On the left of the field are the systemic drivers closing civic space for rights-based and progressive movements: the growing social and political power of anti-rights actors; the expansion and abuse of security power, tools, and discourse; and the concentration and abuse of economic power.

On the right are brief descriptors setting out a vision for a world where these drivers have been broken down and transformed into enablers: a world characterised by participatory and inclusive democracy; where policy and technological developments are shaped by rights-respecting and equitable definitions of security; and where alternative democratic economic models flourish.

Each category across the field – protect and defend, disrupt, open, transform – highlights the different strategies needed to convert the drivers that close civic space into structures that will enable people and communities to secure political, social and economic transformation and protect human rights and the planet.