EDA’S ANNUAL FIRESIDE CHAT
December 9
2021
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm PST
Online event
All attendees will receive a meeting invite
Free
Summary
RESOURCE DEMOCRACY: ISN'T IT TIME?
It happened again with COP26 and will certainly happen again. Why does the global community have so much trouble creating and meeting global objectives? Is it because our sovereign nation-state system, which dates back to 1648, insists on the rights of independent nation-states but refuses to be held accountable for the common good of the planet?
The nation-state intends to maximize economic growth with minimal constraints. Yet the future of humanity rests on our efforts to limit the use of energy and material resources within the carrying capacity of the planet. This is why the modern nation-state will not survive the utterly devastating impact of global climate change through ecosystem collapse, wildlife extinction, resource losses, overwhelming wastes, global pandemics, economic inequality, domestic terrorism and endless war.
So what can the average person do? Could we shift our attention from political to natural boundaries and restore the vitality of our ecosystems? Is it possible to turn our bioregions into basic units of governance based upon the self-organizing principle of our planet’s own natural systems?
Citizens have the power to hold governments responsible for optimizing the ecological balance and human welfare within our bioregions. By participating in the regional democratic structures that already exist, we could create a new understanding of self-sufficiency and self-governance for ecosystem regeneration. This would build a movement for resource democracy in time to avoid the worst possible climate future and lead to a system of intraregional government beyond the sovereign nation-state.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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