ABOUT THE Project
This project is guided by three key questions:
- Can we achieve social justice and prevent ecological breakdown by putting care at the heart of our societies?
- How can we make a radical transformation to fair and low-carbon consumption lifestyles, while maintaining or increasing well-being?
- How can we communicate effectively about just, low-carbon transformations considering gender and race and bring society on board?
Our first report “Economies that Dare to Care”, explores how putting care at the heart of our societies could promote social justice while preventing ecological breakdown.
Since spring 2022, we have been researching together with a Commission on Care-centred Transition and are currently co-creating a Forum for Caring Societies – to develop a common agenda for action and build social and political support for the transformation of societies through care. The Call to Action for the Forum for Caring Societies is available here.
Our project connects those working for systemic change that leads us away from the current system and its normalisation of exploitation. Moving forwards together, our exploration is: how can a vision of Caring Societies help us to normalise the radical change we urgently need – but don’t yet believe is possible?
THE REPORT IN A NUTSHELL
Report
Economies that Dare to Care
The world is currently facing multiple, interconnected crises including poverty, global and gender inequality, climate change, and biodiversity loss. This report suggests that these problems are all symptoms of the same systemic crisis and need holistic interventions to solve them. Systemic change requires a powerful vision, and we suggest that a caring society offers an appealing vision for holistic eco-social transformation. Caring societies prioritise the well-being of all beings, including humans, non-humans, and nature. They challenge the current paradigm of constant economic growth and competition, aiming for a fair and equitable distribution of resources, redressing systems of oppression, and reducing carbon emissions and resource use.
Report
Care-full Climate Communications
This report is dedicated to the exploration of communication strategies aimed at effectively addressing the fundamental causes of the care and environment crises, emphasizing the significance of people, the environment, and care-based activities. The relationship between the climate crisis and the care economy is deeply intertwined. To foster sustainable transformation within society and among its members, a profound shift in the understanding of well-being and care work must take place. The well-being of both human and non-human entities must be at the forefront of the solutions offered to combat the climate crisis.
Read our newly published background paper
Caring: A solution for our societies in crisis
Read more
Report overview
The report’s findings cover a broad spectrum of perspectives and experiences from 18 months of literature review and consultation with a commission of over 30 experts in the field of social and environmental care, from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.
The report consists of three parts:
- Chapter 1 sets the scene, describing the multiple crises we face, how they are connected by the current system, and why care-centred transformation could be the holistic approach needed for powerful systemic change.
- Chapter 2 identifies approaches that promise potential for more effective and systemic responses – that go beyond the mainstream.
- Chapter 3 looks ahead to how we can move forward together to join forces and build a forum for just, low-carbon, and caring societies. The report concludes by proposing the establishment of a Forum for Caring Societies to develop a common agenda for action and to build the mandate for change to promote care as a catalyst for radical transformation.
- How can we make a radical transition to low-consumption lifestyles, while maintaining or increasing wellbeing?
- Can we simultaneously promote social justice and regenerative ways of living by putting care at the heart of our societies?
- How can we communicate effectively about care-centered transitions and bring society on board?
An alliance of individuals and organizations dedicated to care-centered, equitable, low-consumption societies will enable us to start shifting the “Overton window,” i.e. the set of ideas that are generally considered feasible and relevant by policy practitioners.
Bringing together insights from Global North and Global South, we seek to ensure that the ways in which we communicate about care-centred societies is effective and meaningful to a global audience. The project will also undertake strategic communications research, produce communications tools, and build a global alliance for action, based on the findings of the meta-analysis.
The project objectives
Having a commission of over 30 experts in the field of social and environmental care, from all over the globe on board, the project aims to achieve the following objectives:
- Develop a framework for understanding and applying care-centred societies and analyse its potential role in facilitating the transition to more equitable low-carbon lifestyles.
- Identify key communications risks and narratives that help frame the potential for societies to transition away from high levels of material consumption towards care-based economies.
- Co-create a Forum for Caring Societies to develop a common agenda for action and to build the mandate for change to promote care as a catalyst for radical transformation.
Our Approach
We bring together researchers from diverse disciplines, practitioners, and institutional representatives in a commission, and co-create an interdisciplinary meta-analysis of the potential for a care-centred society to facilitate the transition to a socially- and ecologically-just society.
The Forum for Caring Societies will enable us to start shifting the “Overton window,” i.e. the set of ideas that are generally considered feasible and relevant by policy practitioners.
Bringing together insights from Global North and Global South, we seek to ensure that the ways in which we communicate about caring societies are effective and meaningful to a global audience. The project will also undertake strategic communications research, produce communications tools, and build a global forum for action.
Grassroots Organising of Unpaid Care Workers for Caring Societies in Mexico and Latin America | Care Stories
Jana Vasil’eva shares insights from an ongoing participatory action research endeavour that supports the creation of the grassroots collective Yo Cuido in Mexico, Chile, Perú and Argentina as well as the materialisation of local and national care systems in these contexts.
F4SL Blog | The funding we need for economies that care
Caring Societies can be an antidote to the current exploitative system; philanthropy can fund advocacy and experiments that transcend the mainstream agendas on care and climate.
Research | The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the care burden of women and families
Towards Caring Societies – A Call to Action
Project Partners
Supported by
Our funders
ClimateWorks Foundation is committed to supporting climate solutions that are equitable, inclusive, and just.
Partners for a New Economy is an international donor collaborative that wants the economic system to generate positive environmental and social outcomes.
