I completely agree with you Gordon, good points. My strategy that I've really learned from others is to positively impact decisions through relationship building. I find it an effective one, and once a decision maker understands that the community's intentions are positive (or at least non-threatening), then perhaps they are more keen to listen. With that said, DiploFoundation, for instance, does a lot of work with diplomats and a lot of training with government. In the end I think it's important to remember that, regardless of politics and power, the people making decisions -- the politicians, bureaucrats, etc. -- are still people. Just people. -Michael On Thu, Jun 23, 2016 at 5:01 PM, Gordon Lennox <gordon.lennox.13@gmail.com> wrote:
I agree.
One of the nice things about this community is that you ask a question and you get a response.
But when it comes to governments, both politicians and officials, it is not always about a lack of understanding. It can be about a very strong disagreement about values.
I would add though that often it is not even just about “governments”. Even in a government from a particular culture and of a certain flavour there can be very strong internal / inter-departmental disagreements. And it is not always the “good guys” who have clue.
Gordon
On 23 Jun 2016, at 15:37, Johan Helsingius <julf@julf.com> wrote:
The tricky ones are the ones where the views of the community and the views of (some) governments are in conflict, and activism, rather than education, is what is needed. In that case we need to be very clear about who represents whom.