Recognising that our current social contracts are failing us ecologically, socially and economically, we work collectively towards a new eco-social contract for a better world. Our neocapitalist economic system allows for extractivism, exploitation and an externalisation of social and ecological costs. There is little accountability for harms caused. We are facing horrific ecological crises such as climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, and rising levels of micro-plastics and forever chemicals. Our society is increasingly divided, with strong echoes of Apartheid’s legacy alongside the global rise of extremism. Many African governments are too burdened by historical debt to provide basic social services like health and education. International governance structures - such as the ICJ and UNFCCC - are failing to bind.
Woven across our other two pillars then, we promote environmental, social and mental resilience in the face of successive shocks and stresses, and work to build local livelihoods in the green, care and creative economies.
TOWARDS A NEW eco-social contract
In practice this means:
Profiling everyday heroes
Using local informal markets to unlock livelihood opportunities within creative, regenerative and care economies
Exploring alternative economic theories, such as degrowth, post-growth, eco-socialism and others
Experimenting with alternative business models, such as co-operatives, bartering, mutual aid, pooled resources, and commoning
Public seminars and facilitated discussions on issues such as climate change and other ecological crises; public health, including mental health; financial literacy.
Campaigning for accountability and transformation