Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.
Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.
The Visionaries of Barcelona
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace:
The Woman Who Could Have Prevented This Financial Mess Was Silenced by Greenspan, Rubin and Summers
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Democracy and Elections:
Memo to GOP: Minority Homeowners Did Not Cause Wall St. Meltdown
David Swanson
DrugReporter:
LSD Cured My Headache
Arran Frood
Election 2008:
Troopergate Investigator: Palin 'Unlawfully Abused Her Authority'
Environment:
The Meltdown We Really Can't Afford
Kerry Trueman
ForeignPolicy:
Obama Talks Tough About Afghanistan; Here's What He's Really in For
Anand Gopal
Health and Wellness:
Medical Research Recession: Funding Flatlined for Diabetes, Cancer, Alzheimer's
Rick Weiss
Hurricane Katrina:
From the Bayou to Baghdad: Mission Not Accomplished
Amy Goodman
Immigration:
What Part of It's An Utter Nightmare to Migrate Legally Don't You Understand?
Diego Graglia
Media and Technology:
Memo to Media: The Palin Rape-Kit Story Has Not Been 'Debunked'
Eric Boehlert
Movie Mix:
The "Battle in Seattle" and Beyond
Stuart Townsend
Reproductive Justice and Gender:
Our Next President Will Transform the Supreme Court
Ellen Goodman
Rights and Liberties:
Voter Election Guide to Human Rights and Civil Liberties
Sex and Relationships:
Why Everyone Loves Hot, Smart Older Women
Vanessa Richmond
War on Iraq:
U.S. Needs to Take in More Iraqi Refugees
Zainab Mineeia
Water:
Can the People Who Live in Coastal Towns Ever Be Safe From Hurricanes?
Lizzy Ratner
"Definitely crazy," thought a visiting journalist last May in Barcelona, as she listened to the charismatic Oleguer Sarsanedas describe the city's plans. He laid out the idea in sweeping terms: Barcelona would host a global conference dedicated to proposing visionary solutions to the world's problems. He produced diagrams and illustrations showing the construction of a mini sustainable city outside Barcelona to house the conference, which would incorporate massive dialogues among high-ranking global leaders such as Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev and millions of average people. "Right, that'll happen," she thought, nonetheless impressed with Sarsanedas' enthusiasm.
A year later, the journalist received an email from Barcelona. "Can someone from AlterNet participate in a round table on media in Barcelona this spring?" wrote organizer Patricia Estevez. As Estevez went into further explanation of the event, the journalist realized that not only had Oleguer Sarsanedas -- the event's spokesperson -- been crazy, but he had also been superbly effective. The far-fetched dream that he described a year ago had indeed become a reality: the Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona 2004.
To hear the scope, the vision, and the goals of the Forum, as it's familiarly called, is to understand the original skepticism. A joint project of the Spanish government, the Catalan Autonomous Government, the Barcelona City Council and the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), the goal of the Forum is nothing short of involving global citizenry in helping to create a more peaceful, sustainable and inclusive future. Organizers call it "the realization of a global dream, a visionary event guiding humankind for the new millennium; a gathering of people from societies to spontaneously and freely participate in creating a better planet."
The Forum -- which will span 141 days -- is expected to cost $2.3 billion, taken out of the public purse. The campus that is being built on the waterfront in the city's northeast corner will be used for future conferences and conventions, but the Forum will be the area's coming-out party.
The Forum is structured around 10 different overarching themes, including Cultural Diversity and the Media; Freedom, Security and Peace; Globalization and Development; and Unheard Voices: Women, Youth, Intergenerational and Intercultural Communication. Expounding on the themes are 45 different conferences, or Dialogues, which features round tables, workshops and face-to-face debates designed to encourage a free-flowing exchange of ideas.
The Dialogues will be a major emphasis of the Forum, and every effort is being made to ensure the participation of you and I and people just like us, from India and Cuba to Italy and Kazakhstan. In addition to the face-to-face dialogues, those not able to attend in person can participate virtually via Forum Media (the Forum TV Channel) and via online discussion programs for debate, surveys, and questions.
Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »
| More News and Analysis: | ||
|
Troopergate Investigator: Palin 'Unlawfully Abused Her Authority' Rights and Liberties: The news isn't good for the Republican vice presidential nominee -- and is an unpleasant reminder of the power abuses of the Bush years. AlterNet. October 11, 2008. |
Troopergate: Palin's Abuse of Power -- A Lawyer's View Rights and Liberties: Cut through the legal language, and the abuse of power is as bad as anything we've seen in the Bush era. By oregondem, Daily Kos. October 11, 2008. |
The Woman Who Could Have Prevented This Financial Mess Was Silenced by Greenspan, Rubin and Summers Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace: A sad tale emerges of willfully arrogant behavior designed to undermine a wise woman's good judgment. By Katrina vanden Heuvel, TheNation.com. October 11, 2008. |