The third meeting of the Council of the Wisdoms of the Earth’s Peoples was held on 09.04.2021, with all seven networks present. With satisfaction, we have observed that the experiment of the Parliament of Planetary Citizenship has been consolidating to the extent that the functioning of the working groups gives organicity to the process, that each Councilor is assuming a function, and collectively, in the WGs , provides service to the Parliament experiment. In this way, the Pact of Conviviality established is being practiced, interpersonal trust is growing, disagreements give way to dialog, and agreements are being reached. The dynamics of exercising a new policy is being built little by little, without hierarchies, with equal protagonism between men and women and between the networks, in an environment of cordiality and mutual respect, beyond disagreements.
The qualified functioning of the group of interpreters in four languages mobilized by MRG -Multiconvergence of Global Networks, deeply involved with the idea of the Parliament and in an attitude of voluntary service, is a high point of the experiment, quite representative of the spirit of service leadership that marks this initiative. The loan by URI (United Religions Initiative) of its professional platform to hold the meeting, which allows simultaneous translation and division into groups by language, has shown the strength of the union and good will to carry out such an international and innovative experience, without financial investment. The idea that “we are doing something important”, even if modestly, encourages the networks present, and their female and male representation gives the best of themselves. Another element of consolidation of the process is the fact that two people who gave impetus to the MRG and to the idea of the Parliament became representatives of their networks in the Council: Moema Viezzer, for the Earth Charter, and Marcos Arruda, for the Agora of the Earth Inhabitants.
At the September event, the first results of the work of the WGs were reported: Group 1 presented the progress made in proposing a definition of the Vision and Mission of the Parliament and discussed the need to prioritise some urgent issues such as regeneration in the face of climate change, the defence of peace and democracy in the face of fascist advances, and an inclusive economy that values Life, in the face of pandemics and growing exclusion. Similarly, Group 2 made its preliminary proposal on the Methodology for the functioning of the Parliament, advancing the discussion on the Pact of Coexistence already discussed by the Networks and which is proving to be an important political tool. Group 3, in charge of detailing the Planetary Citizenship Assembly project, presented a table with six criteria for the inclusion of representatives from each MRG network (gender plurality, education and wisdoms, income, continental location, ethnicity and age). Group 4, Parliament’s enlargement group, will create its strategy for expansion into new networks that also include business and decision-makers. To make expansion possible, WG4 argued that it would be interesting to mature the process with less formal meetings and without decision-making, so that new networks could join the experience without finding a fully defined process.
The MRG is deepening its experiment while trying to identify other experiences of constituting planetary parliaments, old or new, and to exchange experiences with similar ideas, such as the parliament that is being tested in the COP 26 process. The first role, important but more traditional, of a conceptual and results-focused approach, is balanced by the second, innovative and feminine, which seeks to amalgamate pluralism centred on the achievement of objectives, overcoming divergences through dialogue. There is also a formidable presence of concrete organisational action beyond intellectual elaboration, with Councillors, GMM Promoters and support network partners carrying out the various practical tasks necessary to move the experimentation process forward.
Thus, the experience of the Planetary Citizenship Parliament continues with a new session scheduled for 9 October, from 11am to 1pm (Brasilia time). Once again, two new networks, the Earth Charter and Dialogues on Humanity, are in charge of the meeting, supported by the Driving Group made up of one representative from each MRG network. Once again, the Councillors are taking the risk of innovating, testing and experimenting with something so necessary in these times of uncertainty and suffering: building democratic, inclusive and creative citizen participation on a planetary scale to face the problems of our time.
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