Citizen Renaissance was conceived by Jules Peck and Robert Phillips in the spring of 2008 – on the eve of the global economic crisis and before The Big Society had really seen the light of day. Originally published as a wiki-book, Citizen Renaissance explores the collision of the three seismic shifts of our time: the perfect storm surrounding Climate Change; the Wellbeing Imperative; and the axiomatic rise of Digital Democracy. At its heart lies a call for more citizen-centric thinking and behaviour and an end to the global imbalance of Wants & Needs. Citizen Renaissance continues today as a forum for thought; a platform for the exchange of ideas; and as a collaborative project that seeks to develop a Manifesto for Change.
About the authors
Jules Peck
Jules Peck is Chairman of the Edelman Sustainability and Citizenship Group. Jules is also a Founding Partner at strategy and innovation consultancy Abundancy Partners as well as a Trustee of nef (the New Economics Foundations), an adviser to The Green Thing, outgoing Chair of the Bulmer Foundation and a Fellow of the think tank ResPublica. Jules’ special interest is the updating of capitalism and the business implications of wellbeing economics. He has worked in sustainability and wellbeing for 23 years, one third in and around politics, one third in business and consulting and one third in NGOs like WWF where he was Global Policy Adviser for five years.
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 on sustainability and wellbeing 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.
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. Robert took over as UK CEO of Edelman in May 2007 and, in January 2011, Robert assumed the role of President & CEO, Edelman EMEA. 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 (with occasional forays into 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’.
Contributors
Arabella Bakker
Arabella is Associate Director at Edelman UK, and helped edit and refine Citizen Renaissance.
Antoine Soussaline
Antoine is Head of Digital in Buenos Aires, and helped build and direct the website in which Citizen Renaissance is housed.
