Philea

Essayist Arundhati Roy poignantly referred to the Covid-19 pandemic as a “portal” – a characterisation which necessitates a pause and reflection on what we want to take forward and the preferred future philanthropy and civil society need to shape. The Philanthropy track will consider philanthropy’s actions at three levels of analysis:

• Philanthropy’s legitimacy within democracies

• Its responsibilities regarding closing civic space (especially where digital dependencies play a role)

• The behaviours and practices that individual foundations mainstreamed during the pandemic which offer new opportunities for the future

Speakers:

Covid-19 has not only prompted global health and economic crises: It has contributed to a democratic crisis as well. The pandemic has often been used as a pretext to shrink civic rights and freedoms and for corporations and governments to break or evade laws which are meant to hold them accountable. 

During the first wave of coronavirus, more than 2 billion people lived under temporarily or permanently suspended parliaments. The pandemic has exacerbated many underlying inequities in our world, and exposed long-term failures of our economic systems, global governance and political leadership. It has underscored how the media can be captured or manipulated, and how misinformation isn’t just a threat to elections. Covid-19 has sparked louder demands for justice, equity and accountability across the world.

As we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, does the “new normal” mean narrower civic space; long-term curtailment of freedom and equality; and the ubiquity of surveillance? Or could it mean harnessing the myriad opportunities offered by new forms of political and civic organising, and by technology, to help challenge power, deliver social justice and to reimagine and reinvigorate what we actually mean by “democracy”?

Speakers:

In March 2020, the pandemic struck European societies in a time of profound changes, divisions and tensions, spurring fear and defiance, and threatening social cohesion, democracy, and peace.

Dividing lines among people, territories, and generations were a growing concern for many before the crisis. While the pandemic has created a common fate, common threats and common constraints, it has also shed a different light on societal issues, by revealing our vulnerabilities and accentuating existing challenges. In particular, is has questioned our public health and care models, our capacity to maintain knowledge and education, the quality and robustness of our national and local support systems, our economic choices, the importance of culture as a lever for cohesion and creativity… 

Many of these issues are not actually new, however the pandemic changes the focus, and questions more intensely priorities, choices and ways towards more sustainable and more resilient models. Daily life has become virtual: new technologies have been key to maintaining education, access to care, jobs and economic activity, but have also generated greater inequality and isolation.

Speakers:

There is no vaccine for the climate crisis.

The climate emergency was established well before Covid-19 altered our daily routines. Alongside lockdown, the year 2020 initiated a 10-year countdown to halve greenhouse gas emissions. In this decisive decade, actions taken by markets, governments and citizens will determine liveability on our planet for the next century. 

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