• Taking a ‘Futures’ perspective – This

focus gets limited attention in the field of

advocacy which often has a more

immediate policy/issue focus.

• Cross-sectoral networking can draw from

a broad range of thinking & experience,

enable access to a broad constituency in

devising & pursuing agendas & empower

the civil society voice.

• New ways of advocating – Based on

promoting values on issues, creating

spaces for deliberation, advocating for

public support, and tracing out the

practical implications of these values.

• Agreed value base - Gives identity,

establishes basis for collaboration, and

shapes shared agendas.

• Challenge to build a shared

perspective on priorities & how best

to advance a shared value base in

context of austerity & diverse

interests.

• Civil society silos are hard to break

down - civil society, under pressure,

returns to these silos & focuses on

the struggle to survive & lack of

experience in brokering the type of

relationships required.

• Limited funding, limited investment

of resources from civil society &

traditions of paid activism.

• The challenge in the present

context to innovate & reinvent

agendas & process for advancing

change.

• Moment of crisis resulting in loss of

trust in dominant institutions, rapid

change in public institutions –

opportunity to put forward

alternatives to the dominant model.

• Pressures on civil society & lack of

impact on current situation –

interest in exploring new ways of

mobilizing, working & organising.

• Moment of crisis resulting in political

unresponsiveness, political & public

hostility to civil society, media

disinterest in alternatives – barriers to

bringing forward alternatives and

securing public debate on them.

• Current difficulties for civil society -

lack of resources, limited adaptation to

new circumstances & limited space to

re-imagine our agendas, strategies

and structures.

• Difficulty in promoting a futures

perspective - dominance of day-to-day

struggles in relation to outcomes of

austerity policies.

Workshop B – Claiming Our Future