In the scope of the European Foundation Centre’s (EFC) Foundation week, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) presented their ‘Visionaries for a Just and Peaceful World’ project on 1 June 2010. In celebration of its centenary, the JRCT opted for an adventurous approach in which they funded seven individuals whose visionary ideas had potential for social change.

The event showcased six different projects and their results, over five years of the JRCT funding. Nicholas Whyte, speaking on behalf of Carne Ross, discussed assistance provided for marginalised political actors in diplomatic processes. Clive Stafford Smith talked about human rights in the context of the Guantanamo Bay prison and other enclaves. Appropriately, Heather Parker and Mark Hinton talked about community development in diverse but economically disadvantaged areas. Geoff Tansey gave a discourse on food security, especially its effect on the underprivileged, and his efforts to change the business of food. Karen Chouhan spoke of the structural disadvantages that minorities face and the work that her organisation, Equanomics, has done to foment societal change. Finally, Roy Head considered what could be done about Third World mortality rates when attempting to bridge the concepts of mass media with public health.          

First, Nicholas Whyte stepped in as a representative of the visionary project called ‘Helping marginalised countries through independent diplomacy’ and spoke on behalf of Carne Ross, the visionary of this project who, unfortunately, could not attend the conference. Despite his absence, Ross was nevertheless able to explain the core of his project in a short video footage. He thus explained how the goal of his project was to provide advice on marginalised or isolated political actors’ can engagement in diplomacy.

Ross’ visionary proposal came to the interest of the JRCT as it was noticeable how many international conflicts involved groups that were not represented by an actual State. As a consequence of their stateless statute, these same groups were traditionally left out of the general diplomatic process, so their opinions and interests were often disregarded. Presumably this is the case with more instances than one might think since, as Ross pointed out, 80% of the UN’s agenda has an impact on actors that are usually not part of the conventional diplomatic processes of negotiations. That is precisely the point which was brought to the attention of and accepted by the JRCT as an interesting vision.

For the realization of his visionary project, Ross’ aim is to provide “advice in closed forums on how to help” underrepresented groups in the scope of diplomatic processes. Building on his past experiences as a former British diplomat as well as head of strategy for the UN Mission in Kosovo, he is attempting to achieve his goal with the help of ‘Independent Diplomat’ (ID), his non-governmental organization based in New York City. With the JRCT’s grant, ID is able to offer advice and strategies to political groups and organizations in the field of diplomacy. With this help, ID aims to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law.     

Regarding its scope of work, ID is currently busy providing assistance to many groups all around the world including, among others, in Burma, Somaliland and Western Sahara. Even though ID is still working with many political groups that are involved in ongoing conflict situations throughout the world, successful work has been completed in two important geopolitical areas. First, through the aid offered to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, ID was able to facilitate the latter’s communication with the EU and Turkey, two key actors in the area, by hosting meetings with all parties concerned. Thus, by including the Northern Cypriot representatives at the table of negotiations, ID believes that the ongoing conflict in Cyprus will have more chances of being resolved. Second, regarding the situation in Kosovo, one of ID’s major achievements was to bring Kosovo’s prime minister to address the UN on behalf of Kosovo itself, a non-State entity, which in itself was a novelty at the time.     

Finally, if it were simply by looking at ID’s scope of operations or to the current reality, as Whyte pointed out, that conventional State diplomats respond rather positively to ID’s ‘alternative’ diplomacy service for marginalised or excluded groups, ID has been a successful visionary project. Therefore, the JRCT’s grant has definitely helped ID get closer to its goal, and thus bring forth significant social change.          

Second, over five years of work on his project called ‘Increasing human rights by closing Guantanamo Bay and other enclaves’, Clive Stafford Smith has successfully represented many detainees as well as shed some light on other remote and secret prisons such as the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.     

Stafford Smith’s goal of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison and other similar enclaves was convincing enough to persuade the JRCT to support his vision. In fact, in the post-9/11 era, within a context of growing worldwide concern about international terrorism, we have witnessed the creation of enclaves where, as Stafford Smith points out, there have been noticeable human rights violations. From a larger perspective, Stafford Smith believes that relations between Middle Eastern and Western countries will never improve if the latter continue disrespect the primacy of the rule of the law and uphold human rights violations.

Concretely, Stafford Smith is attempting to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and other enclaves with the help of his non-governmental organization called ‘Reprieve’. By representing detainees in prisons as well as people in death penalty cases, Reprieve is making use of the JRCT’s grant by saving lives for persons who would otherwise not have the means to afford being represented in court. Furthermore, Reprieve is also promoting the rule of law throughout the world: by investigating individual cases of the detainees in prisons, by representing detainees and by educating the public about human rights and the war on terror.     

While Reprieve recognizes that Barack Obama’s administration did not live up to its promise of closing Guantanamo Bay within the first year in office and acknowledges that the Bagram Air Base controlled by the US poses a serious threat to the safeguard of human rights and the promotion of the rule of law, one question remains: has the JRCT’s grant to Stafford Smith been beneficial to the advancement of the cause of ‘Increasing human rights by closing Guantanamo Bay and other enclaves’? First, Reprieve’s hard work helped countless of prisoners receive help that they otherwise would never have received. With the help of the JRCT’s grant, Reprieve was able to reach out to prisoners in all major geographical areas and even at certain locations which were previously overlooked by non-governmental organizations, such as the Horn of Africa. Second, insofar as Reprieve’s ability to act remains within the scope of a non-governmental organization, it has nevertheless been able to bear significant influence on national governments in order to reach its goal. For example, Reprieve’s persistent actions upon the US government have led to improvements in American transparency and detention policy. Ultimately it is clear that the JRCT’s grant has greatly contributed to Stafford Smith’s goal.    

Finally it must be stressed how the JRCT’s grant that Stafford Smith received, and the hope that was placed in him by the Trust, nurtured a sense of vision that is, as Stafford Smith expressed himself, especially important for young people. As opposed to the education systems in general, which tend to offer more theoretical or abstract knowledge to students, the JRCT’s grant is the type of motivation and inspiration which, according to Stafford Smith, “provide[s] students with the jobs they really want”.           

Third, Heather Parker and Mark Hinton’s project aims for economic development in disadvantaged communities through community unity. Their work, concentrated around a community center strategy, creates friendships and connections while at the same time ebbing away at prejudices and enmities. By bringing the community together they create an environment conducive to business and economic development.                  

Heather Parker and Mark Hinton’s personal experiences gave them the desire to change the world. They had witnessed how the blessing of diversity in the towns of Foleshill and Hillfields had turned into a poison because of prejudices and stigma. Diversity was not the blight of these towns though; it was the self segregation that restrained the people from working together. They knew that these mostly working class towns could develop economically and become united communities if only lines of communication were opened. Their personal belief that “relationships are the key to changing the world” was also key to their inspiration and concept.   

It was on these beliefs and observations that they based their project on. Their first order of business, after gaining the support of the JRCT, was to open a community centre where they did “anything that will bring people together”. And they really have held all sorts of events, ranging from women’s and youth groups, multifaith groups, and health discussion groups. As time passed they increasingly learned how to make people feel comfortable, which was necessary for getting them to open up and make friends. The events and groups also ensured that people from the different groups would find themselves with ‘different’ people with the same interests. The discussions made the groups realize that they were more similar than different, that they had all faced similar hardships. The connections that were forged at the community centre spread around the town and progress has been made.     

Progress in their sort of venture is hard to measure through statistics and ‘facts’. In their case, it is more of a feeling of comfort and unity that had previously not existed. It is seeing local faces finally smiling at each other. The vision at its grandest, though, is to bring this unity to all unfortunate and fractured communities so they may become conducive to the development of local business. So they can prosper.           

Fourth, Geoff Tansey articulated the tragedy of the world’s food distribution. And explained his vision, a vision of a world in which everyone can feed themselves in a sustainable fashion. According to his vision the rules and laws of the international community need to become more humane and fair. The new laws need to create an atmosphere where food is available and sustainable for everyone, no matter their place in society or their state’s within the international community.    

The motivation that drives Geoff Tansey is simple, and yet so compelling. It comes, in large part, from facts and suffering that are measurable statistically. One billion people on the planet are undernourished, that’s more than 1 in 7 people. If that were not enough to motivate him another two billion people are micronutrient deficient, and the 1.2 billion people that are overweight can be added as well to the numbers of the suffering. And these numbers have only been getting worse in his 35 years of work. Key trends within the food industry also keep Geoff Tansey focused on food security. The expanding patent system, for one, withholds vital technologies from the less fortunate, due in large part to greed. Globalization also costs the third world as local foods are exported for profit to the rich first world. If Geoff Tansey’s laundry list of motivation was not convincing enough of his dedication, his 35 years of work on the topic would.      

Geoff Tansey has spent his life trying to change the international food system through information.  Just like Heather Parker and Mark Hinton, Geoff Tansey wants to open up lines of communication that will affect change. By connecting and having coordination between the food security related NGOs, he hopes to more effectively push the government(s) into action. In conjunction with connecting the NGOs, Geoff Tansey has been informing the general public through publications, including his influential book ‘The Future Control of Food’. Informing the public also has the double effect of putting more pressure on the government, and helping the public make better choices in their purchases. Progress has been made, the world has become more aware, but the job is far from done.      

A bright future is far from what Geoff Tansey predicts. Since he has started, 35 years ago, the world’s food situation has deteriorated and the trend does not seem to be turning around.  Global warming will only add to it. Competition over scarce food is also becoming fiercer, with the rich and strong having a large edge. The west is also furthering its technological dominance which is fuelled by ‘corporate feudalism’. He still hopes and strives for a world that is more diverse, agro-ecological, with more equitable farming systems, though. However, he only sees this happening if a critical mass is reached that tips the scales. He plans on continuing to publish more works and grabbing more public attention to do so.              

Fifth, Karen Chouhan has a dream of society living up to its creed of equality, for de jure equality has not accomplished de facto and structural equality. The means of her goal has been her organisation, Equanomics, which seeks true equality through economic advancement. Progress has been made but Equanomics will continue to exist and labor as long as a gap between Caucasians and minorities exists in the United Kingdom. Her story is inspiring and will hopefully end in success.    

Karen Chouhan’s odyssey in conjunction with the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Foundation began in 2005 when she applied for the Visionaries project. Her ideas were captivating enough to make her one of six projects chosen out of 1,600 applications. It was the horrible rhetoric and realities that were present in the post 9/11 world that inspired her proposal.  Western society was turning its back on multiculturalism and was becoming increasingly Islamophobic and xenophobic, which showed in the public debates on integration and immigration. To further her inspiration, the gap between the rich and the poor had been growing for 40 years, with no end in sight, and minorities were especially feeling this effect.     

Karen Chouhan’s inspiration fueled a vision of a world that is not only just in its laws but also in its reality. The means to this vision were and still are the two parts of her project (Equanomics and the Roots Research Centre). The organisation Equanomics is a grass roots initiative that aims for racial equality through economics. It has stated that “social inclusion and justice [are] dependent on Economic Inclusion and economic justice.” The Roots Research Centre is the research branch of the project. It gathers information that can be presented to the government in order to influence economic policy. The hope is that the organisations can sway the government into instituting an affirmative action policy in order to overcome the 15% gap difference in employment between Caucasians and minorities. Such a policy in the United Kingdom is as of now illegal but precedents of the opposite have been established (the Northern Ireland Fair Employment Act).      

Even if Karen Chouhan has not achieved her final goal yet, her organisations are still on that road and have had successes. Equanomics completed a national tour with the Reverend Jesse Jackson as a key speaker and supporter. 20,000 people took part of the tour and its workshops. Equanomics’ ‘Mind Your Business’ initiative also educated youths about the impact of their economic and consumer decisions in collaboration with artists from the music industry. Both the tour and ‘Mind Your Business’ caught the public’s eye due to their importance, large attendance and the participation of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the artists. They also benefited from Karen Chouhan’s own public profile, which was gained through winning ‘Britain’s Brainiest Family’. Equanomics and the Roots Research Centre have also written and widely distributed their ‘The Price of Race Inequality: The Black Manifesto’ publication, which maps out the enormous financial costs of the inequalities.  Hopefully these successes are a herald of structural equality.      

Last but not least, Roy Head presented his project called ‘Tackling mentality of information about health in the developing world’. By studying the effect that mass media can have on public health, Head said that with the help of the JRCT’s grant, his goal was to change peoples’ behaviours in the developing world in order to hinder mortality rates in the concerned countries.     

Head’s candidacy for the JRCT’s grant was anything but untenable. For many years diseases have been decimating developing countries’ populations. From diarrhoea to leprosy to HIV, several diseases have been killing a much larger proportion of the population in the developing world than in the industrial societies. While efficient solutions may at times prove to be both time consuming and costly, Head sought for a preventive solution that could be easily achieved and which would, at the same time, prove its beneficial results. That is precisely how mass media was, for the purpose of this visionary project, thought of as a remedy for public health issues in Third World Countries.     

With the help of the JRCT’s grant as well as with his experience as a former BBC broadcaster, Head set up a private company called Development Media International (DMI) in 2005, which is based in London. Instead of simply doing health campaigns, DMI’s aim is to “convey information to the population”, which is achieved through concerted work between broadcasters and health experts. DMI essentially aims at prevention through education because, as Head points out: “Human knowledge, transmitted through mass media, is the most cheap and efficient way to save lives”. In order to reach out to the highest number of people as possible in a given country, DMI seeks results on a national level by collaborating with State authorities. At the same time, the realization of this vision avoids providing assistance in the form of a rigid and identical strategy for all, as it rather targets each country’s specific needs through locally sustainable communications systems.     

When wondering if DMI has been able to successfully combine mass media and disease prevention, the statistics do not lie. First, judging by the blindness (trachoma) campaigns that were held in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal, Niger and Tanzania, there is clear evidence which shows that trachoma’s prevalence, in those countries, has globally diminished from 72% to 52% within 3 years. Second, if we were to glance at the leprosy campaign held in India, it is remarkable to notice how as many as 200,000 people were treated for this disease within a year-long period. In both of these examples, it must be stressed how it is not only the hard numbers that actually count, but rather the awareness that DMI’s campaigns spurred in the populations of the targeted countries. In fact, DMI’s collaboration with top medicine schools as well as national broadcast networks contributed in changing local patterns and behaviours, which ultimately helped DMI achieve such successful results.    

When asked if the achievements were long-lasting after DMI finished its campaign, Head replied that “knowledge has a hot life”. He elaborated on this term, saying that a few years after DMI would finish a campaign, there would be a noticeable decline of the initial successful results. As it stands, DMI would require some 2 million GBP for funding, if it were to pursue its objective and maybe even eliminate the ‘hot life’ effect in its campaigns. Based on its impressive results achieved in past years, there is hope that funders will follow in the JRCT’s path and recognize both DMI’s as well as Head’s potential and remarkable visionary project.       

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust Foundation’s ‘Visionaries for a Just & Peaceful World’ event was inspirational. The Visionaries have shown the truth of Robert Kennedy’s words: “Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous army of the world’s ills – against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence.  Yet many of the world’s great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single person.”  The paths to justice are rarely easy but the destinations are well worth the sweat.