June 5 is World Environment Day, also known as Eco-day. It is an environmental awareness day run by the United Nations (UN). Of course, the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, also run by the UN, now dominates our discussions of sustainability in global affairs. However, localized visions of sustainable development continue to thrive. These development models are based on local movements that include a variety of actors with concrete grievances and focused visions for the futures of their communities. These movements and visions are relevant for World Environment Day because they reflect the spirit of this initiative through grassroots activities.
Regions & Cohesion is committed to the promotion of the critical examination of sustainable development strategies. Past issues have examined the normative aspects of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and also the sustainable development strategies in different national and even subnational contexts. Building on these discussions, this issue includes a group of articles that present localized development movements with specific goals and specific proposals for the future. The lead article by Suzanne and Victoria Graham analyzes the quality of democracy in small island states in Africa and discusses the importance of civil society participation in climate change policy-making. This is followed by an article by Gutu Olana Wayessa that examines Oromo social movements in Ethiopia that emerged in protest of new land governance strategies. These localized protests spread throughout the country and led to important political change. The article highlights the relationship between political rights and land management.
The final two articles focus on sustainable development in Latin America. The contribution by Juan Facundo Picabea addresses the emergence of social technologies and innovations as mechanisms for integrated and coherent sustainable development. The so-called Technologies for Social Inclusion operate as generators of capabilities for solving systemic problems, promoting change in localized contexts. This is followed by an article by Andrés Tavera Franco that addresses localized sustainable development movements in the Nudo del Paramillo (Colombia) that aim to establish a balance between fulfilling the socio-economic needs of local communities and conserving the environment. The author juxtaposes these movements with government development strategies in Colombia.
This collection of articles explores the importance of civil society and localized movements in promoting sustainable development. This issue reminds us that we must continue focusing on the activities of localized groups and their responses to the needs of specific communities.
Finally, this issue renews Regions & Cohesion's commitment to solidarity and sustainability through the contribution from Sandy Astrid Medina Valdivia entitled “Pescadores y pescadoras, una forma de vida alrededor de los humedales”, to our recurring World Family Portrait section. These photos and narratives present the sustainable relationship with nature cultivated by a self-named “community of fishermen and fisherwomen” in the Laguna de Nuxco in the State of Guerrero, Mexico.
The Editors