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The EADI General Conference started its first full day on 24 June with a plenary panel on the middle classes. It emerged that perspectives on the middle classes are very different in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe.

During the EADI 14th General Conference panel session ‘Promoting Democracy in a Polycentric World: What Role for the Emerging Powers’, Andrew Cooper and Gerd Schönwälder argued that the emerging economies - mainly Brazil, India, South Africa, Turk...

Although participation in the decision-making process has increased in the last twenty years in Latin America, genuine participation of local people in environmental governance has been far from reality. Local communities’ level of autonomy in sha...

Without the involvement of the poor and marginalized in the successor framework to the MDGs, it is unlikely that interventions will respond to their problems.

Involving civil society organizations in the post-2015 drafting process is important, as implementation of the new agenda depends on their commitment.

In Brazil, as elsewhere, the state has no qualms about using brutal force in defence of economic projects in the interest of capital

How can we create a more inclusive economy and what obstacles lie in the way? This debate seeks answers.

Private sector and value-chain development will not contribute to poverty reduction without accountable, effective, inclusive rural governance. Economic development yes, poverty reduction no.

Tackling inequality in Uganda entails a comprehensive development framework that puts people’s participation in the economic growth process at the centre. People must be viewed as agents of economic growth and transformation and not passive recipi...

Interview with David Boys (Public Services International and appointed to the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation - UNSG...

Active citizens’ participation in water and sanitation initiatives is of crucial importance to ensure sustainable improvements in water services for the poorest. The role of civil society organisations, community groups and trade unions is essenti...

Patricia Almeida Ashley advocates for a participative policy making approach that embraces complexity thinking: from the mechanical view of "dots" towards the quantum physics view of  "waves"

The majority of capacity building still focuses on technical skills rather than the fundamental 'soft skills' that are necessary to meaningfully implement training, says Russell Lewis. 

Social change

There is an urgent need to develop new ways of using local knowledge and ideas, and bring them to a higher, politically relevant level.

The Broker recently blogged from the conference Towards Knowledge Democracy, held in Leiden, the Netherlands. We asked Jean-Paul Marthoz to reflect on the blog postings and reports from the event.