TNI Joins the Blue Community Reaffirming Our Commitment to Water Justice

18 April 2025

3 minutes read

The Transnational Institute (TNI) welcomes the opportunity to officially join the Blue Community, deepening a long-standing alliance rooted in shared values and a common vision for a just, democratic, and sustainable world. At the heart of our work is a belief in democracy, justice, and care principles that apply directly to how water is governed and managed across the globe.

We share the Blue Community’s commitment to building alternative economies and societies that centre collective autonomy, community well-being, and ecological regeneration. For years, we have collaborated as strategic allies, and this step reflects our ongoing dedication to the global movement for water justice.

TNI has played a key role in advancing the human right to water. From co-founding the "Right2Water" campaign and securing its recognition by the United Nations, to helping push the European Union to enshrine it in law (2012–2013), we have worked to ensure water remains a public good. We’ve also championed remunicipalisation—supporting communities in reclaiming and democratising water and sanitation services worldwide.

In solidarity with grassroots movements across the globe—from CAPPA in Nigeria, KRUHA in Indonesia, EWM in Europe, to Red VIDA in Latin America—we continue to support the struggle for equitable access to water and sanitation. Our commitment is not only political but also practical: TNI has banned bottled water from our offices and events, offering tap water and increasingly sourcing local food as part of our broader sustainability practices.

As TNI’s Executive Director, Fiona Dove, affirms:

"Water is a life source that has spurred hundreds of millions of people into action. As the private sector has driven up prices and extraction, communities from Cochabamba to Lagos to Jakarta have been defending their right to water by reclaiming this public good. In the face of runaway climate change and entrenched corporate power, rural to urban working people are uniting to share water with their neighbors around which local democracies have revived. Our public water future is now."

We will continue to build on decades of work with rural and urban communities to collectively imagine and create ecologically and socially just futures—where safe and healthy tap water is a right for all.

Maude Barlow, co-founder of the Blue Community, shared:

“The Transnational Institute has been an important ally and its activists dear friends since the beginning of our international struggle. They have met the criteria to be a Blue Community all the time. I’m very happy that they are now officially becoming a Blue Community – and we can work even closer together to turn the world just, democratic and blue.”

Together, we look forward to continuing this journey toward a public water future, grounded in solidarity, justice, and care for people and planet alike.

Water Justice