After Porto Alegre: Regional Meetings Will Continue WSF Agenda

  
The banners are rolled up, and the trash of a thousand declarations left strewn on the paths and lawns of the Catholic University Campus in Porto Alegre has been swept away. The city returned to its summer calm as flights took off with the last of the delegates and observers. The World Social Forum 2002 has completed its mission to put across the message that "another world is possible." The model for this new world was the global village that was created for the five days of the forum in Porto Alegre. The trick now will be to bring some of that spirit back home.

Nearly 16,000 delegates from 131 countries participated in the WSF. The biggest delegations were from Brazil, the host country (8,503), Italy (979), Argentina (924), France (682) and Uruguay (465). In general, the same countries supplied the most organizations-Brazil (2,368), Italy (406), Argentina (274) and France (224)-with the addition of the United States (165). In addition to the delegations, nearly 35,000 observers attended the proceedings, many of them young students from the Southern Cone countries. Three thousand journalists covered the event.

The participating organizations will not simply return to business as usual. An important result of the WSF promises to be increased networking across regional and hemispheric lines. The World Social Forum, much as the World Economic Forum has done in the last decade, will begin a process of regional and hemispheric meetings. In addition, national chapters of the WSF will also be formed. Some already exist, for example in Ecuador, where the local WSF chapter recently became affiliated with the Hemispheric Social Alliance.

The growth of these "networks" will create new challenges. The multiplication of networks can lead to overlapping and energy spent in defining and even competing memberships. This will pose a test to the spirit of Porto Alegre in each region and represents one area for the next forum to tackle.

The results of the WSF are vast, but the WSF secretariat has done an impressive job of ensuring that many of the documents are generated and summaries of the major conferences and seminars posted on its website. I highly recommend some browsing at: www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/eng/index.asp. This site will help readers grasp the complexity of dealing with a diverse set of issues under the umbrella of "civil society."

Was it worth the effort to participate? Without a doubt, physically experiencing the intense atmosphere brought with it greater insight into the spirit of the proceedings. Much of what went on could be described as "touchy-feely"; however, at all times important networking, planning and evaluation was being done in some part of the city and the campus. Face-to-face global contact seems to be very productive as a support to our new Internet-connected movements. AmericasNet will follow up on the aftermath of the WSF, especially with regard to the local consequences for this worldwide effort to bridge the gaps between regional and national focuses and develop alternatives to the social, political and economic changes in our shrinking world.