rd HPI Index published by the esteemed New Economics Foundation.The HPI measures what matters: the extent to which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for the people that live in them. The Index uses global data on life expectancy, experienced well-being and Ecological Footprint to calculate this. Most measures of national progress are actually just measures of economic activity; how much we are producing or consuming. By only using indicators like GDP to measure success we are not accounting for what really matters, producing happy lives people now and in the future….more

GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

“We want to be citizens of the world and not merely its inhabitants.”
Rarely has such a well informed group of distinguished international authorities written such a succinct, focussed manifesto expressing the essential need for global democracy. I have just signed the Manifesto along with the original signatories?Daniele Archibugi, Noam Chomsky, Richard Falk, David Held, Fernando Iglesias, Lucio Levi, Giacomo Marramao, George Monbiot, Heikki Patomäki, Mary Kaldor, Saskia Sassen, Richard Sennett, Vandana Shiva, Andy Strauss.  The document was launched in London at the London School of Economics on June 27, 2012 and will be launched in Rome, Buenos Aires and other global metropolis.

We recommend that you read and sign the manifesto ?here

MIND AND LIFE

Big news at Mind and Life since Arthur Zajonc became the President and His Holiness the Dalai Lama donated $200,000. The Dalai Lama was the 40th recipient of the Templeton Prize awarded to “entrepreneurs of the spirit.” The Institute will move to Massachusetts where it will be a close neighbor of KOSMOS. The strategic plan calls for several bold initiatives, including a move to more applied research, a program to explore the uses of contemplative practices to address addiction, and a Visiting Scholars program?more

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

The Global Citizens? Initiative (TGCI), an esteemed KOSMOS partner, is building a network of people who see themselves as global citizens and want to build a better world. Such a network responds to an urgent need for better grass-roots mechanisms that engage people in the processes of advocating for global values, finding global solutions to global issues, and building more participatory global governance institutions. We liked their perspective on global citizenship and thought you might too?more

COLLECTIVE PRESENCING

This is the first in a series of articles in KOSMOS introducing the phenomenon and practice of Collective Presencing, a new capacity evolving in humanity at this time…more

FUTURE OF OCCUPY

Magazine thematic themes include “The Future of Assemblies,” Focus on Working Groups, and the current issue on “Occupying the Commons.”?more

GLOBAL SPIRIT TV

Global Spirit debuts on PBS this July. It explores the essential, human questions: Who are we? Why are we here? What does it all mean? from the ancient indigenous wisdom traditions to the latest science.  “Global Spirit” is a harbinger of the emerging enlightened new genre of transformational media, content that offers a shift in understanding and relationship with ourselves, each other and our world. Several friends of KOSMOS will be participating in this highly recommended series. For stations and times, visit www.globalspirit.tv

“Kosmos Journal carries in every word and picture the sense of the global culture that is emerging. Beautifully illustrated, brilliantly written by leading evolutionary agents, it holds a unique place in the formation of a wisdom culture.”

– Barbara Marx Hubbard, Futurist

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