toward wiser democracies that work for all

[Skip Zilla]

The theme of this posting and of the replies it seeks to prompt is adapted from the over decade-long work of Tom Atlee. Tom's website, Democracy Innovations, introduces the aim of working toward wiser democracies where "we the people" are engaged in more authentic self-government (note: If you visit the site, be sure to page-down the main page to the resource weblinks which Tom provides.):

"Innovations in Democracy aims to make available hundreds of innovative practices, ideas, experiments, organizations and references useful for building wiser democracies that work for all."

"'Wiser democracies' are systems of politics and governance, of citizenship and activism, which creatively engage more of our human capacities -- not only to better address today's pressing social and environmental problems, but to help us build more desirable futures for ourselves and all the generations after us. As we build wise democracies, all the good things people are trying to do for the world will become so much easier to accomplish."

Tom Atlee has also written The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to create a world that works for all in which he, both introduces the co-intelligence perspective--a vision of what intelligence might look like if we deeply understood wholeness, interconnectedness, and co-creativity--and how we might apply the co-intelligence perspective "to transform [a] troubled democracy into a living system capable of creating a world that works for all, by generating the collective wisdom we need to creatively address our twenty-first century problems, opportunities and dreams."

Further information about the perspective and practice of "co-intelligence" can be found at The Co-Intelligence Institute's website, also developed by Tom Atlee. (Incidentally, Tom refers to the Howard Gardners and Margaret Wheatleys who find their way into a lot of reflective discussions which have been taking place in educational circles for a while now.)

[Skip Zilla]

"GenerationEngage is a nonpartisan youth-civic-engagement initiative that connects young Americans to political leaders, to other civic organizations, and to meaningful debate about the future they will inherit."

"GenerationEngage is built on three principles:

Young people suffer not from a lack of interest, but from a lack of access;

Our democracy should be a dialogue, not a monologue;

The best investment we can make in the future of our democracy is in young leaders at the local level."

(Skip's note: There are resources provided at this website which might be effectively used with students to help identify what American political leaders have to say about a variety of political issues.)

[Skip Zilla]

The World Ecitizens Project offers a look at engaging communities and classrooms in an educational effort to build a sustainable social world order that may best lead to a sustainable political world order. Here's a little more from the World Ecitizens "About" page:

What is the World Ecitizens Project?
The World Ecitizens (WE) Project aims to encourage understanding between peoples and communities and to share the fascinating diversity within nations and across the world. WE take responsibility for our actions and strive to make the world a better place.

The WE web based learning environment is a rich resource for educational collaboration in topics such as responsible citizenship, mutual respect, combating social injustice and conflict prevention and resolution. WE participants can build projects together, join in debates and develop electronic portfolios. Young people achieve World Ecitizen status when they publish a contribution to the WE gallery.

Giving young people a voice

Since January 2003 communities and classes of young people in the UK have presented posters, video clips and comic strips about citizenship issues that concern them. Some of the young people have been working with artists and writers in residence. So far homelessness and international citizenship have emerged as major areas of concern.

WE now includes projects in other parts of the world, including Free State, South Africa.

* Find out more about the Free State E-Lapa Project
* See a list of MirandaNet World Ecitizens Chapters

[Skip Zilla]

This posting at InfEd.org group addresses the idea of "participatory education" as a preparation for participatory democracy.