On December 2-3, 2008, GuideStar International organized its 3rd International Assembly: “From Local to Global: The value of CSO information for citizen engagement” in London.
From GuideStar International website:
"The 3rd GuideStar Assembly will address how information can empower civil society and decision-makers at all levels to engage and surmount barriers that limit us today. Information is key to enabling citizens and societies to rise to this challenge. Ours is an interdependent world in which the critical issues we face – climate change, energy, infectious disease, poverty and migration to name a few – have local, national, regional and global significance. At every level, citizens through their civil society organisations (CSOs) play vital roles in researching, educating, advocating and delivering services to resolve these issues. Action by global decision-makers is needed, but our interrelatedness and the need to engage these issues “where we live” underscores the need to empower CSO initiatives at every level, the local level perhaps most importantly of all. But solutions cannot be implemented or resources allocated effectively without broad-based knowledge about conditions, solutions and initiatives across and within borders."