Leaving water privatisation behind. Paris, Grenoble and the advent of the water remunicipalisation movement in France
How did France, a pioneer of water privatisation, become a hotbed for remunicipalisation? Cities like Paris and Grenoble not only ended the domination of corporate heavyweights like Veolia and Suez over the sector, but also played a key role in inventing a new generation of…
The case for … truly taking back control – by reversing the privatisation of our cities
Remunicipalisation, i.e. the taking back of privatised assets and services into public ownership at a local level, is growing. Over 1,400 cases have been implemented since the turn of the millennium, in more than 2,400 cities across 58 countries. The article depicts different cases of…
International database of de-privatised public services
Public Futures is an interactive database, where you can find information on alternative public pathways to privatisation. Basic services like water, energy, health care and education build the foundation for healthy, just and sustainable communities, and all over the world, citizens, public authorities and labour…
Jakarta poor still fighting for tap water
To fight the water privatization that is taking place in Jakarta, the organization Amrta Institute for Water Literacy is helping make water accessible to all the inhabitants of Jakarta. The organization Amrta Institute for Water Literacy was shortlisted for the Transformative Cities People’s Choice Award…
Lagosians fight to keep the water taps away from capitalism
In 2014, and with the state government hell-bent on pushing through their privatization plans, ERA/FoEN launched the ‘Our water, Our Right’ campaign, a grassroots-heavy initiative that amplifies the voice of community people in Lagos, Nigeria. Since thise launch the campaign has held more than a…
Grenoble, France: Citizen participation in water utility delivers low tariffs for its poorest residents
Elected officials and environmental activists mobilised in Grenoble in the 1980s and 1990s to prove that corruption was involved in many deals, and set up an alternative, municipal entity to take back and run the water utility. Remunicipalisation took place in 2001, and opened the…
An atlas of real utopias?
In 2017, the Transnational Institute launched Transformative Cities, an opportunity for progressive local governments, municipalist coalitions, social movements and civil society organizations to popularize and share their experiences of building solutions to our planet’s systemic economic, social, political and ecological crises. The Atlas of Utopia,…
The power of a transformative city
Cities constitute a privileged place to organise collectively and to imagine new ways of living and working together, spaces where bodies and minds interact and where ideas spread quickly and have unparalleled impact. Cities are also able to advance democracy to a greater extent than…