We believe that an empowered and engaged civil society
is a corner-stone of sustainability....
... and so we see our primary role as building and supporting good,
functioning and equal relationships between policy & decision-makers
and those who are most affected by these decisions. This requires different
strategies in different situations, which typically may include:
information: We provide the public domain with good
quality research, information and analysis on a range of topical environmental
issues. This is often in the form of publications, videos and newsletters,
but includes presentations and input into workshops and meetings. The
aim is to increase understanding of complex issues and to encourage
others to engage in a more informed and empowered way with government
and other decision-makers around environmental policy and justice issues.
facilitation: We strive to bring together interest
groups to share and strategise around specific policy or environmental
justice issues. This can entail organising and facilitating focussed
meetings and workshops, but includes support for and engagement with
broader networks. In other cases, the focus is on bringing civil society
groups into multi-stakeholder dialogue with government and business
representatives.
demonstration: Where we have built close partnerships
with other organisations, NGOs and community-based organisations, implementing
alternative models for sustainability, we use our resources to popularise
and promote these, and assist their success. |
EMG was established in 1991 and is based in Cape
Town with a rural field office in the Northern Cape.
Our work is limited to a few areas
only, but in all of these, we try to make clear the connection between
different levels of interaction and governance – local, national
and global.
We try to root all of our activities in local issues,
but do so with a keen sense of the wider political dynamics.
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