Creating futures for the common good

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At the recent conference on Futures for Civil Society I was able to capture two different (though not necessarily conflicting) viewpoints on the rather fuzzy space where we hope things will be done by individuals and organisations for the common good.
The first was from Geoff Mulgan, who is chairing a commission of inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, and other from Kierra Box, founder of Hands Up!
Geoff is a former Director of Policy at 10 Downing Street, now director of the Young Foundation.
Kierra has a modest web site, and a passion for helping other young people do things which make a difference, by following their enthusiasms, networking with others, and having fun.
In the videos I shot, Geoff talked about the strategic issues and the ways that childhood, the world of work, and media have changed. He felt that the issue of how to develop greater social civility would be a major concern ... being respectful of others, recognising their needs, being empathetic. 
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Kierra wanted to see more direct action: not just signing a petition, making a donation, but finding others who want to do something to make a difference. She was highly sceptical of compulsory volunteering, which she found people talking about, and many of the formal government consultations. "Patronising people who can't wait to get away from their work at 5 o'clock" sticks in my mind, but listen for yourself.
I got the feeling from both Geoff and Kierra, in very different ways, that simply more of the same from voluntary organisations wasn't going to be enough to promote a more beneficial civil society.
(What is civil society? The commission suggests three aspects: associational life, the 'good' society, and arenas for public deliberation. I like the way Common Purpose puts it in in their charter, without saying "civil society". I suppose I should know, because it's my blog title, but that's because it started at a workshop of that name. I increasingly wonder how useful the term is ... but that's a longer post).
I was glad that most of the conference was taken up with conversations around tables, rather than Powerpoint presentations. It was organised by Third Sector Foresight and the Carnegie UK Trust, who are running the inquiry.
The inquiry web site promises reports from the workshops they have been running around the country, and an analysis of these and other research should be available this month.

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Comments

[Megan Griffith]

Thanks for posting these David. I think some good stuff emerged from the small group discussions, we should have a the conference write up in a couple of weeks to share.
Megan