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Our Mission

The Global Research and Action Network for a New Eco-Social Contract (GRAN-ESC) is a joint initiative between the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the Green Economy Coalition (GEC) to explore the promise of a new eco-social contract as a way of responding to pressing social and ecological challenges.

 

The network is a space for dialogue, debate, co-construction and action around the meaning of a new eco-social contract; good practices for its design; and mechanisms for its application. Research, practice, advocacy and policy decision-making communities working for social, climate and environmental justice are invited to join in this endeavour.

 

The Network brings together organizations and individuals from the research, practice, advocacy and policy decision-making communities working for social, climate and environmental justice in a progressive knowledge and action alliance.

 

To facilitate activities, our members convene in working groups every month. Additionally, we organize two annual meetings each year, providing a platform for members to come together and engage in discussions that shape the trajectory of our network. These gatherings incorporate global narratives and discussions on eco-social contracts, fostering a collaborative environment where ideas and insights from around the world converge to guide our collective path forward.

Image by Janelle Hiroshige
What is our Mission?

  • Our mission is to bring together research, practice, advocacy and policy decision-making communities working for social, climate and environmental justice in a progressive knowledge and action alliance.
     

  • The mission is to broaden understanding around the idea of new eco-social contract;
     

  • Define its terms, including a just transition to climate resilient, green and fair economies;
     

  • and identify the actions required of stakeholders at multiple levels to ensure its implementation entails:
     

    • climate and environmental justice,

    • racial justice,

    • respect for human rights,

    • decent work,

    • gender equality,

    • intergenerational justice,

    • the rights of the natural world,

    • and biological and cultural diversity.

What does the Network Do?

We convene a community that bridges disciplines and sectors, thus catalysing an intersectional approach between the social, climate and ecological justice movements. The network - 

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  • Creates a space for dialogue and debate to co-construct and foster understanding around the idea of a new eco-social contract.
     

  • Forges consensus around the guiding principles of a new eco-social contract that can be used at the global level and in specific geographies.
     

  • Builds solidarity between movements working in different ways towards a new eco-social contract, through the integration of intersectional perspectives on social, climate and environmental justice. 
     

  • Strengthens the capacity of policy decision makers, researchers, practitioners, trade unions, business associations, social movements, indigenous peoples and others to engage in informed and evidence-based discussion, decision making and practical action for a new eco-social contract. 
     

  • Nurtures social and policy action by identifying and informing the mechanisms, processes and institutions needed to drive a new eco-social contract—such as citizenship education, citizens’ assemblies and other deliberative democracy approaches, and climate and ecological literacy. 
     

  • Scales up awareness and support uptake of the role of a new eco-social contract in the transition towards a sustainable and inclusive future

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