The Olive Network
We started thinking about the words that have perhaps been most neglected in recent times, and the need to return to them, and with resolve…in all their forms and resonances
Now gathering
67 voices connected
Lead story · United Nations
2023 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers. 2024 could be even worse. These facts lay bare a glaring truth: the world is failing humanitarian workers and, by extension, the people they serve.
Education·21 July 2025
YUDHISHTIR CHANDRA BISWAS Yudhishtir Chandra Biswas, from Bangladesh, says he has tried to change the minds of sceptical friends and relatives SOURCE: BBC NEWS Climate Climate change: The young activists changing the sceptics' minds By Marco Silva As global leaders gather at the COP28 summit in Duba
1 min read
Education·28 August 2026
ON SOURCE: EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT Drought My first-ever presentation in primary school was about water. Back then I couldn't have known how much scarcer it would get before I even grew up, or that Europe's rivers are drying up and revealing 400-year-old warnings. Europe's rivers are warning us with
EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT · 1 min read
Climate·3 December 2025
In late 2017, Branko Milanovic wrote a blog post titled “ The illusion of degrowth in a poor and unequal world .” He penned it, he says, following a conversation he had with a proponent of degrowth, which was me. I wrote a response, which…
JASON HICKEL · 62 min read
Arts & Culture·17 August 2025
BASHA MIAO VILLAGE, CONGJIANG, QIANDONGNAN, GUIZHOU, CHINA, 2016
ON Network · 8 min read
Systems Change·10 June 2026
Illustration: Eleanor Shakespeare/The Guardian Opinion/ Poverty ON SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN Wed 10 Jun 2026 10.00 CEST We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way Olivier De Schutter , Joseph Stigli
7 min read
Climate·18 January 2025
The most read story of 2024 is about the findings of the World Happiness Report.
SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB · 6 min read
Education·6 October 2024
MSF secretary-general Chris Lockyear, at the organisation’s Geneva headquarters. (Geneva Solutions/Kasmira Jefford) ON SOURCE: GENEVA SOLUTIONS MSF’s Christopher Lockyear: ‘It’s shocking to think that Gaza could be forgotten By Kasmira Jefford A year since the 7 October Hamas attack that triggered t
GENEVA SOLUTIONS · 1 min read
United Nations·28 July 2026
UNHCR A Sudanese refugee carrying her child at a UNHCR registration center in Cairo, Egypt.
UN News · 5 min read
Dwelling·5 June 2026
Pope Leo XIV leads the mass in the Malabo Stadium in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on 23 April 2026. Photograph: Luca Zennaro/EPA
THE GUARDIAN · 6 min read
Climate·26 April 2026
“A silent cry about the climate crisis and a penetrating meditation on what life is. A film full of ideas that resonate deeply, told as a penetrating dream that shakes you awake.“
ON Network · 8 min read
Dwelling·27 February 2026
Hannah Spencer, the Green Party candidate, outside a polling station on Thursday, the day of the Gorton and Denton by-election.Credit...Temilade Adelaja/Reuters
NEW YORK TIMES · 5 min read
Systems Change·17 February 2026
‘Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about the lamb’s.’ Photograph: Minerva Studio/Alamy ON SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN Thu 12 Feb 2026 13.00 GMT We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – h
5 min read
Arts & Culture·17 February 2026
ON Ed - while this essay is from 2021, it still feels relevant in 2026
THE GREAT TRANSITION INITIATIVE · 15 min read
United Nations·24 January 2026
Today, 250 million children and adolescents are out of school and 763 million adults are illiterate, according to UNESCO.
UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF EDUCATION · 3 min read
United Nations·27 December 2025
Statements and speeches Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS · 7 min read
Arts & Culture·1 December 2025
by Rebecca Gordon and Naomi White • November 2025 • Journal article
BURLINGTON CONTEMPORARY · 34 min read
Climate·1 October 2025
Boats, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel's naval blockade, sail off Koufonisi islet, Greece, on 26 September 2025.
THE NEW HUMANITARIAN · 10 min read
United Nations·9 June 2025
The global learning crisis has deeply intensified, with 70 per cent of 10-year-olds in low and middle-income countries unable to read a simple statement. At the same time, the world is undergoing a digital transformation marked by an…
UNICEF GLOBAL LEARNING INNOVATION HUB · 2 min read
Health·17 April 2025
Co-chair of the negotiations, French ambassador Anne-Claire Amprou, and the WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cheer at the conclusion of negotiations for a pandemic treaty on 16 April 2025. (WHO)
GENEVA SOLUTIONS · 5 min read
Arts & Culture·19 February 2025
We can head for the great independent state of Cinema and rest there, an unlimited realm, innately inclusive, immune to efforts of occupation, colonisation, takeover, ownership... or the development of riviera properties.
BERLINALE · 1 min read
United Nations·7 September 2024
Frosty morning in Pingjum Friesland, The Netherlands. Photo:WMO Photostream/Anna Zuidema
UNITED NATIONS · 4 min read
Arts & Culture·25 August 2024
Voltaire, the symbol of enlightenment philosophy based on reason, critical thinking and scientific inquiry, was also a fierce advocate for advancing science and technology. The French philosopher thought everyone should have access to…
GENEVA SOLUTIONS · 2 min read
Arts & Culture·29 July 2024
The Mapping Journey Project, 2008–11 (installation view, Foreigners Everywhere, 60th Venice Biennale, 2024). Photo: Marco Zorzanello. Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia
ART REVIEW · 13 min read
Dwelling·28 July 2026
Nearly two decades of data show how the Multilateral System operates as a living mechanism supporting research, breeding, and global collaboration.
SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB · 6 min read
Education·6 July 2026
Can artificial intelligence benefit all of humanity – safely, fairly and without causing “catastrophic harm”? That is the question at the heart of a major UN summit opening in Geneva on Monday.
UN News - Global perspective Human stories · 4 min read
Dwelling·11 June 2026
Astrid Puentes Riaño, United Nations special rapporteur on the right to a healthy environment at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, 6 March 2026. (UN Human Rights Council/Anastasiia Lavrenteva)
GENEVA SOLUTIONS · 7 min read
Arts & Culture·16 March 2026
Capitalism has created a world of bullshit abundance, where we have too much of what we don't need and too little of what we truly do. This hollow pursuit, achieved at the expense of both people and the planet, has forced us to confront…
ABUNDANCE · 2 min read
Climate·5 March 2026
A recent conversation with Sato Ichiro, Executive Senior Research Fellow at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ogata Research Institute, and Csaba Kőrösi, a Hungarian diplomat who served as President of the 77th session of…
SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB · 5 min read
Arts & Culture·15 January 2026
We are pleased to share Abbas Kiarostami’s “An Unfinished Cinema” (1995), a lucid statement on cinema and spectatorship.
E-FLUX · 4 min read
Arts & Culture·5 December 2025
I love diaries — physical, bound paper books filled with handwriting — more and more as the digital has taken over so much of our lives. I have an existential terror of losing my human coherence, my voice, to the chatbot. Human thought,…
NEW YORK TIMES · 6 min read
Climate·29 November 2025
The Second World Summit for Social Development adopted a political declaration through which world leaders reaffirm their commitment to building a more just, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world by addressing social challenges such…
SDG KNOWLEDGE HUB · 4 min read
Climate·23 November 2025
“Rich countries, especially the United States, have not only built their empires on fossil fuels and the commodification of food, land and water, but continue to fuel the climate crisis and expand extractive industries in the Global South.…
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH · 3 min read
Climate·16 November 2025
Earth, hessian, oil painting, poetry, voices of reason, ambient sound, scent and Arcadian landscape featuring an imposing structure, abstracted, broken and forgotten, based on the Berlin TV Tower, a symbol of unification.
ON Network · 3 min read
Uncategorized·13 November 2025
Johnny Barnes greeting commuters from his roundabout in Bermuda.
David Seedhouse · 6 min read
Climate·21 July 2025
The world's biggest carbon emitters will step up co-operation on methane and support global efforts to triple renewable energy by 2030.
ON Network · 3 min read
Economics·18 July 2025
Analysis of Capitalism - Globalization - Socio-ecological Transformation - Democratic Socialism
ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG · 23 min read
Climate·18 June 2025
I have been saying this a lot recently: “At last!” At last, a mainstream film bluntly revealing the plunder of our seas. At last, a proposed ban on bottom trawling in so-called “ marine protected areas ” (MPAs). At last, some solid…
THE GUARDIAN · 5 min read
Arts & Culture·15 June 2025
We need storytellers who can translate devastation into empathy and urgency.
ON Network · 6 min read
Arts & Culture·8 May 2025
Steve McQueen, Bass , 2024. Installation view, Dia Beacon, New York, May 12, 2024–April 14, 2025. © Steve McQueen. Photograph by Bill Jacobson Studio, New York.
MUBI NOTEBOOK · 11 min read
Arts & Culture·17 February 2025
Activist Alistair Alexander works on alternatives to a techno-authoritarian future - drawing inspiration from nature as a model for resilience.
THE CITIZENS ON SUBSTACK · 10 min read
Charities·19 January 2025
ON ED: Please note, the Human Rights Watch World Report 2025 website uses image technology that we do not possess so please follow this link to their page
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH · 13 min read
Arts & Culture·18 January 2025
Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, which sold at a New York auction last year for $6.2 million, was chosen for inclusion by Damien Hirst. Photograph: Rhona Wise/EPA
THE OBSERVER · 5 min read
Climate·28 November 2024
HUMAN RIGHTS Cop29 ACTU Published on November 29, 2024 05:02. / Updated on November 29, 2024 08:51.
GENEVA SOLUTIONS · 7 min read
Climate·12 November 2024
Azerbaijan will host the 29th UN climate negotiations, called COP29 for short. One of the key elements of this COP is finance. With all that needs doing to reach our climate goals of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees…
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND · 5 min read
United Nations·31 October 2024
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I am grateful to participate in the 16th BRICS Summit. Collectively, your countries represent nearly half of the world’s population. And I salute your valuable commitment and support for international…
UNITED NATIONS · 4 min read
Arts & Culture·19 October 2024
Commissioner : Florencia Loewenthal Curator : Andrea Pacheco González Exhibitor : Valeria Montti Colque Venue : Magazzino n. 42, Marina Militare, Arsenale di Venezia, Fondamenta Case Nuove 2738/C
La Biennale di Venezia · 1 min read
United Nations·30 August 2024
Celebrating the UN’s 75th anniversary last year, prompted major internal discussion about its future, and a new direction away from the post-World War Two consensus of its early days. These reflections have resulted in Our Common Agenda ,…
ON Network · 7 min read
Feed · 24/06/2026
Scientists say the factors driving up temperatures are nothing new, but heat waves are made more intense in a world hotter because of burning fossil fuels.
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Feed · 10/06/2026
Refik Anadol’s Dataland is a whirling, glaring, hyper-stimulating audio-visual-olfactory voyage that has more in common with Disneyland.
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Feed · 29/05/2026
The right wing press has launched an attack on the head of the Southbank Centre over something he didn’t even say. The press might be used to picking on people – but this time they’ve met their match
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Feed · 03/05/2026
Unintended consequence of US president’s actions will be boon for China, the leading renewables manufacturer
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Feed · 11/01/2026
Switzerland is governed under a federal system at three levels: the Confederation, the cantons and the communes. Thanks to direct democracy, citizens can have their say directly on decisions at all political levels. Participation and freedom of action are crucial for a country as geographically, culturally and linguistically varied as Switzerland. Bern is the de facto capital city of Switzerland, though officially it is referred to only as the ‹federal city›.
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Feed · 17/11/2025
New forms of diplomacy are emerging to respond to a world where the rules-based system of the last 80 years, enshrined in the UN charter, is crumbling, says the director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.
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Feed · 08/05/2025
A global group of broadcasters and publishers is calling on artificial intelligence developers to make sure their technology serves the public by helping to counter misinformation and protect the value of fact-based news.
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Feed · 05/03/2025
He is surrounded by people who have plans and dreams beyond our planet. Vengeful nihilism is a big part of the Maga project, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Feed · 08/02/2025
Nam June Paik, Nam June Paik, and Nam June Paik highlights the fact that all artistic formats are connected to one another and that the art museum is a good place to enjoy the experimental genius and craziness of Paik’s creations.
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Feed · 26/01/2025
Christiane Amanpour has spent four decades as a celebrated journalist and war reporter. With disinformation rampaging through the media, she talks to Tim Adams about the threat of technocracy, Donald Trump’s second term – and why facts are more important than ever
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Feed · 08/01/2025
The Meta boss’s decision to end Facebook and Instagram’s factchecking program has set the stage for a fact-free four years online
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Feed · 14/10/2024
The sudden collapse of carbon sinks was not factored into climate models – and could rapidly accelerate global heating
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Feed · 04/04/2024
The full story about Biden and Xi Hold First Conversation in Months. Know the facts. Reveal the bias. Verity.
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Feed · 01/04/2024
The full story about ICJ Orders Israel to Address Famine in Gaza. Know the facts. Reveal the bias. Verity.
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Feed · 11/02/2024
After 20 years of frantic city-building, rustic China is in a death spiral. Now architects are helping to reverse the exodus – with inspirational tofu factories, rice wine distilleries and lotus tea plants
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Feed · 14/05/2023
Slow Factory Institute is a climate innovation hub that addresses the intersecting crises of environmental justice and social inequity.
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Feed · 14/12/2022
https://vimeo.com/747494135 Because solar panels are yesterday’s news... The beauty of wind is that it isn’t really tied to the time of day the way the sun is. You could easily generate wind energy at night as you could in the daytime. The only barrier so far has been the fact that setting up your own
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Feed · 28/03/2021
When steel manufacture in Pakistan is buoyed by Chinese infrastructure investments, how to account for the..
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