Third newsletter: 2e European conference of the People's Global Action network (PGA) This newsletter contains the recent conference related news and should be seen as a supplement to the previous two newsletters. Have a look at the conference website for a complete overview. http://squat.net/eurodusnie/pga/nieuwsindex.htm Registration We asked people to apply so soon as possible. More than 200 people from all over Europe have done so. The PGA/Eurodusnie workgroup is counting on between 300 and 500 participants. We urge you to register if you intend to take part in the conference. Financial solidarity with Eastern European groups A number of groups from Eastern Europe have indicated that their participation depends on financial support. We call on those who are comparatively richer to inform us, if they are able to support the poorer groups with a donation. Help wanted! It is obvious from the registration forms that we need not worry about helping hands during the conference. Nevertheless, we are still looking for help in very specific areas. We need experienced facilitators and people to take minutes. They must have a good grasp of English and be available for a number of hours on each of the conference days. It would be even better if they could also provide a laptop, because we are aiming to put the (anonymised) reports from the workgroups on the PGA website the same day.Furthermore, we are also looking for someone to page set the conference newspaper (Pagemaker/Quark).Please notify us as soon as possible, if you fit the above description. infopgaconferentie@eurodusnie.nl During the conference, there will also be a crèche, where parents take it in turns to look after each others children. It would be even better if other people could help them out too. Please contact: zoe212000@yahoo.com The day of arrival Arrival in Leiden The day of arrival is Friday August 30. Participants should report to the conference infopoint at the Freeplace Koppenhinksteeg, which will be open from noon. After registering, each participant will receive the first conference newspaper and additional logistic information. After that, people can walk to the conference campsite, which will take about 15 minutes. In principle, the conference is free, but are considering charging an admnission fee, if there is an inadequate responce to our call for solidarity funds. Places to sleep The Leiden town council has honoured the PGA/Eurodusnie workgroup’s request to turn a sports field into a campsite. This campsite is about 10 15 minutes from the town centre by foot, has toilets and showers and will be free. People must provide their own tent and sleeping bags. There are a very limited number of indoor sleeping places with individuals, for people who must sleep in beds for medical reasons and who have told us this before hand. Food From Friday afternoon until Thursday, there will be three daily meals at the Freeplace Koppenhinksteeg cooked by the Rampenplan food collective. The meals will be organic and vegan. There will be a price system whereby conference guests from richer countries pay a bit more than those from the poorer countries. Opening day of the conference The conference will open on August 31, will a manifestation and an opening ceremony outside of Freeplace Koppenhinksteeg, in the centre of Leiden. It is the explicit wish of the PGA/Eurodusnie workgroup that this conference is conducted in a positive way and that our collective and also our neighbours in Leiden can look back with joy at hosting the Second European PGA conference.After that opening manifestation, we will walk in a colourful procession from the centre of town to the train station. On the way, we will invite the local people to join our 'outreach’ program, which will be running in different parts of town in the evenings. Shortly after midday, we invite you to take a train to Amsterdam. We have not organised free transport. In Amsterdam, people can participate in the UN-masquarade parade, a parade against the growing influence of multinationals in the political decision making process (especially the UN). The parade has been organised by a platform of groups, who support the PGA hallmarks. The parade will end on the dam, where a broad platform of social organisations will be holding a protest, in view of the Earth summit in Johannesburg. At about 17:00 we will take a train back to Leiden, where there will be food and a big party. The second, third and fourth conference days Daytime:During the day, the workgroups about the various themes will take place, in a number of locations in the town. An overview of all the workgroups will be published in the first conference newspaper. Each morning and afternoon, there will be two 90 minute sessions, reaching a total of 6 hours a day. The length of the workgroups might vary: a simple presentation could for example take 90 minutes, whilst a more elaborate talk, followed by a discussion could take up for example 3 hours (two sessions, in other words). Other initiatives, such as the European Social Consulta and the PGA-process will in all likelihood be spread out over a number of days. Breakfast is from 8:00 until 9:30. The first session starts at 9:45. Lunch will be from 13:00 until 13:30, and the third session will start at 14:30. dinner is from 17:45 until 19:15. Initiatives for workgroups As the conference approaches, more and more workgroups for organising initiatives are coming into existence. These initiatives include talks, theoretical and practical workshops, panel discussions and presentations. This is good, as it is the idea that the content of the conference be decided by the participants. On August 1, the PGA/Eurodusnie Workgroup was aware of the following initiatives: 1. Migration and Racism o No initiatives yet (!!) 2. Militarisation and repression o Presentation: Repression in the EU o FTAA and latin American solidarity o Presentation: anti-NATO actions at the Prague summit o Activism in Eastern Europe (various initiatives) o Palestine-Israel conflict (various initiatives) o Presentation: the Global Archive Project o Presentation: War in Congo o Workshop: Computer security and privacy 3. Autonomy and Self organisation o Presentation and international gathering of give Away Shops o Social centra/Free places o Presentation and launch of European Newsreal 4. Economy o Commercialisation of education o Forum: Alternative economics the route to freedom?o Presentation: Actions against the World Economic Forum in Salzburg o Influence of multinationals on the political decision making process 5. Ecology and conservation o Presentation: Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty o Presentation: ‘Ripple Project’- sustainable woodland and forest farms o Workshop about GMO and the abolition of the European wide moratorium o Workshop about Rio+10 and the corporate lobby o Presentation and discussion: Carbon trading o Presentation and discussion: the commercialisation of water o ‘Sustainability and the disappearing computer’- talk about computers and design o Presentation: Recycled Estate (Croatian ecological project) o Workshop: biopiracy 6. Strategy, tactics and analysis o Workgroup: Social Consulta o Discussion: Alternatives to parliamentary democracy o Presentation: Women’s Health Movement o Presentation: Women’s reproductive rights o Workgroup: Autonomous spaces inside the European Social Forum 7. PGA Process o Workgroup stretching over various days on the improvement of the PGA networkstructure If you are planning to provide a part of the conference content by organising a discussion or a workgroup which is not in the list above, please contact us STRAIGHT AWAY since we would like to make sure that your initiative gets publicised and there will be building space for it to happen. Evening program Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evening will be dedicated to relaxation and outreach. Once again, there will be various activities at different locations. There will be a cafe with an open stage in the Freeplace Koppenhinksteeg, there will be films and documentaries and an accessible program around the themes: ‘Women and globalisation’, ‘Culture jamming’ and ‘Alternative economics: the route to freedom?’.If you would like to contribute to the cultural side of the conference program, please contact us! The last day of the conference We will close the conference with a plenary meeting on Wednesday 4 September, located next to the conference camp site. The content and structure of this plenary meeting is still under discussion. In the evening, the conference will be concluded with a party in cultural centre the LVC. Police and local authorities In the run up to the PGA conference, the PGA/Eurodusnie workgroup has had various interactions with the local authorities and police. We have made it clear that this is not an action camp, but a conference. To date, the local authorities have been and police is trying to be cooperative.We assume that the difference between an action camp and a conference is self-evident to the participants of the PGA conference. Nevertheless, we would like to stress that we will not appreciate autonomous actions, that could jeopardise the conference. Apart from the fact that such actions, like reactions to police provocations, could endanger the conference, they could create great long term difficulties for the Eurodusnie collective, which at the moment can count on a great deal of local support. Gender We have asked those preparing the conference program to take on board the aspect gender, as agreed at the first European PGA conference. In addition to this is planned a gender-related program. On Sunday night there will be a public debate on the topic of "women, globalisation and the globalised resistance". People who like to get involved can contact: lilaroja@gmx.net PGA Radio message from the radiocrew:The Leiden based radio collective Koekoeroe Radio will be working together with ASCII, the internet workplace from Amsterdam, to host the independent radio coverage of the PGA conference. We would like to invite people from other radio stations in the country to join us in live coverage and retrospectives on the PGA conference. If you are interested, please send an email to: pgaradio@squat.net Koekoeroe would also like to invite you to send audio documents on CD and tape about your radio station, (PGA related) actions in your country, interviews (also those criticising PGA, from a Left wing point of view) and music related to the struggle. You can also send us an email, where we can find audio documents on the net. Koekoeroe, postbus 2228, 2301 CE, Leiden, NL. http://squat.net/koekoeroe/pgaradio mainstream media The European PGA conference will attract it's share of media attention. Whether people like it or not, journalists will come and we, as conference preparation group, think it best to approach the mainstream media in a constructive way. We have put out press-releases about the upcoming conference and will invite them to join the outreach-program (which takes place every night). The day program will be closed for journalists. There will be a press team formed during the conference in which also you are invited to join. More info on this will be available at the conference infopoint in Freeplace Koppenhinksteeg. Overview of participating groups Dozens of groups, collectives and organisations (applicants) have supplied us with a brief introduction of their activities and contact details. We want to offer an overview of all conference participants in the first conference newsletter (without names of individuals). If you object to your details being published, please email infopgaconferentie@eurodusnie.nl before August 10, stating ‘KRANT’ as the subject. If you would like different information than that of the registration form to be published, you must also notify us before this date.More informationPGA/Eurodusnie workgroupPostbus 2228, 2301 CE, LeidenPhone: 0031 71 5173019 www.pgaconference.org www.agp.org An additional possibility is to ask on the PGACONFERENCE chat channel, which is hosted on irc.indymedia.org For more information about how to use this, please see: http://squat.net/eurodusnie/pga/chatinfopagina.htm The hallmarks of the PGA network are; 1. A clear rejection of capitalism, imperialism, feudalism, all free trade treaties, institutions and governments which promote destructive globalisation. 2. We condemn all forms of oppression and discrimination, including patriarchy, racism and all religious fundamentalism. 3. A confrontational attitude, because we do not believe that much can be changed by lobbying with undemocratic institutions where transnational capital is the true policy maker. 4. A call for direct action and civil disobedience, support for social movements, encouraging action forms which show the maximum respect for the life of oppressed people and the creation of local alternatives to capitalist globalisation. 5. An organisational philosophy based on decentralisation and autonomy.