“To avoid a dystopian future, let’s initiate the necessary systemic transformations”

Lhe degradation of the environment, the widening of inequalities, the democratic decline, the dysfunctions of global governance, the challenges posed by disruptive technological innovation have never posed so many threats to the future of human societies. To avoid a dystopian future, a group of several hundred academics, entrepreneurs, community activists, leaders and philanthropists, believing that it is possible to overcome the complexity of this situation, intend to propose solutions to initiate the necessary systemic transformations. . Gathered within the International Panel on Social Progress (IPSP)established ten years ago, the group aims to fully grasp the interdependence of these challenges as well as the diversity of local and national contexts, in order to make the most of the opportunities for change.

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In 2018, the IPSP offered a general picture of the type of institutions and reforms which, by allowing substantial variations across the world, could inspire the advent of a society based on the values ​​of equality, freedom, of emancipation, participation and inclusion. Such a perspective constituted a powerful narrative to support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The broad outlines of a better society are, according to the IPSP:

  • an inclusive and responsible economy, regulating markets and businesses and promoting economic and social organizations with a broader objective than profit;
  • the circularity of value chains and our way of life;
  • reducing social inequalities and strengthening individual autonomy through expanded universal services and a reduction in initial disparities in access to different forms of human, social and financial capital (“predistribution”);
  • the deepening of democracy through participatory and deliberative mechanisms and better information systems managed as common goods;
  • strengthening global cooperation to preserve global commons such as climate and biodiversity and to improve resilience to global change;
  • the promotion of technological innovations in the service of collective well-being.

Many solutions exist and many actors, particularly within civil society, constitute a dynamic pool and participate in multiple ways in the implementation of this transition.

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