Time to have your say: What World Do You Want?

Rahm Emanuel once famously said that you never want a serious crisis go to waste.

And you already know that we are going through a serious crisis, both at home and across the world.
So the question is, what good can come out of this crisis?

The truth is, that we’re not sure.
But we also believe that there are many opportunities for us all, to use the crisis positively – by re-thinking our ideas of who we are and what type of future we’re building for ourselves.

It is more and more evident that “business as usual” is not working for us – not for people, and not for the planet. So we need to come up with an alternative. But how?

“A Trinity of Opportunities”

In our view, 2013 is the year where we can come up with our vision of the alternative:

1. Ireland needs to come up with a new national development strategy, after the death of the Celtic Tiger, and it’s model of “development as unlimited growth of consumption.” President Michael D. Higgins was elected on the basis of a call to Reinvent the Republic, which clearly struck a chord with people. We need a new ‘recipe’ for the future of this country.
2. At UN level, there is a call for, and an opportunity to shape, a new vision of “sustainable development” for the world. The Millennium Development Goals are set to be achieved in 2015, and after Rio+20, the UN now needs to articulate “sustainable development goals” for all countries, not just poor ones. Such an international ‘recipe’ for development needs to be based on the priorities of people living in poverty, be that at home in Ireland or elsewhere.
3. The Irish EU Presidency puts Ireland in the driving seat, just as the EU needs to articulate its vision for the UN process, and set new priorities for itself, for the 2014-2020 period (known as the MFF).

Now is the time: Speak Out!

These unique opportunities mean that it is time for a nation-wide debate about the type of “Development” we want to see, in Ireland, and by extension, in the world.

And here are some ways in which you can participate in such a dialogue:

• Join “Claiming Our Future” in their search for ideas for an Equal, Sustainable and Thriving Ireland.
• Join President Michael D. Higgins’ “Take Charge of Change” initiative.
• Join the world-wide conversation about the priorities for “The World We Want“
• Make a submission to the European Commission about the priorities for “sustainable development”
• Help “the Second Republic” look for ideas to reform our political system.
• Join the “Convergence 2012” discussions looking for Break-Through Ideas

But most of all, we would like to hear from you!

Talk to us, via Facebook or Twitter and
let us know what you think the priorities should be
for a ‘recipe’ to fight poverty and injustice here at home, and abroad.

(Also check out our interactive time line and our list of background documents)

We are currently developing our own thinking on the “Post 2015” priorities.

And we will discuss our ideas in a series of seminars, prompting discussion among Dóchas members, as well as with members of The Wheel, and with anyone else who wants to be part of the discussions. We have also teamed up with Claiming Our Future, for one or two bigger events.

During the process, and at the end (in May next year), we will present our ideas (and yours) to the Irish Government, and to Ministers of the 27 EU member states.

Keep an eye out for the Wednesday News for further details, and keep checking our interactive calendar.

www.WorldWeWant.ie