BCN climate change talks 2009

Barcelona Pre COP15 Climate Change Talks – Main entrance shut down by activists while Africa boyotts talks

Ecological crisis – Can we really rely on them to solve the worlds problems?

(Original article written on Indymedia Ireland – re-edited into article on Indymedia Climate)

This week (monday 2 – friday 6) the Barcelona International Climate Change Talks are happening, five days of formal negotiations, in the lead up to COP 15. Since Saturday there have been a series of actions in the cities streets as well as at the conference centre to raise awereness, to unite eco movements and to try to force change during this window of opportunity in the conference centre at the far side of Montjuic. But will it be enough to get us out of our AGE OF STUPID? Perhaps not, news has just come through today that African countries have abandoned the talks.

Talks Timeline

Saturday – Manifestation in Barcelona streets; “The climate is not for sale” (vid | report)
Sunday – Outdoor film screening in city streets – 11th hour – Age of Stupid – Eco hopes (poster)
Monday – TckTckTck wake up call for climate talks – Greenpeace banner drop – Anarchist night greeting
Tuesday – Africa boycott U.N. climate talks – Evening Water Lobby group targeted
Wednesday – Main entrance shut down by activists

Bold, Beautiful, Blooming Barcelona asks: What would it mean to win?

The Gracia community garden radio documentary trilogy and accompanying article

1 – Entering, Breaking ground, dreams of a greener barrio.
2 – Murals and kids
3 – Lauras garden tour

VIDEO : Hort de Gràcia Web: http://horteres.org/

The Gracia community garden radio documentary trilogy and accompanying article Springtime in Europe and the Earths life’s cycle is in bloom again. The 3 parts of the radio documentary capture magical moments in the recent history of one of the most exciting projects in Barcelona at present, our community garden in Gracia. This article was written after a lovely Valentines weekend of much open, shared and participative activity; the highlight of which was our collective mural day in the garden. It is hoped that some of the life, current ideas, projects, tools, spaces, bargains, oddities, dreams, passions and goings on of the city and her peoples are communicated here-in.

Friday… Thinking about winning

Saturday… Painting pictures and feeling like we are winning

Sunday… Sharing passions, playing and doing, Remembering the South.

Patcha Mama smiles again in Gracia

The Gracia Community Garden Radio Documentary (28 mins)

Els espais buits no fan Gràcia : The empty spaces are not funny

So read the new banner that now hangs on the end wall of the new Hort Comunitari, or community garden in Catalan, that was opened in Gracia on Saturday morning. From just being another quite and dry street, theres now a hive of activity in Caller Banyoles; people, laughter, color, sounds, music, dancing, kids playing. Being there one knows that Patcha Mama smiles again in Gracia.

Well over a hundred people entered a site that had been left derelict for the last 5 years. The concrete ground was smashed apart and the soil underneath was broken open with pics, forks, spades and hoes. People arrived in with recycled large construction bags with soil inside, once inside these bags had young plants put into them and were watered.  that was lovely and brown and full of nutrientsdue to having horse manure mixed into it. Other soil was added to the freshly broken red earth and new plants were inserted here too. a large heap of soil at the end wall gave endless hours of healthy mucky enjoyment to kids who dug tunnells and rolled around, laughing and shrieking with delight as they did so.

N30: The day the political landscape changed forever

“The day the political landscape changed forever“, was how Fritjof Capra referred to events of N30, Tuesday 30th of November 1999, in his book The Hidden Connections. He was referring to the day when 1000´s of global justice activists came together and succeeded in shutting down the first WTO talks in the US using (mostly) non violent direct actions (NVDA) in the north western US city of Seattle. This was the event which brought the “globalisation” debate to the mainstream. It has been misleadingly described as anti-globalisation, what it should be accurately described as is anti corporate globalisation.

Watch full film from the streets about the action on the streets: This Is What Democracy Looks Like