Glossary

The global commons

The global commons actually pertains to all matters that transcend national boundaries and are, therefore, outside the limits of government control, market laws, and private ownership. Cross-border issues include world hunger and malnutrition, water and sanitation, disease prevention and health care, education and employment, global human rights and civil liberties, women's and children's rights, ethics and values, cultural arts and traditional heritage, international aid and income, global credit and debt, global business and production, science and population, climate and energy security, disarmament and peacekeeping, refugees and displaced persons, migration and trafficking, international law and corporate responsibility, technology and patents, media and cyberspace, and more.

You can view the August 18, 2007 press conference announcement explaining the Coalition for the Global Commons(28:58 mins)

Email Submission

Email submissions will be received throughout the process and all input related to the Common Action Plan will be posted to a public board to stimulate further public reflection and comment. Our Policy Development department will carefully review these comments, critiques, stories, reflections and opinions and integrate those submissions to the document.

Document Submission

Once you are registered to this website, you can upload your document through your account, by clicking on "Submissions" and "Submit Document" directly from the relevant topic page in the Action Plan, for instance the Values page. Submissions will be received throughout the process with the possibility of providing follow-up statements, revisions, or critiques of the evolving plan or process. The result of this part of the consultation will be mostly report-based. Our Policy Development department will carefully review these submissions and may invite the individual leaders, experts or other partners for further discussions (through email, video conference, or in person), if necessary.

Round Table Meetings and Forums

These moderated discussions will seek to identify the main issues and problems within a given thematic area and bring their collective expertise and experience together to generate solutions that represent the interests of the Global Commons. The leaders, experts or other partners will submit the results generated from these discussions to our Policy Development department. Submissions will be received throughout the process with the possibility of providing follow-up statements, revisions, or critiques of the evolving plan or process.

Neo-Helsinki consultation method

Where the Policy Development coordinator recognizes a deficit within particular themes or sub-themes of the action plan, he/she may, in collaboration with the Management Coordinator, assemble a team of approximately 6 to 10 recognized experts assigned to collect up-to-date information on key policy developments, assess its relevance and significance, commission reports or research and formulate policy conclusions. Each team would represent only the thematic area within which it was assigned and would have a semi-autonomous status within the Policy Development department, as well as a close link with the work of the editorial staff for that thematic area. These teams should consider not only the issues and the problems within their particular theme, but also the policy implementation. Their work is expected to build networks around its work to involve the various stakeholders and constituencies, and can work in close conjunction with the National Coordinators from each country. It is also necessary for each team to develop strategies to hear those whose voices are inadequately represented within their thematic topic - particularly people and groups who are often the most vulnerable.

The NextExpertizer method

This method of consultation provides an opportunity to introduce revolutionary models of computer-supported interview and analysis technology into the consultation process. Nextexpertizer makes it possible to quantify individual interviewee statements, making them comparable. As a result, interviews with up to 2000 persons can be correlated and assessed. The interviews have no fixed assessment dimensions. The interviewed persons compare previously developed Elements. The individually developed Elements are compared in pairs, associatively described (similarity and difference comparisons) and finally assessed. More information on this method will be available soon at the NextExpertizer website.

The Delphi Method

Objectives that can be reached by DELPHI are:

Ensure that all possible options have been put on the table for consideration
Estimate impact and consequences of any particular option
Examine and estimate the acceptability of any particular option

Results of a consultation according to the DELPHI-method include:

"Mean" opinion of the group of respondents
Overview of a variety of differing opinions
Individual statements

Please contact us for detailed instructions on how to proceed with the DELPHI method.

Public Town Hall Meetings and Forums

With particular support from the National Coordinators, you may attempt to develop a series of meetings or forums in your community, where individuals can appear to a representative or panel of representatives, who would file the final results with the National Coordinator. Town Hall organisers should encourage a wide representative segment of the community to provide testimony, ideas, opinions, views or perspectives on local or global issues, and the particular problems they encounter in their communities. A time allotment for individual speakers will help to define the agenda and give the largest possible audience of participants a chance to speak in this process. Electronic and paper transcripts from these meetings must be made and forwarded to the relevant editorial teams to be integrated into the consultation document.

Please contact our National Coordinator for further instructions.

Organise events that encourage discussion

Several innovative methods of outreach can be developed by community groups with guidance from the National Coordinator, and results submitted to the National Coordinator on an ongoing basis.