ECOLISE, the European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability, is working towards creating an alliance of partners to advocate for community-led initiatives to localize the European Green Deal.
The Communities for Future online event on 20 April 2023 called for partners for ECOLISE’s policy flagship project – the #10theses process on making a better European Green Deal a reality on the ground, with the power of community-led initiatives:
Are you a civil society organisation (CSO), a research institution, a community-led initiative or a policy maker, active on local, regional, national or EU levels? Interested in harnessing the power of community-led initiatives and social change for climate and environmental action? Wondering on how to localise international agreements such as the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity or the European Green Deal on local levels – with the power of collective action/ community-led initiatives?
Then this could be of interest to you! Become a partner of ECOLISE’s 10 theses process! Please see below for concrete steps.
Nina Klein and Amelie Krug, the Policy team of ECOLISE, invited participants to share their thoughts on what needs to happen for the European Green Deal to become a reality on local levels and then introduced the 10 Thesis process, a policy flagship project of ECOLISE which aims to position communities and local governments towards the European Green Deal. Participants discussed their plans and ideas for the upcoming year and identified potential partners for the project.
One of the challenges in making the European Green Deal a reality on the ground is ensuring that local levels are involved adequately and that collective action by civil society is harnessed. To address this, ECOLISE suggests triggering deep conversations around 10 theses towards transformative community-led local development policies (link to the live google document), in order to create a shared vision amongst change makers from all levels – be it civil society organizations or policy makers. This process involves strengthening social imagination and exploring the role of community-led initiatives in the European Green Deal. You can find more information on this policy flagship project here on the Communities for Future website (ECOLISE’s action network).
After an intensive consultation process on the #10theses, which has started in September 2022 and involved >300 persons from >70 organisations so far, the two main aims for ECOLISE’s policy flagship project in 2023-2024 are:
1. To create an alliance of partners to support the #10theses process – and (in a second step) to advocate for community-led initiatives to localize the European Green Deal (ongoing)
2. To create a strong voice with clear political demands targeting policy makers to be published at ECOLISE’s main policy event (scheduled for the end of October 2023, online; date TBC)
The #10theses process involves an editorial board as overall steering committee, a Science Policy Board involving academics in order to back up the process with scientific and trans-disciplinary evidence, and a deepening phase with four online workshops to formulate key messages and demands (June, September 2023). The goal is to publish a two-page document at ECOLISE’s main policy event (end of October 2023, online/ hybrid; date TBC), with the key demands and messages to influence the localization of the European Green Deal (implementation phase of current policies) as well as the next round of future policies (2023 – 2027) on EU levels.
Overall, ECOLISE’s work towards localizing the European Green Deal and advocating for community-led initiatives is an important step towards achieving a sustainable future. By involving collective intelligence, peer-to-peer exchange, and capacity building, the network is creating a space for deep conversations and a shared vision of transformative policies that can drive meaningful change. You can become a partner in this process and work towards a more sustainable future for all.
Some of the Key Questions that were raised
- What can communities get out of the European Green Deal and what can they contribute?
- What are the best ways to ensure that the right messages about climate change are getting through to the right people?
- Do you plan to focus only on the European Green Deal or will you also examine other EU policies that may under support or undermine the objectives of the European Green Deal, such as free trade agreements or the common agricultural policy?
Become a Process partner of the #10theses process:
Being a PROCESS PARTNER is easy (read the concept note):
- all you have to do is say “yes” to the process (consultation of the 10 theses and formulation of key political demands May – October 2023, as outlined in the event and in the slides)
- commit to communicating the main policy event (planned for the end of October, online/ hybrid; date TBC) amongst your members and networks (via mailings/ social media/ website)
Fill in this form to apply for the partnership
Become part of the “deepening phase”
For those interested in being part of the “deepening phase” of the 10 theses (time investment needed: 8 – 12 hours) which entails:
- 4 co-working calls of 2 hours online, in June & in September
- helping to shape the key political demands and messages (1-2 pages for publication) for our advocacy campaign phase (October 2023 – 2024)
→ please indicate your availabilities here in this doodle
Become a member of the editorial board
For those who want to dive even deeper and become a member of the editorial board (the steering committee for the overall process, time investment needed: 5 working days = participation in the “deepening phase” online meetings see above plus 2-3 online editorial board meetings à 2 hours each, May – September 2023):
→ please indicate your interest by contacting Nina Klein, policy lead ECOLISE (nina.klein@ecolise.eu)
Become a member of the Science-Policy board or recommend a potential member
The Science-Policy board aims to support the 10 theses process with academic and trans-disciplinary knowledge, including experiential knowledge from community-led initiatives duration: May – September 2023 (= 3 science policy board meetings online, 2 hours each plus participation in the “deepening phase” see above; overall time investment needed: 18 hours)
–> please indicate your interest by contacting Amelie Krug, coordinator of the Science-Policy board in cooperation with Tom Henfrey (amelie.krug@ecolise.eu)
Do you want to start a collaboration with us?
You are interested in becoming a partner, and you’d like to discuss this further? Join one of the open office hours offered by ECOLISE’s policy team: each Wednesday in May (except 17 May): 4:30 – 5.30 pm CET. Simply click here to get the calendar invitation and Zoom Link!
You can find more information on Ecolise’s policy flagship project, the 10 theses process here
