Back by popular demand, here is a round up of activists events, gatherings, camps and meetings happening around Europe this summer.
Have an event planned this summer or autumn that should be included? Email eyfa AT eyfa DOT org and we’ll add it to the website.
1.Climate Camp Italy
2.Queeristan
3.Istanbul LGBT Pride Week
4.Makvärket Building Festival
5.Space Camp
6.Climate Camp Belgium
7.Animal Rights Gathering
8.Anarchist Summer Camp
9.War Starts Here
10.Ecotopia Bike Tour
11.Eco-Camp Khimki-2011
12.LUNI Summer Camp
13.DIY Bike Fest
14.European Hitchhiking Gathering
15.Climate Camp Germany
16.Earth First Summer Gathering
17.Nyeleni Europe Forum on Food Sovereignty
18.Olkiluoto NPP Blockade
19.No Borders Camp Bulgaria
20.International Anti-Nuclear Gathering
21.Outdoor Skillshare
22.Stop the Arms Fair
23.Reclaim the Fields Camp
1. Climate Camp Italy
June 17-19 // Milan, Italy
The first Italian Climate Camp takes place this weekend in Milan. Each day has a different theme, such as ‘Soil as a Common Good’ on Saturday, and a critical mass on Sunday’s ‘Hands on the City.’
The camp is part of a campaign to stop Milan’s bid to host the 2015 Universal Expo. The camp itself is set up in a newly built district, which is part of the gentrification push taking place to try and secure the Expo.
It might be too late to get in on the action, but you can keep up what has been happening by visiting the websites:
https://www.inventati.org/climatecamp/
https://www.noexpo.it
2. Queeristan
June 17-19 // Amsterdam, The Netherlands
If you happen to be nearby Amsterdam this weekend, head out to Schijnheilig to take part in a queer weekend of activism and resistance at Queeristan.
Three days of workshops and direct action, which will explore issues of solidarity, privilege, power and sex. From transphobia to sex work, from solidarity to clowning, conversations and workshops will be diverse and work towards “reclaiming our bodies and minds.”
And parties. Don’t forget the queertastic parties!
https://queeristan2011.wordpress.com
3. Istanbul LGBT Pride Week
June 20-26 // Istanbul, Turkey
The theme of this year’s Istanbul LGBT Pride Week is “taboo.” Events include panel discussions, workshops, film screenings, parties, a picnic, performances, students’ gathering, dance workshops, a costume workshop, and more.
Click for the full programme in english
4. Makvärket Building Festival
July 1-31 // Knabstrup, Denmark
Makvärket is a huge, old tile and brick factory that is now being turned into a culture and environment collective, creating autonomous spaces for cooking, workshops, circus and loads of practical experiments with sustainability and horizontal democracy.
In July there will be loads of workshops and events; from building compost toilets for festival use, to mobile solar showers, from metal work to dancing, socialising and exchanging dreams and ideas for our common future.
Makvärket is situated in Knabstrup, 80 km from Copenhagen and can be reached by train from Copenhagen main station in an hour.
Summer Construction Festival 2011
5. Space Camp
July 2-7 // Northern Moldova
Space Camp is a self-organised camp about the organisation of free spaces, for all people interested in alternative forms of culture and living together.
The camp will take place in a park with several abandoned buildings, a lake and natural, isolated surroundings. The aim is to make the area usable in the longer-term, and also to share ideas and experiences via workshops, discussions and communal living.
The organisers are asking for participants to contact them by June 25th to help with planning and preparations.
https://spacecamp2011.wordpress.com
6. Climate Camp Belgium
July 6-11 // Antwerp, Belgium
This year’s Belgian Climate Camp will focus on emissions trading and the impact of new road infrastructure around Antwerp. Everyone is invited to come along for a week full of interesting workshops, meetings, ecological living and direct action.
https://climate-justice-action.be/
7. Animal Rights Gathering
July 15-17 // Dutch countryside, near Amsterdam
The International Animal Rights Gathering is an annual event which brings together activists from all over the world for a weekend of workshops, talks, discussions, films, information stalls, entertainment and networking. The aim of the Gathering is to promote and improve co-operation and co-ordination between activists from many different countries, with the aim of building a strong coherent global movement to fight animal exploitation and spread compassion.
8. Anarchist Summer Camp
July 18-25 // Austria
The Anarchist Summer Camp in Austria will bring together people from different places, regions and with different experiences and backgrounds in order to test a liberated life. Everyone is invited who can identify with emancipation and domination-critical ideas. You do not know with any theories or already be active in a collective.
What happens at the camp will depend on what you make of it and what will emerge spontaneously on site. There is not a finished program, rather it is about to engaging, stimulating discussions and workshops. The end of the camp is a reflection of those present, so everyone is responsible for the everyday things that can arise to the camp and to keep it going.
There is no fixed organisation team this year, but some individuals have organised enough money to pay the fee on a camp site and collected ideas about how the camp might look like. Since there is no fixed organisation team, “the whole cycle of the camp reflects the means of all people attending the camp.”
A list of things which are needed can be found on:
https://de.anarchopedia.org/A-Camp_2011/AST
Further information about the camp can be found at:
https://a-camps.net/AST
9. War Starts Here
July 22-29 // Luleå, Sweden
The 22-29th of July, Luleå in northern Sweden: War Starts Here! Join the international action camp against the NEAT military exercise area, the biggest military training ground in Europe. There will be a huge mass action on the 26th of July, and seminars with translations every day at the camp. Join to protest against all violent expressions of militarism.
For more info, see https://warstartshere.com/en/actioncamp
10. Ecotopia Biketour
July 26-August 31 // Florence-Pisa-Tyrrhenian Coast-Rome-Campolattaro-Benevento-Napoli-Pippio, Italy
The theme of this year’s biketour is sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty. The tour will start in Florence and finish in Pippio, visiting ecofarms, nature reserves, communes and community projects along the way.
The full route is approximately 1200km long, but you can also join for just part. Participants should be interested in environmental and social justice issues an want to take part in actions as well as learning about sustainability. You should also be interested in taking an active part in the group, including helping with daily tasks and participating in consensus decision-making. You should also be able to cycle about 50km per day!
To find out more visit the website:
https://www.ecotopiabiketour.net
11. Eco-camp Khimki-2011
Beginning July 27-August 6 // Moscow region, Russia
Activists of civil, environmental, human rights and other organizations are welcome to take part in this camp, against the destruction of Moscow’s forests. The camp will include protest actions, workshops and trainings.
The Khimki forest has already become the symbol of the struggle of Russian society against the corrupted state. Now the Solnechnogorsk and Klin forests in the region of Moscow are under the threat of destruction, as the authorities plan to build the toll-highway ‘Moscow-St.Petersburg’ there as well. And even that’s not enough for them – there is one more toll-road with wide infrastructure planned closer to Moscow city – Central Ring High Way (TSKAD).
This Eco-camp in defense of Moscow forests is organized by the Moscow group of “Autonomous Action,” members of radical-ecological movement “Rainbow Keepers” and other environmentalists, anarchists and antifascists.
The camp will be open on July 27. The place will be announced just before the opening, considering the monitoring of the forest-cuts and work-plans of construction of the toll-roads in the region. The camp is planned to be working until August 6th. You can contact the organizing committee of the camp and send your application via lesapodmoskovia@gmail.com
More information is available in Russian at:
https://avtonom.org/en/node/15894
12. LUNI Summer Camp
July 29 – 31 // near Vilnius, Lithuania
The non-formal communal initiative LUNI (Free University), aimed at creating alternative to established model of education, is organising a summer camp. It will be two days of theoretical and practical activities, open discussions, movie screenings, etc. The camp will take place in a picturesque area 65 km from Vilnius, near the lake and organic garden: https://www.nemunoantika.lt/freewind/
The camp will be DIY and the program will be set up according to suggestions of participants: give a talk, workshop, hold a discussion on any topic yourself or suggest someone who can do this. Send suggestions to luni.stovykla [at] gmail.com or just write in “Facebook” page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=166756420054127
More about LUNI:
https://luni.lt.garnys.serveriai.lt/luni-free-university.html
Website for the camp in Lithuanian:
https://luni.lt.garnys.serveriai.lt/luni-vilnius/18-vilniaus-luni-paskaitos/408-luni-vasaros-stovykla-2011.html
13. DIY Bike Fest
August 5-7 // Scheveningen, The Netherlands
DIY Bikefest is a DIY organised festival for bicycle freaks, punx and pirates. It will take place at the Piratenbar squat next to the sea in the harbor of Scheveningen. There will be lots of working, welding and building bikes, workshops, bike-attack bikewars, bakfietsraces, infostands, bands and DJs, vegan food and more more more.
https://diybikefest.puscii.nl/about/
14. European Hitchhiking Gathering
August 5-9 / Kara Dere, Bulgaria
Calling all hitchhikers, crazy adventurers, hardcore travellers and first-timers to gather in Kara Dere, Bulgaria on the 5th of August 2011 to meet fellow hitchhikers, exchange stories and experiences, have fun and be part of a growing community.
15. Climate Camp Germany
August 7-14 // Jänschwalde/Brandenburg, Germany
The climate camp will be a space for networking, knowledge exchange and debate on the one hand, but also a space to show practical resistance and to implement direct action. The camp will represent a field of experimentation for a different kind of life: resource efficient, grassroots and self-organised.
This year’s German camp will take place in Brandenburg, where an important decision will be made this year in regards to the false solution of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology. “Clean coal” is being used as an excuse by those in power to continue using brown coal in energy production and avoid energy decentralisation.
16. Earth First Summer Gathering
August 10-15 // East Anglia, England
A week of workshops, training and planning for a life of ecological defence.
There’ll be a huge number of workshops focused on sharing skills and ideas, planning campaigns and networking for all aspects of ecological and social resistance. These will include community organising, planning actions, halting building and mining projects, legal info, workplace struggles, climbing, squatting, blockading, wild food, avoiding burn-out, breaking security cordons, self-defense…
https://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/2010/front.html
17. Nyeleni Europe Forum on Food Sovereignty
August 16-21 // Krems Austria
From August 16-21 a mass meeting of groups, unions, associations and collectives of farmers, students, activists, ecologists, agricultural workers and landless youth and all others who are working for food sovereignty in Europe and in the world is being planned.
The meeting aims to act as a catalyst for grassroots organisers to build new ways of organising our food systems, away from corporate control and the WTO framework, and towards food sovereignty and meeting people’s needs. It will provide space to define the struggles and strategies necessary to create a movement for Food Sovereignty which can challenge today’s dominant forces of production and consumption.
For more information and to register for the forum:
https://nyeleni2011.net/https://www.eurovia.org/spip.php?article359&lang=en
18. Olkiluoto NPP Blockade
August 20 // Olkiluoto, Finland
After the first successful, publicly announced blockade of an atomic plant in Finland last year, a second big, international blockade action has just been announced. You are invited to join the action yourself or with your group, to contribute your support for the preparation and to spread the word.
Finland is “the” symbolic country for the so-called “nuclear renaissance.” The blockade aims to show the world that there is no future in nuclear power at all, and that the international community of anti-nuclear activists is supporting each other, since the radioactive threat doesn’t stop at national borders.
https://www.olkiluotoblockade.info
19. No Borders Camp Bulgaria
August 25-29 // the border between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey
Following the EU eastward expansion, countries like Bulgaria and Romania are progressively cracking down on those that try to cross their borders and rampantly working against freedom of movement. The Bulgarian government’s current target date for joining the Schengen agreement is
2012. The border control between Bulgaria and Turkey is cited as the biggest problem Bulgaria is faced with in order for the country to join Schengen. Following the participation of Bulgarian border police in FRONTEX operations along the Greek-Turkish border, there is talk of extending the agency’s operations to the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. These developments, together with the deterioration of the migrants’ situation in neighboring Greece, are the two immediate reasons for organizing a No Border camp at the border between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey in the coming summer.
The organising group in Bulgaria is still looking for help in setting up, especially with fundraising, medics and lawyers. Find out more and get in touch if you can help:
https://noborderbulgaria.wordpress.com/2011/
20. International Anti-Nuclear Gathering
first week of August // České Budějovice, Czech Republic
The next Anti-Nuclear Gathering will take place in the first week of August. The last networking gathering was organised by the Nuclear Heritage Nework in Helsinki in March 2011, while smaller gatherings took place in summer 2010 in ten cities as part of the Baltic Sea Info Tour.
This time there will be a small camp in the garden on an anti-nuclear activist. Don’t forget to bring camping gear, leaflets, photos, films and other materials documenting anti-nuclear activities.
As capacity is limited, please announce yourself on contact [at] nuclear-heritage.net as soon as possible.
Additional information available soon:
21. Outdoor Skill Share
August 26-29 // South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Coal Action Scotland warmly invites you to join us in beautiful rural South Lanarkshire for a weekend of skillsharing and workshops about outdoor life and resistance techniques. From mass catering to foraging wild foods, from land defence to self defence, from climbing trees to digging tunnels and everything between; come and learn new skills, meet new people and share your experiences with others.
This skillshare will be a safe, inclusive and participatory environment for learning new, interesting and transferable skills and is open to people of all abilities and experiences. Whatever your particular campaign, whatever interests or excites you, the skillshare will be a creative melting pot of ideas and techniques to sustain life and resist oppression (however it manifests itself).
Check the website or join the mailing list on:
https://outdoorskillshare.noflag.org.uk/
22. Stop The Arms Fair
September 13 // London, England
This September, the world’s biggest arms fair – DSEi – will be back at the ExCeL conference centre in London Docklands. Over 1200 arms companies will be hawking their deadly wares to 25000 buyers from around the world, including military delegations from repressive, human-rights abusing regimes. This year, for the first time, the UK government will be inviting paramilitaries and border security forces.
Make no mistake; this is the big one – the nexus of capitalism, war and repression. Will we let this obscene event pass off unopposed? NO WE WON’T! The ‘Stop the Arms Fair Coalition’ are calling on everyone to take part in the Day of Action against DSEi on Tuesday September 13th.
https://www.dsei.orghttps://www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk
23. Reclaim The Fields Camp 2011
September 21-30 // Rosia Montana, Romania
The third Reclaim the Fields Camp will take place in Rosia Montana, where people have been defending their land for ten years against criminal corporate land grabbing, robbery and exploitation. The village in the Apuseni Mountains in Romania is under threat of being destroyed by a gold mining project.
The camp aims to share experiences, exchange skills and knowledge, reinforce local movements and to find links between each other and other anti-capitalist and anti-colonialist movements. A General Assembly of Reclaim the Fields will be held, and there will be many opportunities to learn about access to land and food sovereignty.
The program is participative and the kitchen and camp logistics are being organised collectively. Get in touch if you would like to help in the organisation process, and expect to contribute to the running of the camp whilst you’re there.
For more information and to register: