Twenty First Century Charter

The Twenty First Century Charter is born out of a belief that we need a new debate as a society about our ethical base for this new century.

The Charter aims to help us wrestle with significant over-riding themes of our time – financial responsibility, sustainability, continuing inequality, globalisation and demographic pressure – and to see new ways forward in everyday situations and in building community.

The Charter is positive about our common future and is divided into ten commitments, each of which requires not simply assent but also action. The first five relate to individual actions – face, stand, recognize, match and see; and the second five apply these actions in a communal way – belong, risk, give, turn and search. By formulating the Charter in this way we hope to give a simple, easily understood ethic as the focus for a much deeper and open discussion about what ethics mean in the twenty first century.

We commit to:

1.	Face tomorrow’s challenges today
	what is our legacy? are we fulfilling the trust future generations place in us?
2.	Stand responsible for our actions
	when are we mature enough to be accountable for the world we live in?
3.	Recognise when enough is enough
	when is it time to stop? is it enough to simply live for ourselves?
4.	Match our consumption to contribution
	how can excess and poverty be reconciled? who do we depend upon and who looks to us?
5.	See the whole among the pieces
	how can we make a difference? do we seize each day?
6.	Belong to a place and to community
	where is ‘home’? how do we make our community sustainable?
7.	Risk uncertainty, originality and diversity
	what are we afraid of? what are the opportunities that we miss because of our fears?
8.	Give up the notion that anyone is superior to anyone else
	how can we all be free to express ourselves? how are arrogance and oppression best challenged?
9.	Turn our world inside out by seeing through other’s eyes
	how can we get inside each other’s skin? what is it that unites humanity?
10.	Search out that which is greater than ourselves
	what is the ‘extra’ in our lives? how do we find those things of greatest meaning?