Anyone for a workshop on Sustainable Activism?
The 'Climate Camp' has been presented in our popular press as a threat to our civilisation only marginally less dangerous than an Al Quaida training base, but as with most stories covered by our wonderful tabloids the reality is somewhat different. Besides the obvious desire to come together to oppose Heathrow's proposed third runway (as a symbol of the unfettered expansion of aviation) and to make their protest visible to BAA, the government and the wider public, Climate Camp has an arguably more important focus - to spread the word by transferring the skills required for a successful campaign to as many interested people as possible.
It's a one-stop workshop for producing clued-up climate activists: by the end of the week you'll know (if you didn't already) loads about your subject (thanks to the workshop on 'Aviation: the need to stop expansion'); be able to get attention for it ('Media, PR and Climate Change'); present your arguments fluently and coherently ('Publicising your own news' in the Indymedia tent); co-ordinate it ('Introduction to concensus decision-making and facilitation), and be aware of the legal situation in the all to likely scenario of being arrested under terrorism laws by an over-zealous police force ('Know your legal rights'). You have to wonder though - with so much training and workshopping going on, will there be any time or energy left over to protest?
But be serious for moment, I only had to take a quick wander round the Climate Camp to be impressed by what's on show. In the space of two or three days a working ecological village has been set up, powered by renewable energy in the form of wind turbines, with sophisticated composting and recycling schemes - a blueprint, in fact, for low-impact living. And nestling alongside the workshops on 'Impacts of climate change' and 'Peak oil' are short courses teaching practical skills like permaculture or the setting-up of a small-scale renewable energy project.
It's hard to see how anyone (big polluting corporations excepted) could spend any time here and feel threatened by either the camp or its inhabitants. They are simply trying to take essential information to a wider audience for the benefit of all, and mainstream culture will ignore them at its peril. If you're not doing anything this weekend, and would like to know more about positive contributions you could make to changing our current culture of complacency over climate change, I recommend you pay the camp a visit. Check their website for details of what's on and how to get there.
