'Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world'
Campaigns
Compass
Compass is a home for those who want to build and be a part of a Good Society. A Good Society must be built on the three core elements of equality, sustainability and democracy. Compass is a mass member organisation founded on the belief that no single organisation or political party can make a Good Society by themselves. We have to work together to make it happen.
The Alternative UK
When we say we want to address a “broken” politics, those who never liked that grey, combative, ungenerous culture of Westminster, turn away with distaste: “No thanks, I don’t like politics”. When we talk about producing better politicians, they might say “nah, I don’t trust politicians full stop”.
Yet these same people are not exempt from having problems and demands caused by the structure of their lives. Politics should be able to respond to these problems and demands. If only it wasn’t trapped in the 20th Century; if only it wasn’t designed to serve elites in top-down structures, where those at the bottom can neither be seen nor heard. If this is a body politic, it has very poor circulation.
Unlock Democracy
Unlock Democracy is ' owned and run by our members'. The organisation They believe that politics must work for everyone but currently the rules of democracy aren’t fair.
Unlock Democracy aspire to be an inclusive, supportive and inspiring movement for political reform and to develop people’s skills, knowledge & confidence in order to build power and win significant political change.
Cooperative Councils Innovation Network
The Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network is a collaboration between local authorities who are committed to finding better ways of working for, and with, local people for the benefit of their local community.
Our work recognises the need to define a new model for local government built on civic leadership, with councils working in equal partnership with local people to shape and strengthen communities. This means a new role for local authorities that replaces traditional models of top down governance and service delivery with local leadership, genuine co-operation, and a new approach built on the founding traditions of the co-operative movement: collective action, co-operation, empowerment and enterprise.
Health Empowerment Leverage Project)
The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) supports best practice in community development and is recognised by the Scottish Government as the national lead body for community development. The organisation works across sectors and with a wide range of professions to support community engagement and community capacity building in any context and at strategic and practice level.
Involve
Involve works to make politics, government and society more open, participatory and deliberative. We want to build a democracy that works for everyone – that gives people real power to effect change in their lives, communities and beyond, and helps solve 21st century challenges.
Despite these successes, however, the general state of participation and democracy in the UK has not improved, and in many crucial respects looks to be in decline. Over the past three months, Involve has embarked on a fundamental rethink of our strategy and approach to creating change, focused on how we can have systemic impact.
The Democratic Society
Demsoc operate across the UK and Europe. The organisation is deeply interested in furthering ideas on how people and institutions can participate together and has a particular interest in digital technology how social media and works for more and better democracy, where people and institutions have the desire, opportunity and confidence to participate together.
The organisation supports governments, parliaments and any organisation that wants to involve citizens in decision making to be transparent, open and welcoming of participation.
Assemblies for Democracy
AfD is a ‘citizen led movement’ that believes the current system’s lack of democracy is bound up with the power of corporate interests and their influence on politics.
The organisation argues that meaningful reform can only be achieved by bringing people together to create a new democratic constitution; a process that must be totally transparent.
AfD has organised a series of initiatives and events to highlight the glaring democratic deficit in the UK and to propose solutions. Successful assemblies and meetings have since taken place in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Swansea.
Deliberative Democracy Consortium
The Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC) is an alliance of leading organizations and scholars working in the field of public engagement, participation, and deliberation. The purpose of the DDC is to build knowledge, strengthen networks, and forge collaborations among researchers, practitioners, funders, and public officials at all levels of government, in order to improve democratic practice and democratic governance. While the DDC’s primary arena of action is in North America, we are part of a global learning community dedicated to the same fundamental values and goals.