What We Believe

Our community is built around three core ideas:

1. Equality – We are all equal and worthy of respect
2. Diversity – We are all different and our differences are good
3. Community – We can combine our different gifts by working together as equal citizens

Citizenship is the goal and the spirit of our work together. Citizenship is not about having the right passport – we treat someone as a fellow citizen when we welcome them into our community in a spirit of equality. Everyone can be an equal citizen.

Our purpose

We believe that only if we can each take on the challenge of living as a citizen that we can face up to the four big challenges facing the world today: 

1. Sustainability - to live in harmony with the natural world and other species
2. Inclusion - to end prejudice, exclusion and isolation and to recognise the gifts we each bring
3. Justice - to end inequality, insecurity and economic and social injustice
4. Democracy - to create political systems where everyone can be involved in shaping a better world

Citizen Network works to connect and support global efforts to build communities that welcome, support and activate full and meaningful citizenship for everyone.

The keys to citizenship

There are seven keys to citizenship. These are essential to our capacity to live as a citizen, to be respected as an equal and to make a full contribution to the life of the community:

1. Meaning – We have a life of meaning and purpose
2. Freedom – We are free to lead life our way
3. Money – We have enough money for independence
4. Help – We need other people who can work with us
5. Home – We have a place of our own where we belong
6. Life – We contribute to our community
7. Love – We are in relationships that matter

You can hear more about these ideas by watching the following film: