THE ORBITAL Tracking the emergent movement for planetary systems governance

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#governance

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News (53)

CIGI Maps the Fault Lines of Digital Governance in 2026

The Centre for International Governance Innovation's annual digital governance outlook identifies a widening gap between the pace of AI and emerging technology and the institutions meant to govern them — while noting that the private sector is filling the vacuum.

Three-minute videos shift democratic understanding across 33 countries

A large-scale experiment finds that brief online videos explaining democratic principles — rights, checks and balances, accountability — measurably strengthen support for democracy and reduce acceptance of authoritarian alternatives, even among the politically disengaged.

EnergyNet and the Governance of Local Power

Viable Cities explores how local energy systems can reshape urban climate action — not just as infrastructure, but as participatory governance. The EnergyNet model, tested in Lund, treats energy as a coordinated system involving households, property owners, and municipalities.

A New Index Sorts Regimes by How Power Actually Works

The Human Rights Foundation's Tyranny Tracker distinguishes democracies from hybrid and authoritarian regimes using qualitative thresholds — not aggregated scores — to capture the moment when democratic systems break down.

Corruption perceptions worsen as civic space contracts worldwide

Transparency International reports global corruption perceptions have fallen to their lowest level in over a decade, with shrinking civic space a common factor in declining scores. The trend reveals how governance legitimacy depends on openness.

Warren, Merkley bill targets tax breaks for corporate landlords

Senate Democrats propose ending tax benefits for firms that own 450,000 single-family homes and 2.2 million apartments — treating housing as extractive asset class rather than commons. A test of whether governance can reclaim shelter from financialization.

The perverse arithmetic of coral reef recovery

Coral reefs could sustainably yield 9,000 additional meals per square kilometer — but only if communities dependent on fishing accept decades of reduced catch. A stark example of governance as temporal negotiation.

François Taddei on Building a Learning Planet

The Learning Planet Institute's co-founder joins a podcast exploring educational models as governance infrastructure — treating learning not as preparation for citizenship but as citizenship itself.

Sweden expands city climate coalition beyond pilot group

Viable Cities opens new call to expand beyond its 48-city Climate Neutral Cities 2030 initiative. The expansion tests whether collaborative governance models can scale — a recurring question in transition practice.

Two risk reports map a fracturing governance landscape

The Global Challenges Foundation and World Economic Forum release assessments showing seven of nine planetary boundaries breached, rising geoeconomic confrontation, and institutional erosion — all pointing to what GCF calls the need for governance that recognizes 'planetary commons cannot be negotiated with.'

Luleå's transition exhibition: governance as public pedagogy

A Swedish industrial city places climate transition in a shopping mall — treating governance not as policy abstraction but as something residents encounter while buying groceries. The experiment tests whether municipal legitimacy can be built through visibility.

18 Groups Challenge EPA's Narrowing of Clean Water Protections

Climate Justice Alliance and 17 EJ organizations oppose EPA's proposed redefinition of protected waters — a case study in how regulatory rollbacks shift environmental harm to frontline communities while weakening federal accountability.

Actors (22)

Alliance for Water Stewardship

Global multi-stakeholder network operating the International Water Stewardship Standard, engaging industry, civil society and governments in collective water governance.

C40 Cities

Cities as real climate governance actors. Mayors > nations.

Centre for International Governance Innovation

Canadian think tank conducting research on international governance, digital economy, and global security, with focus on reforming multilateral institutions for contemporary challenges.

Climate Justice Alliance

US-based coalition of 90+ frontline community organisations and support groups building a just transition away from extractive systems through community-led governance and regenerative economies.

Co-Intelligence Institute

Founded by Tom Atlee in 1996 to research and support the emergence of collective wisdom in groups and societies. Developed the theory of co-intelligence, the citizen deliberative council model, and the Wise Democracy Pattern Language. Works at the intersection of group process, dialogue, and democratic theory to ask how humanity can become collectively wise enough to handle its challenges.

Doughnut Economics Action Lab

Co-founded by economist Kate Raworth, DEAL supports practitioners worldwide in translating doughnut economics from radical idea to transformative action. Works with ~50 cities and regions on local doughnut approaches — redesigning economies to meet social needs within planetary boundaries.

Ecocentric.earth

A whole-system planetary governance consultancy that helps governments and institutions redesign constitutions, policies, and decision-making frameworks to account for the rights of nature, future generations, and the living commons. Operates as a non-hierarchical co-stewardship collective. Applies permaculture, indigenous land stewardship, and digital commons perspectives.

Gaia Foundation

UK-based foundation advancing earth jurisprudence, seed sovereignty, and community ecological governance across Africa and South America. Pioneers of the 'earth jurisprudence' legal-philosophical framework.

Global Challenges Foundation

Swedish foundation offering major prizes for global governance reform proposals, funding research on existential risks and planetary commons, and building networks for institutional innovation.

Global Governance Innovation Network

International research network hosted by the Stimson Center, producing annual Global Governance Innovation Reports and connecting researchers working on multilateral system reform.

Global Tapestry of Alternatives

A network of networks initiated in 2019, emerging from India's Vikalp Sangam (Alternatives Confluence) to create solidarity and strategic alliances among radical transformation movements worldwide. Coordinated by Ashish Kothari and colleagues, it maps and connects alternatives to dominant development paradigms — from agroecology and commons governance to autonomous indigenous communities — across regions and themes.

Learning Planet Institute

Paris-based institute developing educational approaches for planetary citizenship, running futures learning labs on anticipatory governance and connecting education with sustainability transformation.

Megagame Assembly

International community hub for megagame design and play, connecting designers and organisers of large-scale multi-player simulation games that blend strategy, diplomacy, and governance.

Metagov

Research collective studying and building interoperable governance tools for online communities, exploring governance games and tool experimentation across digital and physical spaces.

Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project

A US nonprofit collective rooted in the wisdom of frontline communities, working toward the liberation and restoration of land, labour, and culture through ecological justice. Developed the Resilience-Based Organizing model and the Just Transition framework (co-created with Climate Justice Alliance). Holds the principle that "if we're not prepared to govern, we're not prepared to win."

P2P Foundation

A global research and advocacy network founded by Michel Bauwens in 2005, dedicated to commons-oriented peer-to-peer dynamics across society, economy, and governance. Maintains an 8,000-page wiki on peer production, commons governance, and open-source alternatives. Provides theoretical grounding for platform cooperativism, digital commons, and post-capitalist transition.

Radical Ecological Democracy

A framework and network coordinated by Ashish Kothari (founding member of Kalpavriksh) advocating for governance rooted in ecological integrity, direct participation, equity, and the rights of nature. Argues that meaningful transformation requires links between grassroots alternatives and peoples' global assemblies, and challenges the assumption that a single universal governance framework can serve a pluriverse of peoples and ecologies.

Saami Council

Voluntary NGO promoting Sami rights and interests across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Permanent participant in the Arctic Council representing over 100,000 Sami people.

THE NEW INSTITUTE

Hamburg-based institute running a dedicated Planetary Governance programme bringing together researchers, practitioners, and artists to develop new frameworks for governing planetary challenges.

Theatre of the Oppressed NYC

New York-based community organisation using Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed methods for civic engagement, running participatory theatre workshops that explore governance and social justice through embodied performance.

Wellbeing Economy Alliance

A global collaboration of over 350 organisations, alliances, and movements working to transform economies so they deliver shared wellbeing for people and planet. Runs the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) partnership connecting Scotland, Iceland, Wales, Finland, and New Zealand.

Projects (3)

Amsterdam City Doughnut

A collaboration between the City of Amsterdam and Doughnut Economics Action Lab to apply doughnut thinking to urban policy. Amsterdam became the first city to officially adopt the doughnut framework as a lens for post-COVID recovery planning, committing to meet residents' social needs without overshooting ecological limits.

Planetary Guardians Protocol

Ostrom-based regenerative governance protocol for landscape-scale ecological stewardship. Base unit is 10m2 pixel of land. Constitutional kernel frozen February 2026.

Regen Civics Alliance

Alliance piloting 13 place-based regenerative development projects globally (eco-villages, food forests) equipped with Hypha DAO tools for local governance and cooperative business models.

Events (2)

Earth System Governance Conference 2026

Annual conference of the Earth System Governance Project, themed "Building just and sustainable futures for planetary integrity." Brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners working on the governance of Earth system change.

OIDP 2026 — International Observatory on Participatory Democracy

25th annual OIDP conference under the theme "Hope and renewal in the face of a global crisis of democracy." Addresses polarisation, climate change, migration, and the declining trust in democratic institutions through practitioner exchange across cities and regions.

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