• sc about strategy for wsf contriba

last modified August 9, 2012 by pierre

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input on strategy based on “wsf project” seen by facilitators ( sept 2009)

 can be relevant for discussion on future of ic

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A -Goal /objective  of who?. 2

B - Which “mid term complex goal” ?. 2

C – which facilitation ? –. 3

D - SOME  STRATEGIC TASKS first view  (   paragraph in  progress) 3

E - implementation goals/functions/tasks expressed in wsf charter, worded as taks for wsf process facilitators ( part in progress) 4

annex : Spotting Goals mentioned in charter of principles. 7

 

input on strategy based on “wsf project” seen by facilitators

Some definitions of strategy

Strategy : art of directing and coordinating actions to reach a particular goal - implicit or explicit logic to reach a complex and long term objective

A -Goal /objective  of who?

Strategies OF WSF :

 this is discarded by charter of principle , WSF is not an organization and IC is not its politburo,

Strategies of actors  IN WSF :

 this is a useful analytic work because each actors participating in WSF has its own strategy in WSF, and it is interesting to study those and see which are compatible it is a work that many actors can do,

SC could collect works done on this ; but not make the work itself

Strategy/ies  of facilitators  ABOUT/FOR  WSF –

formally , There is the charter of principles which defines in great parts what WSF ideally is - and semi-implicitly what is its goals and there are  (with some notions/focus not being addressed that need to be discussed) 

Some participants being facilitators in WSF and having a concern to shape WSF process so that is be more efficient and relevant when comparing reality and theory – so in fact we are talking about goals of facilitators regarding what they would want WSF process to be

 

B - Which “mid term complex goal” ?

here is a formulation, among many that can be drafted

 Shaping through adequate “facilitation”( that is the actor) and constant dialogue with participants, a quality  core WSF  DIALOGIC ACTIVITY” PROCESS, based on concepts developed  charter of principles with self organisation and decentralization, relevant, inspiring and motivating for a significant part of  the organized civil society identifying with the slogan  “another world is possible”, allowing to trigger or boost a diversity of active and creative “public actions” mentioning their link to the dialogic process, (and included globally together with the core dialogic  process into the notion  WSF PROCESS AT LARGE),  involving on its values a significant share of world population

 

C – which facilitation ? –

about the notion of FACILITATING WSF PROCESS  ( there is a paragraph in progress…welcoming inputs)

 

D - SOME  STRATEGIC TASKS first view  (   paragraph in  progress)

basically commenting the goal paragraph and deriving a facilitators action plan to reach it

 

1 -Proclaiming a certain form of process

Consulting existing and potential participants and and checking through discussion and above all through practice  that it is relevant and attractive to the people that are targeted as participants

( there can be a strategic discussion on the nature and size of this target, since the charter is not very explicit about it )

This political positioning is IC global responsibility - Strategy Commission ( SC)  acts here as a “watch, a secretary , and stimulator ” -

 

2-fostering Strategy debates around basic questions

  • Where, when ?  : The debate about space has been strong : openspace and action space seems to be accommodated between events that are openspace and process that is a collection of actions from WSF participant
  • now debate about rhythm is ongoing
  • How many ? : Debate about ownership , debate about target size
  • Who? : Which participants? Which facilitation Which ownership ?  All participants facilitators ?

 

3 - Keeping or making the process consistent with the identity of mutual tool at the service of its participants

 that is being proclaimed about it ( that is “ quality control” part of strategy ,

whereby the feedback and suggestions of participants is asked for , collected and properly processed ( some efforts have been made , and ways for allowing participants to expand and test the process by themselves are within reach of many more people ……

 an other document than charter is to be considered here : guiding principles for organizing events (now evolved in draft version 2 and check list

 

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E - implementation goals/functions/tasks expressed in wsf charter, worded as taks for wsf process facilitators ( part in progress)

first 14 paragraph are those of charter textin annex

  • -  most  are of course about the CORE DIALOGIC ACTIVITY PROCESS, and some refer to public actions of participants

 invitation  to draft some agendas in each point

  • the “>>”  sign below each point  : is invitation  to draft some agenda on the corresponding point, (not properly done yet , some points are mere reformulation of goals without task content, and this is only one partial vision of agenda,of course)

With  complements 15  20 21

  • Some paragraphs have been suggested to cover points not addressed explicitly in the charter  see points 15 to  21 Distinction activity process/action process , Expansion Ownership,  Facilitation, Rhythm ,  Contents, Modes and Forms, Perception/relevancy, 

article 0

0 - Charter of Principles to guide the continued pursuit of that initiative. Principles contained in this Charter  to be respected by all those who wish to take part in the process- Maintain and expand the core methodology of wsf , maintain unity in diversity, and foster expansion of the process with quality of ownership /understanding)

>> Promote  understanding and awareness about charter ( see a FAQ proposal about charter) 

 article 1 –dialogue towards action

1 – shape the process ( methodology communication ) so that it stimulate in its participants reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action,

  • >> clearly dialogic , relation to action see point 15  notion of wider process

 article 2 – focus on alternatives

2 -  make the process efficient in seeking and building alternatives – i-e promote among participants the importance given to alternative building -

  • >> promote expression of proposals and outcomes, durability of assemblies

article 3- international dimension

3 - maintain international dimension of meetings supporting wsf process i-e despite expansion and decentralization find ways to maintain international intercommunication

  • >>  develop practices of social forum expanded, intercommunication at distance- scale of meeting

 article 4 – focus on alternatives

4 – make the process efficient in stimulating participants to express alternative that ensure that globalization in solidarity will prevail as a new stage in world history. ( people meet but do not develop alternatives that much )

  • >> alternative content of dialogic process quality dialogic process, global awareness and problematics- guidelines for holding an event

article 5 –no exclusive no representative

5 – foster understanding that WSF process bring together and interlinks civil society organizations without claiming for exclusivity 

  • >> awareness about what is wsf – see also 15 and 20

 article 6 – locus on non power

6 – foster understanding that WSF process is a locus of non power and Is not a cso parliament

  • >> awareness about what is wsf – see also 15 and 20

article 7 – circulate decisions

7 – widen the understanding that groups of participants making decision between themselves should be given by facilitators ways to circulate widely those decisions to all participants

  • >> ways to publicizing outcomes, number of outcomes is also an indicator of ownership  awareness of process

article 8 – opportunities for inter relation

8 - provide  to participants opportunity for making effective inter interrelation between their organizations and movements engaged in concrete action ( question of rhythm … and ownership of the process by participants)

  • have a quality dialogic process, global awareness and problematics- guidelines for holding an event

article 9 – use charter

9 - maintain  in the various context of participation of the process  respect of  limits of participation mentioned by the charter  and at the same time sustain a dialogue with those that consider themselves or feel outside the process

  • >> watching for respect of charter as main recipe for durability and diversity

article 10 – activities and values

10 – make sure  that  self organized activities upholds respect for the values consistent with to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationships among Humankind and between it and the Earth (§1)

  • >>  many implicit ways to promote values, 

article 11 -intercommunication

11 – stimulate inside the open space of wsf  debate and mutual information, intercommunication that prompts reflection, and  transparent circulation of the results of that reflection

  • >> have a quality dialogic process, global awareness and problematics- guidelines for holding an event

article 12 –recognition and understanding

12 – support  in practical ways  that self organized (and coorganized ?) activities encourage understanding and mutual recognition

  • >> dialogic process : recognition and understand as a first step before common action-have a quality dialogic process, global awareness and problematics- guidelines for holding an event

article 13 – foster awareness

13 – foster among participants awareness  that they can strengthen and create new national and international links with organizations and movements of society, in order to increase - in both public and private life - the capacity for non-violent social resistance, and reinforce the humanizing measures

  • >> have a quality dialogic process, global awareness and problematics- guidelines for holding an event

article 14 – situate actions

14 – encourage  participants to stimulate each other  to  situate their actions, from the local level to the national level and seeking active participation in international contexts, as issues of planetary citizenship, and to introduce onto the global agenda the change-inducing practices that they are experimenting in building a new world in solidarity.

  • >> this is connected to rhythm issue -  also the necessity for fostering alternative practices

Complement 15 – core process and wider process

15, >> maintain clarity of understanding  of difference between  core wsf activity process , and wider  wsf action process:  and care for the relevancy of contents in both processes  the core activity process  where coexist a diversity of dialogic activities  held in formal  openspaces and the wider  wsf action process where coexist a diversity of public action positioned as related to wsf dynamics by their promoters

  • >>, organize a discussion in IC about this difference dialogic process, and process at large ( since process is used for many meanings ( process of an event, process of all events, process including actions)  , define key points to convey awareness this difference, promote good practices - watch the content relevancy ,  identify voids in thematics and initiatives,  what the action relevancy  - foster exchanges about innovative action – develop dialogue about diversity of modes of actions and roles of actors ( movements, ngo, middle class, ….)

Complement 16 -ownership

16 -  Stimulate feeling of ownership by participants / organisations  through self organizing and facilitation tasks offering them various ways  to get concretely and creatively  involved locally( day of action, expanded forum events)  or in bigger  events

  • >> develop communication targeting empowerment and ownership  develop notion  local activities connected  to social forum events  , training by doing ,  have a system for dispatching volunteers to contribute to events and local expanded activities, develop ways to include more  organization agenda in wsf process

Complement 17 expand dialogic process

17 -  implement plans to expand the dialogic and action  processes in areas, thematics, and scales where it is not yet developed or understood

  • >> expansion tours,  workshops about wsf ,  social  forum expanded leaning on the various events, foster  discussion  about scale, networks of participants in local social forums, relevancy in contents  - diversity and completeness, voids

Complement 18 good practices

18 -  develop and maintain  good practices of facilitating work inside the dialogic process,  combining inclusiveness shared realism in  respective weight of actors  and  political efficiency

  • >>  organize a discussion in IC about this notion - draft guidelines about facilitating work scope and practices?

Complement 19 – appropriate rhythm

19 - provide ways to maintain an appropriate rhythm  and term of the wsf process  so that actors can always consider  using  the process in their agenda

  • >> organize a discussion in IC about this notion- show examples, consider internet as a mean to give permanency –implications  of seeing  wsf as a mid term process,

Complement 20 – forms relevant with needs

20 – inquire discuss  about the relevancy of content present in the process and of  modes and forms promoted by the process

  • >> foster discussion in ic about the weak points in contents , in forms and the  forms and modes that are appropriate to accommodate  the perceived needs -   relevancy in contents  - diversity and completeness, voids( linked to 21

Complement 21 – perception of participants – relevancy

21 – in order not to have a distorted image as facilitators inquire  permanently about  the perception of participants about the general image and form of wsf,  it overall relevancy as a mid term dialogic tool and action tool for global change in the world , which are the practices that work

  • >> consultation, fostering academic research inside wsf , develop good practices exchange group around the document : express needs,

annex : Spotting Goals mentioned in charter of principles

. The committee of Brazilian organizations that conceived of, and organized, the first World Social Forum, held in Porto Alegre from January 25th to 30th, 2001, after evaluating the results of that Forum and the expectations it raised, consider it necessary and legitimate to draw up a Charter of Principles to guide the continued pursuit of that initiative. While the principles contained in this Charter - to be respected by all those who wish to take part in the process and to organize new editions of the World Social Forum - are a consolidation of the decisions that presided over the holding of the Porto Alegre Forum and ensured its success, they extend the reach of those decisions and define orientations that flow from their logic.

Article 1

1. The World Social Forum is an OPEN MEETING PLACE for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action, (dialogic positioning ) by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neoliberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationships among Humankind and between it and the Earth. (positioning participant goals )

 Article 2

2. The World Social Forum at Porto Alegre was an EVENT LOCALIZED IN TIME AND PLACE. From now on, in the certainty proclaimed at Porto Alegre that "another world is possible", it becomes A PERMANENT PROCESS OF SEEKING AND BUILDING ALTERNATIVES, which cannot be reduced to the events supporting it.

 Article 3

3. The World Social Forum is a world process. All the meetings that are held as part of this process have an international dimension.

Article 4

4. (positioning participant goals ) The alternatives proposed at the World Social Forum stand in opposition to a process of globalization commanded by the large multinational corporations and by the governments and international institutions at the service of those corporations interests, with the complicity of national governments. They are designed to ensure that globalization in solidarity will prevail as a new stage in world history. This will respect universal human rights, and those of all citizens - men and women - of all nations and the environment and will rest on democratic international systems and institutions at the service of social justice, equality and the sovereignty of peoples.

Article 5

5. The World Social Forum brings together and interlinks only organizations and movements of civil society from all the countries in the world, but it does not intend to be a body representing world civil society. ((this paragraph relates to WSF as a context )

Article 6

6. The meetings of the World Social Forum do not deliberate on behalf of the World Social Forum as a body. No-one, therefore, will be authorized, on behalf of any of the editions of the Forum, to express positions claiming to be those of all its participants. The participants in the Forum shall not be called on to take decisions as a body, whether by vote or acclamation, on declarations or proposals for action that would commit all, or the majority, of them and that propose to be taken as establishing positions of the Forum as a body. It thus does not constitute a locus of power to be disputed by the participants in its meetings, nor does it intend to constitute the only option for interrelation and action by the organizations and movements that participate in it.

Article 7

7. Nonetheless, organizations or groups of organizations that participate in the Forums meetings must be assured the right, during such meetings, to deliberate on declarations or actions they may decide on, whether singly or in coordination with other participants. The World Social Forum undertakes to circulate such decisions widely by the means at its disposal, without directing, hierarchizing, censuring or restricting them, but as deliberations of the organizations or groups of organizations that made the decisions. ((this paragraph relates to WSF as an actor – the ones that can undertake can only be some  facilitators …. )

Article 8

8. The World Social Forum is a plural, diversified, non-confessional, non-governmental and non-party CONTEXT that, in a decentralized fashion, interrelates organizations and movements engaged in concrete action at levels from the local to the international to build another world. ((this paragraph relates to WSF as a context )

Article 9

9. The World Social Forum will always be a forum open to pluralism and to the diversity of activities and ways of engaging of the organizations and movements that decide to participate in it, as well as the diversity of genders, ethnicities, cultures, generations and physical capacities, providing they abide by this Charter of Principles. Neither party representations nor military organizations shall participate in the Forum. Government leaders and members of legislatures who accept the commitments of this Charter may be invited to participate in a personal capacity.

Article 10

10. The World Social Forum is opposed to all totalitarian and reductionist views of economy, development and history and to the use of violence as a means of social control by the State. It upholds respect for Human Rights, the practices of real democracy, participatory democracy, peaceful relations, in equality and solidarity, among people, ethnicities, genders and peoples, and condemns all forms of domination and all subjection of one person by another. (positioning participant – WSF named as a community sharing  values )

Article 11

11. AS A FORUM FOR DEBATE, the World Social Forum is a MOVEMENT OF IDEAS that prompts reflection, and the transparent circulation of the results of that reflection, on the mechanisms and instruments of domination by capital, on means and actions to resist and overcome that domination, and on the alternatives proposed to solve the problems of exclusion and social inequality that the process of capitalist globalization with its racist, sexist and environmentally destructive dimensions is creating internationally and within countries. . ((this paragraph relates to WSF as a context maintained by facilitators)

Article 12

12. AS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES, the World Social Forum encourages understanding and mutual recognition among its participant organizations and movements, and places special value on the exchange among them, particularly on all that society is building to centre economic activity and political action on meeting the needs of people and respecting nature, in the present and for future generations. . ((this paragraph relates to WSF as a framework (….established by facilitators )

Article 13

13. AS A CONTEXT FOR INTERRELATIONS, the World Social Forum seeks to strengthen and create new national and international links among organizations and movements of society, that - in both public and private life - will increase the capacity for non-violent social resistance to the process of dehumanization the world is undergoing and to the violence used by the State, and reinforce the humanizing measures being taken by the action of these movements and organizations. (this paragraph relates to WSF as a stimulation (….performed by facilitators )

Article 14

14. The World Social Forum is A PROCESS that encourages its participant organizations and movements to situate their actions, from the local level to the national level and seeking active participation in international contexts, as issues of planetary citizenship, and to introduce onto the global agenda the change-inducing practices that they are experimenting in building a new world in solidarity.

(this paragraph relates to WSF as a process experienced by participants )

 

Approved and adopted in São Paulo, on April 9, 2001, by the organizations that make up the World Social Forum Organizing Committee, approved with modifications by the World Social Forum International Council on June 10, 2001.