Statement of Ethos and Values

This Statement is the key to holding together everything carried on in Feasta’s name – Feasta members groups and a wide range of projects funded through Feasta or carried out in Feasta’s name. It is the other side of the coin to the principle that Feasta groups and projects are initiated and carried on autonomously.

Projects or activities proposed to be carried on in Feasta’s name will be asked to show how they will align with Feastaʼs Ethos and Values; ongoing projects are reviewed to ensure they continue to do so in practice. The Statement of Respect (see below) applies equally to any non-member making use of the Feasta brand via a project funded through Feasta.

Feasta has a global perspective that recognises the extreme seriousness of the situation of humanity in today’s world on many fronts.

Members of Feasta share the following beliefs:

– that the problems are largely systemic – our economic, governance and education systems are of crucial importance.
– that humanity’s resilience and wellbeing depend on building systems that respect planetary limits and the interdependence of all life on earth
– we are committed to promoting social justice including inter-generational justice and
– we cope with complexity by applying principles of self-organisation and popular participation in place of command and control.

Members of Feasta are equally ready to participate in achieving systemic change by the reform of existing systems as by the creation of new ones.

Feasta operates across all relevant disciplines.

Feasta operates in an open and transparent manner.

Feasta insists on tolerance and non-violence in all relationships in accordance with our Statement of Respect (see below).

Subject to compliance with Feasta’s Statement of Respect, Feasta groups are free to agree their own rules about consensus decision-making and accepting or rejecting requests to join the group or excluding a person from further participation in the group.

The Feasta Statement of Respect

The quality of human relationships is vital. In our dealings with each other, all members of Feasta will treat each other with the utmost respect and tolerance. Respect encompasses our interpersonal relations, our communications and our openness to the views and opinions of others. Respect extends to the manner of our engagement and participation in the consensual processes through which decisions are made. It takes due account of the respective responsibilities each of us has in a particular context, for example as an employee, or as the facilitator of a discussion, or as a fellow member of a working group.

In this way, Feasta seeks to create and protect a culture in which value and dignity is accorded to all its members, to their various opinions and to the working processes by which Feasta operates. In so doing we convey our values to anyone dealing with the organisation.