Part of the current Dutch societal dialogue on nanotechnology is the international dimension: implications of nanotechnology for peace, security and the interests of people in developing countries. This weblog, coordinated by Ineke Malsch, enables (inter)national opinion leaders to participate in this nano-dialogue. It is part of the project Nanorecht en Vrede, supported by Nanopodium.

The world of development still surprises us in many ways. We are all starters in the sector and fear that the development community has become an inward looking culture that has hardly any interaction with outsiders. Instead of ‘going with the flow,’ we are determined to keep asking questions. In this blog we look critically at the 'unquestionable' terms and statements used in development and reflect on how we think the sector is evolving.

What can be done to achieve a truly green global economic system? This question - more pertinent than ever with the current economic, food and energy crises – guides our blog on global green economics. The blog was launched at the 2nd Degrowth conference in Barcelona (26-29 March 2010) and also ran at the Third International Conference on Eco-Efficiency in June 2010. It is currently running at the ISEE conference 'Advancing sustainability in a time of crisis' in Oldenburg and Bremen, Germany.

The Broker will keep publishing articles on this theme, following the special report by Jeffrey Sachs and Peter May on greening the global economy (issue 18) and the articles on how to measure well-being by Jose da Veiga and on the flaws of GDP by Jeroen van den Bergh (issue 19) and Ed Barbier's article on the Global Green New Deal (issue 20/21).

Five years after its acceptance by the 2005 World Summit, it is time to consider the contribution that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) has made and could make to the prevention of mass atrocities. While there is
Photo: Mo Fogarty USA considerable general support for R2P along the three pillars suggested by the UN secretary general, fundamental questions remain. Julia Hoffmann will run this blog for The Broker from the 'Responsibility to Protect' conference in Sweden from 8–12 June 2010. Julia is a lecturer at the Department of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests focus on the intersection of international law and communication.

Quique (real name Enrique Mendizabal) is a Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. Through his illustrations and cartoons, Quique will explore a number of development issues and debates. He will share his impressions on new research, events and report from around the world through matter-of-fact illustrations, irony, sarcasm and, at times, parody.

Janelle Ward is assistant professor of media and communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research explores how civil society organizations and issue campaigns use new communication technologies to inform and mobilize ordinary citizens. She is also interested in how the academic world is adapting to Web 2.0 in the research and publication process. In her blog for The Broker, Janelle will highlight current developments in these areas and provide reflection based on her knowledge of online communication.

Thea Hilhorst, professor of Humanitarian Aid and Reconstruction at Wageningen University, is our new resident blogger. Her current research activities concentrate on the social aspects of natural disasters, conflict, humanitarian aid and reconstruction processes in relation to development. Thea has extensive experience in working with NGO networks which she addresses in her book ‘The Real World of NGOs. Discourses, Diversity and Development’. Thea will update her blog for The Broker focusing on thoughts, dilemmas and inspirations that she faces in her work.

The 'Innovation Dialogue on Being Strategic in the Face of Complexity', organized by Wageningen University and Research Centre, aims to explore what it means to 'be strategic in complex times'. The event, on November 30 and December 1 2009, brings together people working on international development, sustainable business strategies and social entrepreneurship, and focuses on practical ways to intervene strategically in complex situations. In the lead up to the two days, a series of guest bloggers, including keynote presenters, will begin the dialogue here online. We look forward to reactions on the blogs, which will be used to help frame Dialogue. Pepijn Jansen will be coordinating the blogging inputs and reporting from the Dialogue itself.

The Earth system is changing rapidly due to human activity. The scale of human interference with planetary systems is such that our time could be recognized as a new era in planetary history: the 'anthropocene'. The adverse impacts of human activities could, inadvertently, even change the Earth system irreversibly to a mode inhospitable to humans and other life. Navigating the anthropocene is thus a key challenge for policy makers and a challenge for (social) sciences because the institutions, organizations and governance systems by which humans currently govern their relationship with the environment are not only insufficient, but also poorly understood.

The 2009 Amsterdam Conference on the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change – 'Earth System Governance, People, Places, and the Planet', will be held on 2-4 December. The event brings together about 400 international scientists to address the fundamental and applied research challenge to develop integrated systems of governance, from the local to the global level, that can help to ensure the sustainable development of the coupled socio-ecological system that the Earth has become – that can support navigation through the anthropocene. The Broker web editor Louise Stoddard and a number of conference participants will contribute to this blog before, during and after the event.

The opinion article of the December issue of The Broker notes that approximately 1.5 billion family farmers in the world live by producing food for themselves and for cities. In some regions, a policy emphasis on global markets and high-input agriculture undermines farmers' capacity to keep rural landscapes productive. AgriCultures Network partners argue that policy needs to create space for family farmers to realize their possible contribution to a resilient world without hunger: 'Any future needs family farming'.

In December 2009, ILEIA and the AgriCultures Network will run a conference on 'The Future of Family Farming'. This blog will consider the issues raised before, during and after the event. Please feel free to read and comment.