Third Sector Governance for Sustainability - Essay Example

Sustainability over the years has become an increasingly important issue, not only for the governments but for all concerned components of society, and today all the spheres of society such as the corporations, government bodies as well as the general public is are all emphasising on the importance and necessity of developing and growing in a more sustainable way so as to ensure security for the future. Sustainability is usually considered by most in a political or cultural sense but sustainability as a concept emerged only with the emergence of modernity. With the coming of modernity, there was an increasing growth rate, and there was an increasing requirement and demand for resources in the market, and so with this emerged concepts such as democracy, capitalism, individual rationality and freedom and the laizze faire state. Sustainability is in direct contradiction to these concepts as it calls for restraint, caution control and only for minimal usage as opposed to unending demand and growth. Many countries in the 1970s believed that the concept of sustainability and eco-development were ploys generated by the developed countries to keep in check the developing countries. In the summit held at Rio many said that they would like to develop first and worry about the environment later. Mrs. Indira Gandhi said that ‘poverty is the greatest polluter’. But with the passage of time it has been realised that environmental sustainability and development go hand in hand. The third sector tries to ensure that development takes place in a more sustainable way so as to ensure that all parts of society benefit from the development and that resources are not concentrated in the hands of a few, but there is a more socially justifiable distribution of resources. Over the past 30 or so years a strong environmental movement has emerged that calls for sustainable development, and which has found support among most countries and nationalities with the growing environmental problems, such as flash floods, droughts, global warming, delays in monsoon, cyclones, etc. (Foran, 2005) The developed as well as the developing world has been struggling to ensure that environmental sustainability is attained while continuing with environmental development, through policies and movements that call for strong actions. From the 1940s there has been growing awareness about the harm that has been caused to the environment by man’s thoughtless action and usage. This awareness has slowly been gaining an increased audience and many countries have since then trying to reduce fossil fuel usage, nuclear testing, etc. But with passing time, it has been realised that political action alone is not enough to find a solution to this dilemma and that more popular and active role of the people is also required to combat this increasing threat. The third sector has since then emerged to take on an active part in conserving the environment, and in various other spheres also. The third sector also known as the voluntary sector and the non profit sector, consists of organizations that are formed and work for social causes. These organisations are non profitable in nature and are also non governmental. This sector is referred to as the third sector in reference to the public sector and the private sector. This sector works in close alliance with the civil society, and usually these do not have any social entrepreneurial activities. This sector may include outfits such as the think tanks, pressure groups, interest groups, political parties, social movements, charitable organizations, religious outfits and even community organizations. Presence of the third sector in an economy signifies that the economy is better equipped to meet the social demands and that there is awareness for the needs of the people. (PotÀucek 1999) The third sector is very active in today’s world with almost 10% of USA’s GDP coming from this sector, in Ireland it contributes 8.8% to the country’s GDP, in Italy it is seen as a primary supplier for employment opportunities and the list of examples from various other countries is endless. The ongoing tussle between growth and economic sustainability has been over the years been foreshadowed by a number of factors. The most important factor that has emerged is that there has to be de linking between the economic growth and natural resources so as to ensure greater conservatism of resources. But for countries where the economy is based on natural resources (like Australia) there may be a problem. For achieving sustainability all countries will have to recontrust their ecology. (Picton, Daniels 1999) The third sector will have to play an important role in this reconstruction and ensure that the masses are involved, and that there is participation and acceptance. Non-profit organisations or NGOs have become a very important and significant part of the third sector, and have over the years had an increasingly important role to play in the conserving and sustaining a thriving society, and they usually function in those areas which have been ignored by the government or those where there can be more work done. While the role that they have been playing in organising the society cannot be ignored, it is also not sure as to whether they will be able to sustain themselves or not and this is dependent to a large extent on their working, organisation, accountability and how successful they are. The third sector has a very important role to play in localising the concepts of sustainability. It is a global concept and this has been promoted by these non-governmental organisations which operate on various levels. (Hasan, Onyx 2008) These help to ensure that these global ideas and concepts reach the people thus ensuring that initiatives that are promoted by the policies of governments are seen through by the people and also ensuring mass support for attaining their goals such as development through sustainable means and methodology. One such organisation in Australia is the WA Collaboration which was made up of a number of civil society groups in Western Australia, and this organisation had initiated a strategy known as the WA State Sustainability Strategy through which it had tried to create a common view of sustainability which can be attained for Western Australia while cutting across various differences and ‘sectoral divides’ which exist in the civil society sector. This collaboration had comprised of a number of organisations such as the Council of Churches of WA, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, WA Council of Social Service, Environmental Alliance, Ethnic Communities Council of WA, the WA Sustainable Industry Group and the Unions WA. This was an important example of the third sector working towards sustainability while making people aware and including various organisations into the movement towards a wholesome development. In Australia it is Western Australia which has developed a rather wide-ranging and all- inclusive strategy to deal with the growing environmental problem and to ensure sustainability, mostly with the help of the WA Collaboration. But due to the geographical structure of the state as well as the number of diversities which exist in the area there have been certain apprehensions about the implementation of this strategy. The WA Collaboration was launched in August 2002, and since then the main focus of the organisation had been in assisting the government in its sustainability strategies and also in developing an agenda for better participation of the people from various communities that exist in the region. It has today seized to exist but its work can be studied to give us a view of the third sector. It seeked support as it realised that it alone could not represent the various diversities but it had worked towards more mass involvement in the movement for sustainability. The problem of getting the people engaged in policy making as well as ensuring that all interest are addressed is a difficult one and thus the WA Collaboration had held seminars and talks and discussions which used to involve various groups in both the rural and urban parts of the state to get the views of the people on policies and matters and also to ensure that there is awareness and participation from the masses. (Buselich 2004) But even with such activities there was still participation from certain factors and key organisations only. Also the lack of media support and coverage on the strategy leads to lack of public awareness. Sustainability calls for people participation and for involvement of the whole society. The WA Collaboration had the gigantic task in front of it that called for more innovative and effective methodologies, ideas and strategies that would spread awareness and knowledge to the population thus ensuring better contribution which in turn would lead to better strategies for sustainability and better mass support for the movement. The WA Collaboration had a very unique position in the context of sustainability, for as normally interest groups are formed to fulfil certain goals only, this collaboration has been formed to attain better cooperation between the various factions of society and to ensure that there is better involvement and mass popularity for the movement. Different places in Australia are coming up with different ways of meeting the newer demands that are being posed on the third sector. For example, in Brisbane the population is already almost close to 2 million and this makes Brisbane one of the fastest growing cities in Australia, where it has been predicted that the population will reach a little over 3 million by 2026. There are various reasons for this upsurge in population, but the major contributor is migration both from other countries and also people coming in from the rural parts of the country into Brisbane. In such a scenario with rapid growth of population there is increasing pressure on the resources which leads to increasing financial pressure on the third sector and resources from the government are also dwindling as there is decreasing resources due to increasing social needs. In such a scenario the municipal corporation has declared that the citizens need to be philanthropic if there is to be achieved a sustainable society. Philanthropy is increasingly seen as a vital component for strong, developing communities. It is being increasingly pointed out that charity is the best way of displaying one’s support for a cause and it may be the only way of sustaining the third sector and ensuring its continuing freedom from the private and public sector. Although the living conditions of the city have not detoriated yet, there has been seen an increasing tendency of falling donations and a falling number of people from the population who donate. Also in comparison to other states the businesses here donate less. Many scholars such as Carr and Irwin believe that private donations are made to the local government and not to the third sector as such, and also the government’s approaches for private donations do not create the right environment for public giving due to which donations have increasingly decreased. The local governments have now undertaken certain efforts to ensure that philanthropy as well as volunteerism increases. The effects of such effects are yet to be felt. Some such undertakings taken by the government are ‘Social Enterprise London’ and ‘Melbourne Cares’. A study was conducted in 2006 which included experts from outside Brisbane and Australia as to how can the council help promote philanthropy where a number of classes were involved such as the business men, organisations, fund raising experts, citizens, etc. the study shows that there is a need for the business classes, the third sector and private citizens need to come together to address the issue of social needs, where the local council was to act as catalyst in bringing them all together and ensuring their working peacefully and productively. (Madden 2008) It could help creating projects which would help development with the help of the business men and private citizens. It could also help the third sector y helping them find resources through various affluent connections. This, it was believed, would help the third sector perform better, ensure community participation and lead to a better developing and sustainable society to emerge. The importance of the third sector has increased over the years, has increased and the potential of the third sector is huge. Many experts are of the belief that the potential of the third sector is far greater than what is being utilized today, and if harnessed properly then the third sector may overtake both the public as well as the private sector. The third sector today has got global recognition and is playing an important role in development of countries all over the world. An example of a third sector organisation which is helping towards sustainable development is the FIAC, or the Australian Furniture Industry Awareness Campaign. It is a national level organisation which wants to raise awareness about the new innovative furniture industry. (Third Sector 2009) This is a national organisation and provides employment to 80,000 people but the figure has fallen by 25% due to imports of cheaper furniture into the country. By raising awareness FIAC plans to change this trend and has recently collaborated with the FIAA. Over the years to help the third sector of various countries grow and develop there has emerged a global face of the third sector- the TSISSI or “Third Sector Innovation: Sustainability and Social Impact”. This body meets in a place and hold conferences where various organizations of the third sectors from all the countries come together to discuss the various roles that each one is fulfilling and also to discuss new arenas where the third sector can help. Such international conferences also provide for new methodologies and innovative programs for various organizations to follow so as to ensure better development and more enhanced results. These conferences include paper presentations, sharing sessions, technical assistance, providing training sessions, developing business plan development, human resource management, marketing strategy etc. The Centre for Australian Community Organisation and Management or the CACOM is an organisation that is affiliated with the University of Technical Sydney and is engaged in a number of research projects. The CACOM in the future is planning to do research on the relation to community capacity building. This research is going to help the third sector in its working and in helping it initiate new policies and strategies. The agenda for the CACOM are: The CACOM is going to ensure that there is better development of a database for philanthropy for Australia. It plans to do so by involving other communities such as the ABS, the centre for philanthropy and non-profit studies, etc. also the CACOM wants to establish the link between the sustainability and development of social capital. CACOM also wants to use the internet to access the people who live in isolated places to spread awareness and lessen the ‘digital divide’. CACOM also wants to get involved in the Asian regions in mentoring research etc. The CACOM also wants to continue to spread awareness among the already existing volunteers and increase the pool of volunteers so as to ensure greater participation.( CACOM Future Directions 2009) Thus we see how the CACOM has worked and developed over the years and how with the more involvement and greater research it will help enhance the role of the third sector in the generalising of support for social causes and for helping society take a step towards sustainable development and social justice. With the emergence of a quasi-market setup, the third sector finds itself in need for change and reform if it has to keep up with the more organised structures. There has been changing policies that are being adopted by the third sector in order to combat the problem but studies have shown that even though the problems in relation to the sustainability of the community service organisations that had existed prior to these reforms were still in place.( Spall, Zetlin 2004) This implies that unless there are further organisational and structural changes the community service organisations will continue to face problems, and there is a call today for changes in their governance and execution. The third sector thus we see plays a very important role in helping develop the world and ensuring that the economy grows in a sustainable way. The third sector provides for employment, and raises awareness. It backs the government’s policies and reaches the masses but the most important thing that the third sector does is that it testifies that people can work together without any motives of profit or without the guidance of the government. The third sector also helps in making the democratic process a success and helps to represent the people’s views to the government and initiate changes in policies and legislatives. The government can promote third sectors by ensuring that there are laws and regulations in place for them so as to ensure that they function properly and without pursuing any illegal goals. Laws can strengthen the third sector, by allowing people to form associations (part of the Australian common law), to exempt them from taxes (from paying property tax, consumption taxes, GST, etc.) allowing them to give tax deduction to donors, incorporation laws (that allows them to employ people hold property etc.), also there should be laws to govern fund raising so as to ensure that there is no foul play and that the less scrupulous people do not cheat people. Mandatory public reporting help ensure that the third sector organisations are working efficiently and that they are not just cheating the donators. In Australia this is done through the incorporation laws. Thus the conclusion that one can draw from the above discussion is that there should exist a single piece of legislation that incorporates all the laws relating to the third sector so as to ensure that any organisation trying to legalize itself should be able to do so and also this would ensure that there is a common basis on which organisations could be categorized into the third sector. But taking into consideration the diverse nature of organisations that are in existence it would be rather difficult to form a set of laws that would incorporate all the related information and form the guide lines for the sector. Even though laws can help in the development of the third sector they can also harm their functioning. They can even be damaging and disrupt their working. This can happen if the laws are do not grow with the changing times and fail to take into account the needs of the developing times. Laws that are not enforced in the correct fashion but haphazardly usually lead to creation of more problems than leading to solutions. Laws that grow in a gradual fashion lead to more confusion than progress. (Mark 2004)All of the above stated problems are true for Australia and this has in turn adversely affected the third sector organizations of the country. These laws are generally there for the larger corporations and organisations and are scrutinised by them. For the smaller corporations there which are known as the incorporated associations there are the same jurisdiction but they are scrutinised only till they are set up and after that they usually function without any inference from the law. Cooperatives are scrutinised more but the laws that are formed are formed for large co operations and there are no existing separate legislatives for cooperatives formed for providing organic food, housing or other social services. All this creates lot of difficulties for such co operations to function. The third sector is active all over the world, in India it is known as the joint sector where the government sets up the initial organization while private citizens carry it forward. It is also very active in other countries such as Canada, UK, USA, the South American countries, Japan, etc. AVECO and the Euclid Network are functioning in the UK and in the north European counties. These are international in their functioning, and undertake issues that have a larger base such as manufacturing co operations, etc. The third sector has thus we seen evolved a lot from the initial stages when it was just a community affair which was limited to a neighbourhood. It has developed into a global phenomenon where it plays a key role in the economic, social cultural and political sphere. It developed with the growing need to of society and it responds to the requirements of the people. It helps initiate spread of awareness among the masses and ensures that the policies of the government are understood by the people. It also ensures that the requirements of the people materialize into policies and legislatures. The third sector also provides for facilities that are required by the society but which have not been provided by the government. The third sector today is an important key player in the economy as well. It not only contributes to the GDP of the countries but helps provide employment opportunities to the people and there is a growing scope for the third sector to develop into a more important sector than the private or the public sector. The third sector also helps in redistributing the resources in the society so as to ensure that there is greater equality among the population and there is no concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. The third sector also promotes a feeling of social commitment and ensures that one feels responsible towards others in society, while it also provides for more environment friendly methods of development. Thus the importance of the third sector cannot be denied and is growing with each passing day. Reference: Buselich K, 2004: the WA Collaboration and third sector governance for sustainability in Western Australia accessed on Monday, July 6 2009 at http://atlas-conferences.com/c/a/m/m/81.htm. CACOM Future Directions: where from here accessed on Monday, July 6, 2oo9 at http://www.business.uts.edu.au/cacom/future/index.html Foran.B, 2005; Balancing act: A Triple-line analysis of the Australian economy, accessed on Monday, July 06, 2009 at http://www.csiro.au/resources/BalancingAct.html. Hasan S and Onyx. J: Comparative Third Sector Governance in Asia: Structure, Process, and Political Economy. Pub: Springer, 2008. pp 209-220. 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