About

Citizen Renaissance started off as a conversation, developed into a White Paper and is ending up as a book. We are publishing it on-line in order to seek opinions and measure interest - and to openly invite provocative thoughts and relevant challenges.

When we started writing, we knew that there was something genuinely interesting and powerful in the convergence of what we went on to describe as the three seismic shifts of our time: the Perfect Storm surrounding Climate Change; the need for a Wellbeing Imperative; and the reforming power of Digital Democracy. The more we talked, the more the content seemed to flow.

We do not always agree. Nor do we think we have all the answers. But we do want to catalyse and participate in a wider debate - not only about the shocks we describe but also where, possibly, they are leading us.

We are open sourcing both the ending and – more importantly – the Manifesto for Change, so we hope you will contribute to the discussion.

About the authors

Jules Peck

Jules Peck spent his formative years climbing through trees and hedges exploring the natural world in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. He now lives with his wife outside Bath and is still doing quite a lot of the same.

Jules was for two years Director of David Cameron’s Quality of Life Policy Group, advising the Conservative Party on wellbeing and environment issues. A committed Citizen, he has spent the past 20 years advising business, NGOs and government institutions on sustainability issues and Wellbeing. In a varied career Jules has worked in on environmental issues in Brussels at the EC, in the US and EU in marketing and public affairs roles with a number of companies and internationally for WWF as a Global Policy Adviser.

A regular public speaker and published author, Jules is also a trustee and board member of a number of charities and not-for-profit initiatives. He is a strategic counsel on Edelman UK’s advisory board. Jules is also joint founder, with John Grant, of Arkism. Jules’s recent publications include: Blueprint for a Green Economy (2007), Let Them Eat Cake (2006), Hope and Glory (2008).

Robert Phillips

Robert has been trying to change the world since about the age of eight. An early attempt to run for political office (purely to unseat a teacher he passionately disliked from the local Council) was thwarted when he realised he was still a minor and therefore ineligible to stand.

Joining the much-lamented SDP in the early 1980s as a student radical (albeit one firmly in the political centre), ultimately cost Robert his otherwise blossoming career at Oxford. After a brief stint working on policies and speeches, Robert quit both the political arena and his political ambition when he was heckled by members of his own side at Party Conference for suggesting that Public/ Private Partnerships in Health and Transport were the way forward. He recalls saying at the time that we were meant to be fighting for a better, more open and more equal society – and not one another.

In his professional career, Robert went on to co-found the award-winning consultancy, Jackie Cooper PR, whose flagship clients included the launches of PlayStation, O2 and the infamous ‘Hello Boys’ work for Wonderbra. In 2004, Robert and his business partner Jackie Cooper sold JCPR to Edelman, the world’s largest, independent PR firm and, in 2007, Robert took on the role of CEO of Edelman UK. Although a committed workaholic and Manchester United fan, Robert is still determined to change the world in his spare time.

He is married, lives in London and Suffolk, and has two terrific sons. He dedicates his half of Citizen Renaissance to his father, John, who bestowed his passion for social justice – and taught him why it is fundamentally important to always be a liberal with a small ‘l’.