NGOs: The Networking of Networks for Another Governance

This paper starts by briefly describing the current situation of the world, including global environmental degradation, poverty and conflicts, displaying how unsustainable the present world is. In order to make this world sustainable, all sorts of actors in the international arena should play a more effective role. From this point of view, the paper examines roles of governments and the United Nations through the difficult development of the Preparatory Committee (Prepcoms) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). In particular, limits to “governance from above” based on governmental negotiations are pointed out and the emergence of “governance from below” led by citizens and NGOs are also highlighted. This paper argues that both citizens and NGOs do not fully utilize their potential power. It also articulates the importance of a network to overcome its weakness. The paper identifies three crucial movements to be networked with each other: development from within initiatives, eco-village, and global citizenship education. At the same time, this paper underscores the significance for each movement to connect horizontally and vertically with each other, in order to create organic links among them, which will lead them to form a driving force to change the current society into a sustainable one. The paper further shows another key element for networking for the creation of alternative governance. They are the World Parliament, United Global Citizens, Global People’s Assembly, and World Civil Society Forum. The World Parliament is an alternative idea of world governance, which may be called “another governance from above”. On the other hand, United Global Citizens is a good example of “another governance from below”. Both Global