Future Dialogues
The current system of “aid and development” cannot continue – but what should follow?
Conversations about what an international development system for a post-2030 world looks like are happening around the world. It’s not just anti-internationalist “aid sceptics” questioning whether “aid and development” are fit for purpose. People within the international development sector are also challenging the narrative of “development” and the role of “aid”.
The current system, built on colonial structures and assumptions, needs to be reimagined, and this is something our colleagues around the world have been saying for a long time. Global challenges like poverty, inequality and exclusion and the climate crisis require new models for “development”, and these should be rooted in equality and solidarity. Existing models need to be imagined, created and tested.
What are the Bond Future Dialogues?
The Bond Future Dialogues hopes to contribute to this conversation, with a particular focus on what the UK’s future role could look like. What is a progressive “aid and development” agenda? And how do we build support for internationalism and an alternative international solidarity system here in the UK?
Future Dialogues events
Bond is bringing together innovative thinkers from within the international development community and those working in adjacent sectors such as foreign policy, environmental justice, politics and sustainable business through a range of public events and a series of workshops.
The event series kicked off in December 2021, exploring the idea of Global Public Investment as an alternative model, presented by Solange Baptiste, Jonathan Glennie and Nikolai Hegertun.
More events will be announced soon, so watch this space.
Core questions we will be exploring
- What could future alternatives to the current “aid and development” system look like? What could the UK’s role be in that?
- What new ideas and approaches should be tested?
- Where is innovation happening, and how should that be supported and further investigated?
Future Dialogues resources
Read our first blog from Bond’s CEO Stephanie Draper and project lead Abigael Baldoumas, Now is the moment for the sector to think about the future, where they introduce the project and lay out the foundations for areas to explore over the next year.
Watch the first in Bond’s Future Dialogues webinar series. This event introduced the Future Dialogues and looked at whether Global Public Investment could be an alternative model that helps us move beyond the current “aid and development” system. Click the link, or watch below.
The second event, Equitable Economics: Reimagining sustainable development brought together economists Priya Lukka and Surbhi Kesar to explore emerging economic ideas, based on fairness, sustainability and equity. Watch the session below and read the blog, What does progressive, decolonised economics look like in practice?
We will be producing more content as the project progresses, which will all be made available here.