A Draft Manifesto of Values for a New Green Marshall-type Plan

We, citizens of the world, wish to improve the state of the world, not only for humans but for all life, as a matter of urgency in the coming decade.

As lockdown began to bite in early Spring 2020 many new initiatives bubbled into life as responses to Covid19.

GoodAfterCovid was our unique response, developed closely with Carlo Giardinetti of Franklin University & Sara Roversi of the Future Food Institute. This series of live-streamed discussions began shortly after lockdown started with the first “Fishbowl” type conversation on March 24, 2020.

Bringing together over 200 leading thinkers to date, and viewed by over 5,000 members of the public, GoodAfterCovid19 has provided a laboratory to ask the question: what do we want the world to look like after this? And how do we get there? Each discussion has focused on a different theme, such as the environment, health, finance, education, the arts, food and finance, encouraging thought-leaders to reflect on what we are learning from Covid, and how we can reboot these vital sectors.

This month, marking one year since the first lockdown, Reboot the Future, Franklin University and the Future Food Institute, have brought together a selection of top speakers from GoodAfterCovid, to draft a Manifesto of principles and values that we agree should underpin the many technical innovations being developed in the pursuit of a more compassionate and sustainable future.

We hope you enjoy reading our draft Manifesto below, and encourage you to join our final Fishbowl on Wednesday 24th March, 15.00-17.00 GMT, and to also view previous Fishbowls on the GoodAfterCovid YouTube channel.

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DRAFT MANIFESTO

Our draft manifesto is a merging of principles and values which we believe should underpin the introduction of a new type of Marshall Plan to face the next 10 years, which build on the fundamental principle of the Golden Rule: Treat others and the planet as you would wish to be treated.

1. COMPASSION/EMPATHY

Love thy neighbour as thyself.

• We, as leaders and as individuals, promise to take the time to understand our neighbours (in the broadest sense), both other people and all forms of life.
• We aim to understand that what we do in our work and in our personal lives affects others and the environments around them.
• We aim to help others and all life fulfil their purposes and to live their values.

2. LOVE OUR EARTH

We promise to sacralize the world.

• We are grateful to all life that gives us life and hold in reverence the beauty and wonder of our world.
• We promise to listen better to the earth, to its cries of pain, but more importantly to its seasons, to its rhythms, to its cycles of life so that we will be inspired to restore the damage we have done, and to understand how to do that.
• We acknowledge that we are part of the whole system of nature and not separate from it.

3. LOVE EACH OTHER

We promise to care for each other.

• We recognize the fundamental rights of all people, that all should have equal opportunities and have full respect and dignity - all ages, women and men, all skin colours, disabled, gender choice, religious choice. We rejoice in our diversity in the way a healthy ecosystem is rich in biodiversity.
• We commit to listening to all constituents before planning, making decisions, and taking action.
• We commit to helping all people unleash their potential.

4. BALANCE

We strive to find more balance.

We have learned that extremes are always hurtful to someone, something or someplace. Therefore, we strive to balance:

• Mind and body
• Egotism and selfishness with kindness and generosity
• Capitalism with liberal arts and nature
• Innovation with tradition
• Short-term and long-term goals
• Technical solutions with cultural qualities and values
• Rich and poor
• Privilege and poverty
• Developing artificial intelligence that helps more than harms, such as overcoming unconscious biases and fake news
• Rural with urban
• Competition with collaboration
• Trust with dishonesty
• Fulfilling needs with wants

5. STEWARDSHIP OF THE EARTH

We promise to create a Life Economy.

• We are inspired by many native cultures and their great wisdom about living in harmony with earth’s life systems.
• We commit to repairing the damage we have done and to regenerate destroyed environments.
• We recognize that we need to end the Anthropocene period by being of service to nature, and by promising to control mankind’s incessant drive to compete in destructive ways. Nature has an innate ability to restore itself, just as our bodies fight off disease.
• We promise to support nature’s ability to regenerate and restore its own balance.

6. YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

We promise to listen to our youth.

• We recognize that the future belongs to our youth, so we commit to supporting and amplifying the work of young activists, on whatever issue they promote.
• We recognize the visions, fears, creativity and courage of young people and promise to take their views into account when making decisions that impact their futures.

7. EDUCATION

We promise to give education a deeper purpose.

• We acknowledge that in our communities, creative practices and education should be aimed at awakening all generations to our connections to ourselves, others, other species and our planet, that we promote the understanding that we are part of a living system where one part affects other parts.
• We commit to providing quality education to all children.

8. NEW CITIZENSHIP

We encourage a new understanding of global citizenship, which leads to a planetary ethos of stewardship.

• We wish to establish a citizenship based on fractal democracy that includes everyone in a participatory manner, in local communities, nations and the planet.
• We nourish citizenship whereby each citizen understands their obligations and responsibilities as well as benefits.
• We strive to awaken from ego and cultivate eco consciousness, requiring the citizen to be humble in the face of the earth and the future.

9. THE GOOD ANCESTOR

We promise to do unto all future children what we would have wanted our ancestors to do unto us.

• We recognize that we do not own this earth, but borrow it during our life span, and are required to pass it to future generations in a good state.
• We will not forget the past to learn going forward so as not to repeat our mistakes.

10. THE LIFE ECONOMY

We promise to build a caring economy, focused on the human being rather than the human doing.

• We promise to include the costs of external inputs (use of and destruction of natural resources) in our production systems, and to see that these resources are for the common good of everyone and all life.
• We commit to moving our economic system from transactional to a giving economy.
• We commit to changing the financial system to prevent excessive making money from money.
• We redefine success to move from financial wealth to well-being and how excited we are to be alive. We commit to defining new measurements of success and new incentives and rewards.
• We redefine growth from power, wealth and consumption to growth in:

a. fairness (equity)

b. healthy relationships

c. guardianship of the planet

d. living within the planetary boundaries

e. regeneration of the damage done to our earth

f. trust and transparency

g. well-being

h. health

i. education

j. acceptance of diversity

k. biodiversity

l. elimination of waste

m. quantity of remaining common resources

11. PARTNERSHIP

We promise to work in collaboration.

• We, as leaders in our communities, will create safe spaces to think more carefully about what good looks like, to share ideas, make decisions together, and be supportive.
• We aim to have collaborations done in the spirit of trust, transparency, compassion and accountability.
• We aim to direct these partnerships to fostering structural changes in society.

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OUR CONTRIBUTORS

The principles and values came from a series of 14 dialogues held in March 2021 with these top thinkers from GoodAfterCovid including:

• Jacqui Hocking, Systems Entrepreneur

• Marcello Palazzi, Entrepreneur for Human Progress

• Florencia Librizzi, Head of Program and Partnerships, SDG Academy, UN SDSN

• Philip Clayton, President of the Institute of Ecological Civilization

• Jonathon Porritt, Founder, CEO of Forum for the Future

• Sherry Huss, Co-Creator of @MakerFaire

• Yo-Yo Ma, Internationally renowned cellist

• Chiarra Cecchini, CEO & Co-Founder of Future Americas

• John Perkins, Author

• Antoinette Weibel, Professor of Human Resource Management

• Antonio Hautle, Executive Director, Global Compact Network Switzerland

• Laura Koch, Founder and Chief Engagement Officer at Women 4 Solutions

• Arne Cartridge, Executive Director, IMAGINE Food Collective

• Serena Vento, Founder Trustee of National House Project

• De Kai, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering & Research Scholar at Berkeley’s

• Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, President of the Club of Rome

• Francois Taddei, CEO, Interdisciplinary Research Center

• Barbara Bulc, Social Chemist and Founder Global Development

• Sophie Charrois, President, Oikos International

• Paul Polman, Founder and Chair, Imagine

• Jude Kelly CBE, Founder and Director of WOW

• Peter Blom, CEO of Triodos Bank

• Alberto Villoldo, Founder of The Four Winds Society

• Carlo Giardinetti, Sustainability Lead Consulting, Deloitte, Switzerland

• Sara Roversi, Founder, Future Food Institute

• Anthony Bennett, CEO, Reboot the Future

• Kim Polman, Founder and Chair, Reboot the Future