Meet the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine

In the new year, 2010, one of the most startling stories was of mass suicides. About 50,000 people were affected. Legal cases were filed. The interwebz were abuzz with the tale of how they did it. There was talk about a website that was responsible for this. The blogosphere went into a frenzy discussing the ‘new lease of life’ that these suicides provided. Videos of people caught in the act found their way onto popular video distributing spaces. And for everybody who talked about it, it was partly a joke and partly a gimmick. However, for a significant population, across the globe, the news came as a shock and a moment of self-reflection.

Civil Society Building Programme Publications

The Civil Society Building Programme Publications currently consists of two working paper series. Both series are aimed at better understanding and improving the contribution of civil society building efforts to facilitate changes in the unequal balance of power in favour of vulnerable and marginalised groups. The Power of Civil Society Working Paper Series showcases young researchers findings on various aspects of civil society building. For instance how movies can prove to be a powerful tool to raise awareness and how internet can be used to promote the advocacy efforts by civil society organizations. The programma's Working Paper series addresses key debates in civil society building, such as social movements and NGO interaction.

Book on Value Chain Finance

In large parts of the world, small-scale farmers, traders and processors are constrained in their business operations due to a lack of finance. Farmers want to be paid immediately, but traders do not have the ready cash to buy their produce. Traders need working capital so they can buy and transport produce, but lack the collateral to get loans. Processors cannot get the money they need to buy equipment or ensure a steady supply of inputs.

Assessment of EU Policy on Sustainable Energy

Climate change and sustainable energy production are high on the political agenda, public debate generally focusing on how the use of fossil fuels can be reduced. Much less attention is given to the lack of access to energy of people living in poverty in developing countries. Remarkably, the solution to both issues is the same: renewable energy.

Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Poverty Policy Brief

The complexities of the new food and ecological crises call for new approaches to development assistance, those that go beyond traditional technical or financial help. Assistance to small-scale producers should address social, ecological and socio-economic issues and look at both rights and skills, preferably in an integrated, holistic approach. Policy interventions based on this approach would involve grassroots civil society organisations (CSOs) – notably farmers’, small-scale producers’ and women’s organisations – acting as change agents on the issues of: a) empowerment; and b) new standards and markets for biodiversity-friendly produce. More recommendations can be read in the policy brief.

New Publication on Theory of Change

The Theory of Change approach applied to social change processes represents a thinking-action alternative to other more rigid planning approaches and logics. When living in complex and conflictive times, we need to count with more flexible instruments that allow us to plan and monitor our actions in uncertain, emergent, and complex contexts from a flexible and non-rigid logic. As known, this thinking-action approach is also applied to institutional coaching processes and to the design of social development and change programs. This Guide synthesizes the core of the methodological contents and steps that are developed in a Theory of Change design workshop.

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