A Social and Green Society - by Josephine Green
Circular Change to Circular Culture
From top down control to diffused Connectivity
From hierarchy and control to Heterarchy and Creativity
The world is not well. On many levels we see and experience its struggles. Rampant pollution, our natural habitats being systematically destroyed, a minority of very wealthy rich and an abundance of deprived poor.
Is there an alternative? A Social and Green Society based not on hierarchy, top down command and control, rich and poor but on heterarchy, a productive connected flattened network. A place based system driven through local connection, creativity, enterprise, production and consumption. Cultivating and nurturing self-sufficiency, through the production and consumption of the local, increases agency, creativity and a healthy environment, reducing the constant transport of cheap goods worldwide. With climate change and the destruction of our planet, we must nurture networks of locally based creative initiatives, independent but connected. A productive web that covers the planet but is first and foremost rooted in the geography and creativity of the local. A very different place based diversified system to the present destruction and inequalities arising from the outsourcing of the rich to the poor, and to cheap climate destroying goods, which in turn are incrementally destroying the planet we inhabit.
Against this background of exploitation of the planet and people, we need a vision that encompasses a nurtured and global network of originality and creativity based on place, enterprise and diversification. All beyond the iron fist of GDP, stock markets and inequality. It is in this context that the Circular Change Action Plan (CEAP) must be the pro-active conduit to achieve these aims and outcomes.
The present pandemic of Covid19 is a massive wake up call and serves as an incentive to change how we are in the world and to go beyond the God of profit and the concentration of wealth in too few hands. As outlined above, we need a culture and a practice of local experimentation based on local production and consumption. A system whereby the local and joined up local moves us from hierarchy to heterarchy, from top down command and control to local open and connected enterprising. From such a point of view, place is essential, place matters. While place is central, it has the potential to be connected to a regional, country and global network. Ultimately, if we want a resilient future and a healthy environment, it must be the small that makes the big and not the big that dictates to the small.
In this context, Covid19 is a force for change and a catalyst towards a green, social and creative future. A force that exemplifies how connected we are on this planet but also how vulnerable. A force that underlines the need to bring about change in terms of how we are in the world. The need to act, connect and be in the world differently. If we learn anything from this epidemic it is that we need to change how we are. To achieve this we need experimentation, experimentation, experimentation.
In this context a Circular Economy is a driving force to a green socially balanced future. Its strength is that it is not only about a Circular Economy but also about a Circular Change and a Circular Culture.
The Circular Change Action Plan is a critical stepping stone towards realizing the vision, the creation and the modelling of a Circular Culture. A critical step towards creating living examples and models of a circular economy, circular change and a circular society. Led by a vision for the economy, for innovative creativity and for the wellbeing of People and Planet. As Ladeja Godina Kosir, the chair of the Coordination Group of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform expressed “We are willing and capable of extending our role as a catalyst and channel for different circular practices, experiences, initiatives, knowledge providers, experts empowering people on the ground, supporting creativity and innovation and bridging top down and bottom up approaches. Connecting the dots to collectively achieve more than single individuals can achieve on their own”.
In essence it is now time to get real and save ourselves and the planet. The first major step is the decoupling of growth and resource use and GDP. Perhaps the devastation of Corona Virus offers us a turning point and the demise of Neo-liberalism, which is no longer fit for purpose.
Josephine Green Beyond 20: 21 century stories
member of Circular Change Honorary council