{"id":942,"date":"2025-10-02T04:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/citizens-are-the-most-powerful-agents-of-change\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:00:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:00:29","slug":"citizens-are-the-most-powerful-agents-of-change","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/bellagio-initiative\/citizens-are-the-most-powerful-agents-of-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens Are The Most Powerful Agents Of Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/bellagio-initiative\/citizens-are-the-most-powerful-agents-of-change\/170351-1-eng-gb\/citizens-are-the-most-powerful-agents-of-change_full_view.jpg\" alt=\"Image by Ismail Nathij Ahmed.\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"Citizens are the most powerful agents of change\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/18274\/18752\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n    \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitizens are the most powerful agents of change<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pubDate\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/experts-and-authors\/monteiro-manuela\/\">Manuela Monteiro<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t02 October 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">It is time to refocus our energy and place our trust in the power and creativity of the people, argues Manuela Monteiro.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">What the international economic system needs is the creation of an inclusive economy with a social agenda governed by democratic&nbsp;institutions that empower responsible citizens. Public welfare can only be reached if mechanisms for social redistribution and&nbsp;environmental sustainability are in place. The current economic system fails to address human and environmental wellbeing and has&nbsp;led to inequality, poverty and environmental devastation. Economic growth has largely been based on non-sustainable production&nbsp;processes. Consumption patterns in rich countries have been maintained at the cost of low incomes in the South. Natural resource&nbsp;bases are being depleted leading to the destruction of ecosystems and habitats. But we already knew this, it just became clearer&nbsp;due to the financial crisis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">People, however, are capable of shaping their own futures if they are given the space and resources to do so. In the last decades,&nbsp;people around the world have developed and implemented sustainable economic activities that do not compromise the planet and the&nbsp;possibilities of future generations and integrate the social, economic and environmental aspects of development. Their work may&nbsp;involve fighting for more chain transparency and a fair trade system, for improved working conditions, stimulating environmentally&nbsp;sustainable production processes, and supporting the agency of small farmers. Civil society can also play a major role in pressuring&nbsp;governments to make provisions for those not benefiting from economic growth, to counterbalance short-term profit policies, and to&nbsp;struggle for long-term production policies that are socially and environmentally sound. Innovative ventures like Twaweza\t<a href=\"#_edn1\" target=\"\">[i]<\/a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Tanzania Media Fund\t<a href=\"#_edn2\" target=\"\">[ii]<\/a>&nbsp;are frontrunners in a whole new generation of interventions that strike innovative partnerships across sectors&nbsp;to promote transparency and accountability. Working with media and technology, these programs find new ways to mobilize citizens&nbsp;to demand better basic services and fight corruption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">But while spaces for creation and contestation are abundant worldwide, they are disconnected and therefore incapable of challenging&nbsp;the dominant discourse. In many countries civil society is weak. And on a global level, civil society has not been able to structurally&nbsp;influence the economic system. But times are changing: citizens of the world are speaking out! The Arab Spring was followed by a&nbsp;summer of turbulent citizen action in countries ranging from Greece to India and Chile to the United Kingdom. Are we witnessing a&nbsp;new wave of social mobilization, fuelled by global crises and facilitated by social media?<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">What these events show us is that it is time to refocus our energy and place our trust in the power and creativity of the people. For&nbsp;too long we have placed our energy in first creating and then trying to change structures at ever higher levels, which were to&nbsp;guarantee regulation and a more just and sustainable distribution of the world\u2019s resources and development opportunities. We believe&nbsp;that informed and motivated citizens are the most powerful agents of sustainable change. So let us put people (and the environment)&nbsp;back at the centre of our economic culture and define collective responsibilities for a sustainable economic system. Let\u2019s talk about&nbsp;failing systems, but also about the people who are able to change them collectively. Because it is about time we get it right and truly&nbsp;work towards a fair, free and sustainable world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\t<a href=\"#_ednref\" target=\"\">[i]<\/a> Twaweza means \u201cwe can make it happen\u201d in Swahili. It is a ten year citizen-centered initiative, focusing on large-scale change in&nbsp;East Africa: http:\/\/www.twaweza.org\/<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\t<a href=\"#_ednref\" target=\"\">[ii]<\/a> Tanzania Media Fund is a fund that seeks to promote independence and quality in media, with a particular focus on public interest&nbsp;and investigative journalism: http:\/\/www.tmf.or.tz\/<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"credit\">Photo credit main picture: Image by Ismail Nathij Ahmed.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n\t\t\t\tvar disqus_identifier = '7693';\n\t\t\t\t\/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n\t\t\t\t\tthis.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(comment);\n\t\t\t\t\t}];\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t(function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement('script'); 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