Over the past few years Climate Camps have been springing up around Europe and around the world. The camps bring together the aims of education, sustainable living and movement building. This summer EYFA got involved with the first Dutch-Belgian Climate Action Camp...

On the morning of August 1 2009 around one hundred people from Belgium and the Netherlands turned up at an empty field near Berendrecht Belgium, 2 kilometers from the Dutch border, and next to Antwerp's biggest coal transport hub. The empty field was quickly transformed with tents, compost toilets, a water system and kitchen all constructed before daybreak. By August 3rd, alternative energy installations, a kids space, a first aid tent, welcome tent, media bus, workshop tents and composting systems were also up and running. Welcome to the the first Dutch-Belgian Climate Camp!

During the week approximately 400 people attended the camp, including a large 'international' barrio/neighbourhood made up of people from all over Europe and further afield, and a colourful and active kids barrio. More than fifty workshops took place to share skills and ideas and learn from each other. The camp acted as an example of sustainable living, and all the camp infrastructure was kept running through collective effort and consensus decision-making. Most of all, the camp inspired people to take action towards the COP15 in Copenhagen this December, and beyond.

More than 50 workshops where held throughout the camp, allowing people to learn about and share information and skills on the politics, alternatives, solutions and dilemmas around climate change and the UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen. From practical 'DIY' workshops on making your own rocket stoves, to theoretical workshops on 'climate finance,' and panel discussions on 'movement building,' there was something for everyone. The program also emphasised trainings, on everything from learning facilitation skills to learning to wire up a personal wind-turbine or solar panel. And of course, the program wouldn't be complete without some evening entertainment and camp celebrations.

The Climate Camp was also an example of sustainable living. We showed that it is possible, and encouraged people to experiment with and work towards living comfortable, low-impact lives.

All the electricity used for lights, music, computers and projectors was produced by solar cells, windmills and pedal generators on site. Many of the building materials were scavenged or reused. Recycling and composting systems were put in place from the first days, and functioned well throughout the camp. We experimented with a greywater system, and the 10 compost toilets prevented the wastage of a huge amout of water, whilst supplying a nearby organic farmer with manure.

The camp kitchen supplied 400 people with vegan and organic food. A vegan diet requires one fifth of the energy needed to produce a meat-based diet, and less than half of the energy required for a vegetarian diet, whilst organic food is grown without oil-based pesticides and nitrogen fertilsers.

And in the end, the camp site was left cleaner than we found it, to the great suprise of the neighbourhood. This small, sustainable ecovillage was a great contrast to what was visible on the other side of the canal: the smoke stacks of petrochemical factories and a nuclear reactor. The camp was about reducing our energy consumption, rediscovering communities, rebuilding trust and localising our everyday lives – all key to sustainability.

The Climate Action Camp was self-organised and DIY – everyone was encouraged to help with the day-to-day running of the camp and to take part in decision-making. Indeed, the camp was organised around the idea that when we work together and distribute power amongst ourselves, we are able to achieve more than we can on our own.

One method for sharing responsibility and power used at the camp was consensus decision-making. From the first stages of planning through to taking down the camp, decisions were made in open meetings where everyone had the right to contribute and to be heard. By using consensus decision-making everyone's views are heard and the group tries to find a solution that addresses everyones concerns and desires. The result is greater understanding between different individuals and groups, and usually a better decision because everyone has thought carefully and considered the possible alternatives, and hoepfully everyone who takes part in the making of the decision feels that they had a stake in it and therefore a stake in implementing it.

During the camp decisions took place during camp plenaries and daily site meetings (ie implementing new rotas for looking after the toilets or changing the daily workshop schedule). The daily site meetings involved individuals from various working groups ('work' based groups open to anyone to join which took responsibility for various aspects of the camp's operation, for example mediation, water, kitchen and medics) and and individual from each barrio ('neighbourhoods' where campers slept, often based on affinities such as where people were from or a certain identity, ie the queer barrio). These individual representatives changed on a daily basis, with the site meeting acting as a 'spokes council' where each spoke or representative communicates the point of view of their barrio and feeds back communication or decisions to their group.

But of course self-organising is not just about meetings. Doing It Yourself means that if you see something needs doing, you don’t ask “who is responsible?,” but just get on with making it happen! And as the camp went on, this system worked remarkably well, with everyone getting stuck in and making things work.

Thanks to all the local youth and community centres that held fundraising events and donated money to help us make this amazing camp happen!