The critical role of civil society in fostering societal learning for a sustainable world

In this chapter we will explore the concept of what a learning society means, focusing in particular on the role of civil society in generating more inclusive and dialogical forms of democracy. To ground our argument, we draw from a study (Guijt 2005) of civil society participation (CSP) undertaken for four Dutch development NGOs who fund the work of CSOs that work with extremely marginalised groups. In drawing on this study, we link the ideas of a learning society to practical strategies for CSOs so they can better understand power dynamics within various domains of democratic participation