Building a Sustainable Society: HANS BRUYNINCKX on Equality, Democracy & Environmental Governance – Highlights
"I'm a deep believer in the values of democracy, human rights, and the system where civil society and people play a key role in the discussions about society and also assuming responsibility, whether it's through labor unions, youth organizations…I think one key solution at the level of society is more equality. More equal societies bring a lot of advantages. I think that is a critical component to building a sustainable society. We cannot pretend that the current distribution of wealth on this planet between countries and within countries is a fertile ground for longterm sustainability. It isn’t." Hans Bruyninckx is the Executive Director of the European Environment Agency. He is a political scientist and international relations scholar specializing in global environmental governance, climate change, and sustainable development. Previous to his work at EEA, he was head of the HIVA Research Institute and of the Political Science department at KU Leuven, senior member of the interdisciplinary Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and promoter-coordinator of the Flemish Policy Research Centre on Transitions for Sustainable Development. · https://www.eea.europa.eu/about-us/governance/executive-director · https://www.eea.europa.eu/ · www.oneplanetpodcast.org This interview is the first in our new One Planet Podcast series, which is available both on The Creative Process and on its own channel from the end of March. The podcast features environmental groups and notable changemakers from around the world, including European Environment Agency, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, EarthLife Africa, One Tree Planted, Global Witness, Earth System Governance Project, Marine Stewardship Council, National Council for Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Public Leadership, Association des Amis de la Nature, Forest Stewardship Council, Polar Bears International, and many others.