Beyond Powaqqatsi: Towards an ecological community of communities.

Description

This article reflects on the efficacy to date of deliberative mini publics and citizens assemblies as responses to the current ecological crises, arguing that recent empirical examples of climate assemblies have shown limited success in their ability to foster transformative political change when it comes to instituting concrete and ambitious climate policies.  It explores how many organisations, scholars and activists are now turning their attention to community-based participatory methods as tools for collaboration and collective action – involving group processes of intentionally generating visions that are long-term, expansive, and solutions-driven. The article proposes the generation of an ecological ‘community of communities’ in response.