Eco-citizenship, in the singular meaning that INTER/SUR propose, alludes to the concern about the res publica on a world wide scale. In other words, it refers to the democratic management of human beings' common space.

It is based upon the prefix eco ( a Greek word -oikos- meaning house, vital domain)  so as to allude to the total vital domain of human beings. Having in mind that citizenship is the status of a national citizen  -an individual with rights and duties who takes part in his/her democratic state’s governance-eco-citizenship  would be a common condition to every human being as a holder of a proportional part of global sovereignty and consequently, he/she is legitimated to take part -independently of his national attachment- in whichever public affairs in favour of human development through the satisfaction of today’s human needs without compromising those of future generations. While today’s citizenship is a legal source of  rights and duties for individuals, eco-citizenship is the citizenship of future.

An eco-citizen should be aware of  his belonging to the society of sustainable development and of global responsibility and therefore, he/she can take the decision to claim -in the exercise of his absolute autonomy of will- his total legitimacy for getting involved in the government of the res publica in a world wide scale.

Eco-citizenship is both an attitude and a civic compromise: a new brand dimension of the traditional citizenship, which projects itself  far beyond the state to constitute a legitimate aspiration of the human race.