Urgent: proposals for the ESF 2004 deadline 1st Aug

[tliouk]

Proposals for seminars or workshops can be registered online at
http://www.fse-esf.org/en/programme/form.php

A group/organisation can put in up to 5 proposals (directly, not 
through UK organising committee). Seminar proposals to the ESF are 
more likely approved where there is multi-organisation support. 
Deadline for submissions for seminars and workshops is 1st August.
(Seminars cost £200, workshops £40). Workshops are for more cross-
fertilising of campaigns, strategies, ideas ..etc.

The important thing is to get your proposal in now. It can be re-
adapted later on, especially where groups with similar proosals are 
put in touch with one another.

Speakers have to be self-arranged. However, a process for getting 
approval for 120 speakers across 24 plenaries is now underway, with 
the first wave of 20 foreign speakers now approved by the European 
Programme Group. (se: http://www.fse-esf.org/en/esf.shtml?x=906&als
[SSECTION]=Programme ).

Seminars are independant of Plenary sessions, but speakers may be 
approached closer to the time to be involved in any seminars. Most 
speakers for  the plenaries and seminar will have to be self-financed 
by either those groups proposing them to be involved in plenaries, or 
those proposing them for particular seminars/workshops.

The process for approval of a shortlist for seminars/workshops is not 
at-all transparant, however, and this is something in keeping with 
lond-running dis-satisfaction with the organising of the ESF. The 
Wombles have also written an excellent critique of the shortcomings 
of the WSF and ESF process from an anti-capitalist perspective, which 
should soon be available on their website (ww.wombles.org.uk ).


Guidelines for proposing seminars and workshops:

Taken from: http://www.fse-esf.org/en/esf.shtml?x=172

Plenaries, seminars and workshops: These are the three kinds of 
meetings which will take place at the ESF. Plenaries are organised by 
the whole ESF process. Seminars and workshops result from proposals 
of participating organisations.

Timescale: proposals for seminars and workshops are open now and will 
close on August 1st. Please note if you are a resubmitting your 
proposal you should put 'Resubmit' in the title bar followed by the 
title of your proposal. Please resubmit the entire proposal, making 
any changes as required. 

Seminars: Seminars at the ESF provide an excellent opportunity for 
different organisations across Europe working on similar issues to 
come together to network, develop ideas, proposals and interlink for 
effective action. On previous experience there are likely to be many 
more seminars proposed than space allows, so organisations are 
strongly encouraged to work together to propose seminars jointly or 
to merge seminars once they see proposals on the ESF website. In the 
event that there are still too many proposals for the space 
available, the ESF will be obliged to merge seminars, as in previous 
years. Seminars that stand alone - are just supported by one 
organisation - will have to be given least priority for space. 
Organisations are asked not to propose more than five seminars. 
Simultaneous interpretation is provided at seminars. How the meeting 
is run is decided by the participating organisations themselves.

Workshops: A workshop is likely to be a smaller meeting, probably 
organised by just one organisation. No simultaneous translation is 
provided by the ESF.

Costs: In line with previous ESFs, there will be a financial 
contribution required by organisers of seminars and workshops. This 
is yet to be agreed: as a guide, last year the contribution for 
seminars was 200 euros. This is only a guide - depending on final 
costs, this fee may have to be higher. Costs are shared between 
groups organising the meeting on a basis decided between them.

ESF Themes: Exact wording of key themes for ESF 2004 is still in 
development. However these will include the general areas of: war and 
peace; citizenship and democracy; opposition to neo-liberalism and 
issues around the economy, labour and work; environmental crisis and 
sustainability; racism, discrimination, identities and the far right.

Propose a Seminar or Workshop. 
 


Plenaries for the European Social Forum Plenary session on
the ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS, AGAINST NEO-LIBERALISM AND FOR SUSTAINABLE
SOCIETIES:

i. Oil addiction - energy politics, corporate power and global
climate change (key words: energy, climate change, renewables, water)
ii. Politics on your plate - European agriculture, its global impact
and future (key words: GMOs, CAP, WTO, land rights, food sovereignty
and security, rural issues)
iii. The end of the myth of development and growth: towards a
sustainable society (key words: Common resources, ecological
economics, creating and distributing wealth differently, water)
iv. Environmental crisis and European responsibility (key words: EU
policies, environmental footprint, ecological debt, cities,
transport, health, democracy and citizenship)

Official website for the 2004 ESF: http://www.fse-
esf.org/en/index_en.html
Most Informative website: www.esf2004.net