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Bridge
Initiative International
The
Bridge Initiative is a joint project of InterAct and
the European television agency Article Z. The Initiative's
aim is to help stakeholders with conflicting perspectives
on globalization issues find agreement on substantive changes
in policy that make the process more equitable. The Initiative
offers a "neutral space," where these stakeholders
can participate in issue-driven meetings, debates, and media-oriented
exchanges without compromising their own missions or status.
Participants in Bridge Initiative processes include officials
of multilateral institutions the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the European Union and
the World Trade Organization; representatives of the corporate
and business communities including the World Economic Forum;
representatives of a broad range of NGOs including the World
Social Forum; as well as academics and government officials.
The Initiative uses three key techniques: informal facilitated
dialogues; formalized public debates which present issues
of legitimate contention to the public; and public briefings,
which focus attention on agreements among key stakeholders.
A comprehensive report on BIG activities 2000-2003 is available
in pdf format. Click here to
download.
In 2004, the Bridge Initiative created the NGO, Bridge Initiative International.
InterAct is a founding member of the Board of Directors, and the US Representative
office of BI. 2005 Action Plan. (PDF).
Programs and Televised Public Events Include:
America Alone? An Encounter Between Americans and the World – 2003
On the eve of the Iraq War, policy experts and journalists in the San Francisco
studio connected to their counterparts at the World Economic Forum and the World
Social Forum, and to callers from across the nation.
A Changed World: Globalization After 9.11
In cooperation with Czech Television and President Vaclav Havel's Bridging Global
Gaps conference in Prague, Czech Republic, BIG produced a television program
in which prominent leaders on all sides of the issue debate the future of globalization
after September 11, 2001.
Participants: Thomas Dawson, International Monetary Fund
Susan George, ATTAC
Mats Karlsson, World Bank
Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth International
Njoki Njehu, 50 Years Is Enough Network
Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University
Marc Sarkady, Advisor to the UN Global Compact
The debate, moderated by Czech journalist Tomas Klvana, took place on October
20, 2002, after a year of extraordinary changes, in the power balance between
globalization's detractors and its defenders; amid budgetary crises that have
pushed governments to default; and at the intersection between globalization
and terrorism. These articulate and knowledgeable leaders engage and challenge
each other in a fast-paced discussion on the meaning and effects of the new reality
that we all are just beginning to understand.
Other televised events:
• December
2001, in Stockholm with Nobel Prize Winners in
Economics, Joseph Stiglitz (formerly vice-president of the
World Bank); Amartya Sen (Nobel Prize 1998); philanthropist and financier
George Soros; Susan George, vice-president of ATTAC; and Candido
Grzybowski, member of the Organizing Committee
of the World Social Forum.
• March 2002, at the UN conference on Financing for Development
in Monterrey, Mexico. Participants included: Roberto Bissio,
Third World Network; Thomas Dawson, IMF; Mats Karlsson,
World Bank; Ian Kinniburgh, United Nations
• January 2002, a debate between the World Economic Forum and
the World Social Forum, initiated through our efforts and aired
on Swiss Television.
• January 2003, at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre Brazil
A series of four debates over four days on key issues of
globalization. The WSF created the 'Controversies' as a key
element of the Forum. The Bridge Initiative consulted on the
design and participants. |
Jan. 24 - What kind of globalization and how should the world be governed?
Jan. 25 - We are faced by a major economic and financial crisis: What kind of
crisis is it? What are the alternatives?
Jan. 26 - Gaps and tensions between social movements, political parties and political
institutions: How to deal with them to achieve participatory democracy?
Jan. 27 - In opposition to 21st century wars, how do we build peace among peoples?
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