How can we achieve a society that takes better care of the planet? A tentative answer arose from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro: “Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level”. This new way of exercising power and managing the planet is known by the name of "governance". (1).
Governance is based on the recognition of the importance of civil society and of non-State players. It gives attention to incorporating these in the management and collective decision-making process, and monitoring of this process.
Governance: several meanings
The term is actually vague, with many definitions. In France, it was used in pre-Revolutionary times, and faded out of common usage until early 20th-century economists used it to describe cooperation and partnership patterns within businesses. Only recently did the word come to apply to changes in the manner of...
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Michel Rocard
We are little more than a decade into the twenty-first century, but a terrible precedent has already been set: all of the major... ![]()