Позитивные изменения. Тематический выпуск «Экономика будущего» (2023). Positive changes. Special issue «The economy of the future» (2023)

NGOs, when they are truly non-governmental, can provide advocacy, engagement, education, volunteerism, culture, and human relations, in ways that the public and for-profit sectors cannot.

How far into the future, do you think, will the trend of mobilizing the individual as a subject of change in his/her territory continue – which is represented in the paradigm of initiative budgeting, rural development programs modelled after South Korea’s New Village Movement, and others that involve the mobilization of community power? Do such programs have a future?

The idea of “subsidiarity“ emphasizes that we all live in overlapping spheres of cooperation: family, neighborhood, community, metropolis, state, nation, region, and global. Different parts of our lives naturally function at different levels of engagement, some at the family or neighborhood level, and some truly at the global level. There is room for community-based action, to be sure. We live in communities. But there are many issues (e.g., global climate change, biodiversity protection, pollution, migration, war and peace) that must be addressed at levels of cooperation larger than the community.

Speaking about “Transformations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,“ how do you see the role of communities in transforming cities towards sustainability?

Cities will be home to 70 % or more of humanity by 2050. We have become an urbanized species. This is a huge change for humanity, which was at least 90 % rural for all of human history before 1800[8]. Cities that work effectively – for health, education, jobs, production, culture, safety, and community – is a great task. Cities around the world are taking up the SDG Agenda, and reorienting their policies towards sustainable development. They are also calling for new methods of public finance, so that city governments have the financial means to carry out city-level investments as necessary. This is a big challenge and a big opportunity to improve the quality of life of most of humanity in the decades ahead.

What do you feel about the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship – are we taking this phenomenon into the future, and how great is its potential to drive positive change?

If we are smart, the advances in technology should enable us to devote more of our personal efforts to volunteerism, care of family and communities, and solutions of local challenges. In short, social entrepreneurship should play a larger role in society, in part because basic challenges (food, water, housing, etc.) have been solved through technological improvements and sound public policies.

In your opinion, will technological development (including artificial intelligence, which is commonly associated with a new technological revolution) become a factor in developing the economy and eliminating inequality in the world?

The digital revolution, including AI, robotics, advanced biotechnology, supercomputing, 5G (and later generations of digital connectivity), and other technologies, can lead to rapid improvements in wellbeing. They could also lead to nightmares if misused. These technologies could be weaponized, leading to new weapons, biowarfare, the end of privacy, pervasive fake news, and much more. The technologies are a lot smarter, and advancing much faster, than the political systems that must find new ways to manage them. This has been starkly true since the advent of the nuclear age. We are yet to govern advanced technologies safely. AI should be in the hands of the public, not the arms industry. Alas, we are moving farther away from our needs, not to real problem solving.

Can the world ever see The End of Poverty, and if so, when, under what conditions, and with what parties?