CAMPAIGNING and camping seem to be one and the same thing this summer, with a string of outdoors protest events happening across the South of England. Crucial issues such as climate change, border controls, war profiteering and destruction of woodland all be tackled with the help of tents, sleeping bags and a strong spirit of adventure.
Last year's climate camp.
The Camp for Climate Action is being staged from 14th - 21st August. Last summer, over 600 people converged outside Drax coal-fired power station for ten days of sustainable living and collective education, culminating in a day of mass action against Drax. This year, the Camp for Climate Action will pitch its tents near Heathrow airport.
The organisers say there will be a day of mass direct action aiming to disrupt the activities of the airport and the aviation industry, but in the interests of public safety there will be no attempt to blockade runways.
Said a spokesman: "Although the location is different, the philosophy of the camp remains the same: to be a place for the burgeoning network of people taking radical action on climate change around the country to come together for a week of low-impact living, education, debate, networking, strategising, celebration, and direct action.
"The camp will feature over 100 workshops covering topics such as climate change impacts, carbon offsetting, biofuels, peak oil, permaculture, practical renewables, campaign strategy, skills for direct action, and much more. Run without leaders by everyone who comes along, it will be a working ecological village using renewable energy, composting waste and sourcing food locally."
More info from www.climatecamp.org.uk
The Smash EDO Summer Action Camp in Brighton from 27th-30th August promises "Direct action against the war machine".
The South Coast campaigners have been battling for years to close down EDO MBM, a wholly owned subsidiary of EDO Corp, a US-based arms multinational that is currently number 10 on the Forbes 100 list of fastest growing companies.
EDO's military products include bomb racks, release clips and arming mechanisms for warplanes. They have contracts with the UK Ministry of 'Defence' and US arms giant Raytheon relating to the release mechanisms of the Paveway bomb system..
Said the group: "The Protest Camp will be a chance to work together to close down the arms factory in Brighton. We will have workshops on effective campaigning, actions against EDO MBM and lots of fun together. Come and join us!".
More info from www.smashedo.org.uk or 07875 708873.
The Gatwick No Border Camp 2007 will be held from 19th to 24th September near Gatwick Airport. The first No Border Camp in the UK will be a chance to work together to try and stop the building of a new detention centre, and to gather ideas for how to build up the fight against the system of migration controls.
Said No Borders; "Gatwick is a border in the middle of Britain. People arrive here everyday. People are forcibly deported from here everyday. It is a place where people are imprisoned for unlimited lengths of time without trial, where people are forced to hide underground and be invisible, where people are treated as criminals for the 'crime' of crossing the border.
"In Britain, the government has recently announced its intention to build a new detention centre, near Tinsley House, another detention centre at Gatwick airport. This will be another in a long line of barbarous prisons across the world, imprisoning people who migrate. Unless we stop it from being built.
"Not far from Gatwick there are other border fortifications: the immigration reporting centre at Croydon, the airline companies who charter deportation flights and the ID Interview centre in Crawley. And a few miles away are the border posts at Dover and Folkstone, where fear of detection by the border police forces people to risk their lives hiding under lorries, or in suffocating containers.
"While the physical borders get fortified, governments also tighten up the internal controls: from international databases to video surveillance, biometric ID cards to electronic tagging. Just recently, the UK government has announced the introduction of the Sirene System. This will grant Britain access to the SIS (Schengen Information System), a EU wide police database for refugees and migrants, planned to be extended to keep protesters from moving around."
For more info go to www.noborder.org or email g-anbc2007@riseup.net
Last but not least, the eco-protest camp in Titnore Woods, near Worthing, West Sussex, is now into its second year and going strong. With an 875-home development, new Tesco megastore and access roads planned, the campaigners are desperate to protect precious ancient woodland, fields and hedgerows againt the money-men and their bulldozers.
Said a spokesman: "It looks as if 200 trees have already been saved and the developers have been forced to look again at the detail of their plans, but the threat is very much still looming and extra volunteers to populate and fortify the camp are needed - as soon as possible! "This is a great way to combine an idyllic summer in the Sussex woods with frontline political action against the capitalist system."
More info from Protect Our Woodland and The Porkbolter or phone the camp on 07913 534083.