At the World Social Forum 2002 in Porto Alegre, it was
decided that there would be regional Social Forums later
this year, and that the European Social Forum (ESF) would
take place in Italy, at the end of October or the beginning
of November. An Italian working group did a great deal of
preliminary work to determine possible locations for the
ESF, to consult with networks of social movements in Italy,
and to propose a basic framework for the ESF. Meanwhile,
representatives from many different European social
movements were invited to a meeting in Brussels, to discuss
that proposal and to begin planning the rest of the work.

A summary of this meeting can be found here:

 http://www.beroul.uklinux.net/esf/brussels-09-03-2002.html

One the main priorities now is to extend the ESF network to
include as many European social movements as possible.
Please circulate this message to all such movements
that you are in contact with.

More information on how to get involved should be available
very soon, as ESF mailing lists are created. In the
meantime, I've created a temporary mailing list,
esf-uk-info, where I'll post any information I receive:

 http://lists.southspace.net/admin/esf-uk-info

Benjamin Geer
ATTAC London