[Gipfelsoli Newsletter] February 12th 2007: Heiligendamm

[International Newsletter]

- Newsletter "shake g8 bikeride"
- UndoingCapitalism.
- Trade Unions on to the global arena!
- Concept of a Videoactivist network for mediawork around the G8 2007 in
Heiligendamm
- Global Invitation to: movinG8-RadioForum
- G8X Queer Resistance 2007 Germany

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Newsletter "shake g8 bikeride"

In your hands you hold the first newsletter of "shake g8 bikeride". It`s the
attempt to keep you up to date of the preperation process. A lot is happening
decentral and self- organised and having a summary isn't that easy.

Infotour:

At the moment there is happening an eastern-europe infotour, which will cover
our route as well. It will be used to mobilise for the caravan and also to
contact and find possible stages on the way.

If you want to contact them, want to have an informational event in your city,
want to host the caravan, want to join it or just want to inform yourself, you
can write to resistencia07 at riseup.net

The route:

The caravan will start from Budapest. From 1.-5. april we want to get to know
each other there and find time to think about our structure, how to find
decisions, how to deal with media... From there we`ll head to Györ (8. April),
later to Bratislava (10. April), than north to Brno (14. April), further to
Wroclav (28. April) and Poznan (5. May). In Schwedt (16th. May) we want to
enter fortress Germoney. We are expecting difficulties there and need support
and publicity for it. After having danced down the borders we are guest in the
community "karlshof" which are trying the concept of noncommercial agriculture.
>From there we`ll join the other caravans in Wittstock, and together with them
participate in the go-in of the planned bomb-training area "bombodrom". ( up to
1. June). United with all the others we`ll form an unstoppable wave which will
flood the G8...

"dancing down the borders" in Schwedt on 16.5.

We decided to cross the polish-german border in a no-border-action. The german
police will try to keep as much people as possible away from the protest and a
lot of activists will have problems in entering Germoney. We want to focus
publicity on the fact that even the "schengen-agreement" will be interrupted
and borders in general are a constructed shit and should be abandoned. There`ll
be a mobilisation also from the german side and the press will be invited. The
date will be part of the anti-G8 choreography. This is a call to everyone to
particpate and to think about ways of de-masking the border-regimes of the
world.

Already organised stuff:

This is a rough summary of usable material, which has already been organised. A
tractor with a waggon will accompany us during our way. It will carry cooking
material, tools, costumes, first aid kids for bikes and humans, as well as
spare tires, maybe a laptop and space for more. Though the tractor has an
insurance and a good condition, we should be prepared of having to leave it
behind and having enough capacities on our bikes. We'll have a fancy homepage
from the end of february on and the wiki, which we use for everything at the
moment, will be just a working-platform than. The adress is
www.g8-bikerides.net At the moment it's sending yourself directly to the wiki.

Next dates:

On the 23rd of february there will be a wonderfull benefit party in the
"drugstore" in berlin under the topic "tanks to spaceships" with djs and maybe
some bands. From the 24th-25th of february will be the next preperational
meeting in berlin. It will take place in the "OUBs", the "Open University of
Berlin". Starting time and how to get there will be posted at the wiki.

Contact and infos:

the webpage, where you`ll find all infos and topics for the next meeting will be
collected is reachable under: www.g8-bikerides.net It's a page we share with the
"gr8chaoskaravaan", a caravan which starts in brussels and which also heads to
the G8.

You can contact the mailing-list fahrradkarawane07 at lists.riseup.net to get in
touch!

[www.g8-bikerides.net]


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UndoingCapitalism.
Skills for Change

- Kapitalismus? Nein danke! - Antikapitalismus für alle - G8: Gebt Acht! -
Popular Education - Training for Change - Direct Education - Eine andere Welt
ist möglich - sexraceclass - Für eine Welt, in die viele Welten passen -
Caminamos preguntando -

Four workshops from 27th of April - 6th Mai 2007
- or if you want to: A ten-day workshop consisting of four sessions

in Schloss Trebnitz (northeast of Berlin)

What is the basic idea of these workshops?

It is not analysis of neoliberal globalisation which is missing, but rather
forms to transmit and exchange knowledge. And surely more ways to inspire
people to action! Political education from below, in the sense of Popular
Education, is underdeveloped within the globalisation movement - and yet it´s
not only way more fun than reading texts but it also reaches and inspires more
people.

In these four workshops you can experience and learn
-	about capitalism and anti-capitalism using popular education methods
- tools and approaches for training social activists to increase the impact on
vital progressive movements
- how to use all this for yourself and for ´teaching´ others, but also to bring
skills and awareness into a non-hierarchical organizing process - to increase
the democracy in our social movements.

Rosa Luxemburg-Foundation in cooperation with the Canadian Union of Postal
Workers and Training for Change.

II
Who will be doing the training?

Training for Change is a US-based group that spreads the skills of democratic,
nonviolent social change, with experience in countries of the Americas, Africa,
Asia and Europe. Its concept of direct education goes beyond the transmission of
knowledge to focus on transformation: both for workshop participants and for
their ability to act within society. It is based on the concept of popular
education, which has its roots in social movements and was first set out
systematically by Paulo Freire. Beginning with the lived reality of
participants, visuals and group dynamics are drawn upon heavily, rather than
working from texts. The objective is to be as inclusive as possible and,
furthermore, to draw upon the knowledge and abilities of all those involved.
Daniel Hunter is former Program Director for TfC who has facilitated workshops
in Africa, East Asia, India and Europe.
Erika Thorne is a Training Associate with TfC who has focused on building
effective coalitions, adressing racism, and daring to dream.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) has been involved in the global
resistance movement as part of the network Peoples Global Action since its very
beginning. Besides, they´re an extraordinary example of doing education in a
different way: CUPW members join four weeks of training on capitalism, sexism
and racism. For many participants this is changing their range of activism
thoroughly: When in 2002 the G8, after the events in Genua the year before, hid
in the Canadian mountains, Kananaskis, activists of the CUPW were the only ones
crossing one checkpoint after the other - ´delivering their mail to the G8 and,
finally, blockading the street.
Dave Bleakney is the CUPW´s National Union Representative for education
(Anglophone), he has held over a hundred workshops involving thousands of
workers.

III
What is each workshop about?

Anticapitalism for all
Fri., 27th April, 18.00 h - Sun., 29th April, 15.00 h

First we want to explore what anticapitalism means in our and other peoples
lifes - beyond dry analysis of capitalism but not without understanding. Join
us if you want to find out more about the issue, and/ or if you´re thinking
about spreading this to others. The session will be directed towards addressing
the interests of those who simply come as participants, as well as those of
people interested in the further transmission of this knowledge as
'multipliers'.


Training for Social Action Trainers
Sun., 29th April, 18.00 h - Tue., 1st May, 15.00 h

Building on this, the second session will provide an opportunity to depart from
the role of participant and with guidance jump into training, using the
workshop as a learning laboratory. This is an intensive training designed for
activists wanting to inspire people, as well as experienced facilitators
wanting to take their skills to a new level and learn how training can be used
more effectively.

AS A PARTICIPANT, YOU WILL...

* Receive personal guidance from experienced trainers
* Take risks and try new approaches in a safe and supportive environment
* Increase your training options, refine your skills, and learn from each other

IV

Advanced Training of Trainers
Tue., 1st May, 18.00 h - Fri., 4th May, 15.00 h

Deepen and broaden your facilitation skills in an advanced workshop open only to
those having attended the Training for Social Action Trainers, or have
experience. Together we'll tackle some of training's biggest challenges -
including doing cross-cultural work, handling conflict and strong emotions,
modifying workshop designs on the fly. And we will experiment with new
solutions.
In this three-day workshop, developing the ability to work with groups and
organizations will continue. The AdToT is not only of interest to ´teachers´.
On the contrary, the more activists and concerned people are able to develop
these skills, the more democratic and effective our social change work will be.

AS A PARTICIPANT, YOU WILL...

* Receive in-depth, personal coaching on your goals
* Prepare for cross-cultural work, including international training
* Learn about more training tools and how to use them effectively
* Use more practice time to experiment with new approaches in a supportive
setting

IV

Class Matters
Fri., 4th May, 18.00 h - Sun., 6th May, 15.00 h

The housing activists were stumped - they couldn't get people from the local
housing project to come to their meetings."Nobody there cares enough to do
anything!" they said.

CLASS IS THE MISSING PIECE
These were experienced activists. But like a lot of organizers, they didn't have
an awareness of the power of economic and social class. As a result, they
experienced frustration with other groups and their organizing was less than
effective.

CLASS INFLUENCES OUR ACTIVISM
Social class influences our lives subtly yet powerfully. It affects how we feel
about ourselves and how we treat each other. It influences how much money we
get in our lifetimes -- and how long our lives will be. It's also influencing
our activism, probably more than we realize.

Like racism, class prejudice gets in the way of effective coalition-building.
Like sexism and homophobia, it can deprive our activist groups of the
contributions of all. Unlike those forces, classism is rarely brought out in
the open. That makes it even more powerful!

WHY IS CLASS SO HARD TO SEE SOMETIMES?
Class is everywhere. But from an early age, most of us were trained not to see
it. We were taught that our modern society is "classless," or that we're all
middle class. That training can make the effects of class hard to spot at
first.

ADRESS A TABOO: CLASS
Learn about class dynamics in groups and social movements.
Strengthen your activism for a deeper level of social change.


What we would like to add:

These workshops are part of the mobilisation for the protests against the G8
summit in Heiligendamm/ Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in June 2007. But at the same
time they aim toward a movement beyond this event - a movement for another
world, and for a life that we like.

V
Organizational stuff

4 workshops in 1 - what does it mean?

You can take all four workshops for an intense, extensive training experience.
It´s a rare opportunity, and we recommend it! You can also attend just one, two
or three, according to your time and special interests.

And if my English is not sufficient?
Noch ein Hinweis auf deutsch und in anderen Sprachen:

deutsch: Diese Workshops werden auf Englisch stattfinden. Doch wollen wir mit
Flüsterübersetzung durch Freiwillige arbeiten: für Deutsch, und wenn möglich
für jede andere benötigte Sprache (in diesem Fall meldet Euch bitte vorher!).
Es braucht also niemand Englisch beherrschen, aber alle benötigen eine Offenheit
dafür, dass nicht alle dieselbe Sprache sprechen. Genau wie im richtigen Leben!

Castellano: Estos talleres serán en Inglés. En caso de que necesites una
traducci?n al castallano o otro idioma por personas voluntarias durante el
seminario: contáctanos antes por favor!

Français: La langue sera anglaise. Si tu as besoin de Française ou d´autre
langue par une personne volontaire pendant le workshop, prend contact avec nous
à l'avance s´il te plaît.

English: If you need any other language than English: Please get in contact with
us in time!
So no-one needs to be perfect in English, but we all need an appreciation of the
fact that not everyone speaks the same language. Just like everywhere else!

VI
What will it cost you?

Before we tell, be beware:

- We will account your travel costs with the fee.
- The money is used for helping those from far away (including from other
countries) with their travel costs, to allow to participate; the workshops
themselves are fully subsidised.
- We don´t want you to stay off for money reasons. Instead: Sign in, pay in
advance (also as a kind of protective charge in order to ensure that free
spaces will not be wasted just because some people didn´t mean it seriously
when they signed in), and we´ll deal with it when you´re on the seminar.
Promissed.

* For the exact prices, see the Registration Form.

Registration Form

In case you register by e-mail, please give all information asked for in the
registration form below, and send it to:

habermann at rosalux.de

I register bidingly for

* all the workshops: 27th April - 6th May (100 €)
* the first workshop Anticapitalism for Everyone: 27th-29th April (20 €)
* the second workshop Training for Social Action Trainers: 29th April-1st May
(20 €)
* the third workshop Advanced Training of Trainers: 1st- 4th May (40 €)
* the fourth workshop Class Matters: 4th-6th May (20 €)

My Contact Info

* Name
* Address
* Phone
* E-mail
* remarks/ questions

Dietary and Medical Needs General Meal Preference:

Vegan (no animal products)
Vegetararian
Meat
Are there any foods you cannot eat? Please describe.

Child Care
If you need child care, please get in touch with us in advance.

Please registrate as soon as possible.

VII

Location:
Schloß Trebnitz Bildungs- und Begegnungszentrum e.V.
Platz der Jugend 6
15374 Müncheberg OT Trebnitz
Tel. 033477 519-0

Arriving by train:
Every two hours there are trains departing Berlin-Lichtenberg into the direction
Küstrin/Kostrzyn; after 50 min. travel get off at the station Trebnitz. It takes
another 10 min. walk to the castle. After registration, we will send you more
detailed information.


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Stop the G 8 Summit -
Trade Unions on to the global arena!

As trade union members from many countries we are part of the protest against
the G-8 summit 2007 in Heiligendamm. Like no other international institution,
these annual
summit meetings are symbols of world-wide neoliberal dominance. World economic
summits serve global coordination and division of power. That way they
stabilise the neoliberal world economic order with its ever worse consequences
for the majority of the people. An elitist minority in that context
appropriates the wealth that millions of people produce.

We support the protest against imperial power strategies and wars, against the
predatory exploitation of nature and the ever more threatening climatic change.
As against its promises, global capitalism drives humanity into existential
crisis. Without peace, nothing is worth it. And without an answer to the
threatening climatic catastrophe nothing is worth it either.

The globalisation of capital and labour markets has placed the employees in a
world-wide competition against one another. Without scruples, the workforces of
individual countries, branches and locations are played out against one another
- in a dumping competition for jobs, working conditions, wages and human
dignity. As union members we therefore demand:

* The core work norms are a human right and must be imposed as human rights.
Among them there count the rights to the founding of trade unions and to the
conduct of

collective bargaining, the abolition of child and forced labour in work and
profession. Infringements must be made public and be followed by harsher
sanctions.
* Legal maximum work time: Work redistribution is the decisive means against an
unemployment 200 million high and 1.4 billon "working poor" world-wide.
Productivity advances must become social progress by way of cuts in work time:
the 30 hour-week being the goal, the 40 hour-week must become the world-wide
legal maximum labour time.
* Minimal wages that already exist, even if inadequately so, must become
world-wide minimal standard. At 60% of the respective national average wage,
they must be allowed to unfold global validity.
* Systems of public existential services and guarantees for the future must be
built up or respectively protected against privatisation and commercialisation.
Health, education, public security and the natural bases of life should not
become merchandise.
* Business protection and participation rights must be regulated by law in order
to guarantee the employees minimal protection against arbitrary treatment by the
employers.

The relationship of forces between capital and labour has dramatically shifted
to the benefit of capital in the course of globalisation. Global financial
markets and firms acting across borders in the meantime dispose of a gigantic
potential for extortion face to the nation states (tax and environmental
dumping, deregulation of labour markets) and face to the trade unions organised
solely on the basis of the nation state.

We have to get out of this historical defensive by staying right on the heels of
capital, overcome linguistic barriers and mutual ignorance and recognise the
communalities in our interests, cooperate across frontiers at all levels of
trade union activity and get together for protest and resistance, for instance
on occasion of the strike demonstration against the Bolkestein directive, of
the international strikes of the harbour workers and sailors and now in June
2007 against the World Economic Summit in Heiligendamm.

We know that we are still at the beginning of this road. Yet we also know that
only by the overcoming of competition among each other and with the help of
globally acting trade unions we will be able to effectively counter globally
acting capital.

Signatories
(Selection, an official publication with all first signatories will follow)

Detlef Baade, Business Councillor/Schweb representation/K-Sbv, Hamburg
Hagen Battran, GEW District chairman, Freiburg
Gerd Buddin, Vice chairman of the trade union ver.di, District of Berlin
Patrick von Brandt, ver.di Regional district youth secretary, Lower
Saxony-Bremen
Jeanine Geißler, ver.di youth education secretary, Hannover
Werner Dreibus, authorised representative of IG Metall, Offenbach
Roland Hamm, first authorised representative, IG Metall, Aalen
Ralf Krämer, ver.di trade union secretary, Berlin
Walter Mayer, IG Metall trade union secretary on pension, Berlin
Bernd Riexinger, ver.di District executive chairman, Stuttgart
Werner Sauerborn, ver.di trade union secretary, Stuttgart
Heidi Scharf, first authorised representative IG Metall, Schwäbisch-Hall
Michael Schlecht, ver.di trade union secretary, Berlin
Berno Schuckart, collegial representation, ver.di Hamburg
Sibylle Stamm, ver.di regional chairman, Baden-Württemberg
Roland Tremper, ver.di district executive chairman, Berlin
and many others.....

Contact:
Dirk Spöri, spoeri at gmx.net, tel. 0160 7942195, Auwaldstr. 29, 79110 Freiburg
Werner Sauerborn, werner.sauerborn at t-online.de
Translation: Carla Krüger; carlakrueger at t-online.de

[Trade Unionists against competition for location and world-wide wage dumping]


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Concept of a Videoactivist network for mediawork around the G8 2007 in
Heiligendamm

The Videoactivist-Network consists of filmmakers, who have set the goal to help
activists to present their own story and publicize it through the medium of
video. There have already been work-meetings on this topic, 3-4 times a year,
since spring 2005. These meetings have consisted of existing networks as well
as various groups and individuals.

The current focus of the network is the mobilization for and reporting on the
anti-G8 protests. To this point, we have discussed the following concept, which
we would like to present here:

Basics of Videoactivism

Videorecordings will be published on indymedia or similar structures. Filmed
actions will generally be pixelated, ie. people will be made unrecognizable
unless the filmed person has explicitly said otherwise. The transmission of
recordings by a legal-public or a private "program institution" is only at the
wish of the group being filmed. The one exception is release of video to expose
Nazis.
All material will be furnished with a logo to make "license offenses" harder. We
will provide a contact to handle questions for footage from the press.

Before the Summit

Videos about globalization will be produced and published. A collection of films
on that topic will be put together for arthouse cinemas, public access TV
channels, and other venues. This collection is intended for screening before
the summit, but will be shown during and afterwards as well. A specialized
website for the purpose of distributing videos around the g8 will be built or
linked to from an existing site. We hope to make multilingual subtitles
available, and for that aim, we begin to build a pool of translators.

During the Summit

Production of videoclips for the internet, to download or stream, as well as
temporary live-streams. This will provide up-to-date video coverage of the
summit from our perspective.

Working together with other media

We wish to work together with free radios and other videoactivists. To this end,
we seek preparatory discussions on the local, regional, national, and
international levels.
On the level of information exchange, we hope for cooperation with NGOs.

Infrastructure

The videoactivist network favors more decentralized locations for A/V
production. A mobile editting studio will be installed. An info-dispatch for
media activists should be build to collect and verify information.

Contact

videoactivism at nadir.org
g8-mediaactivism at lists.nadir.org

[videoactivism at nadir.org]


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Global Invitation to: movinG8-RadioForum
Bundesverband Freier Radios

Call for alternative G8-radio-coverage!

On the occasion of the G8-summit 2007, various counter-events and actions are
scheduled to take place in Northern Germany. At the start of a week of protests
(2nd to 8th June) approx. 100.000 people are expected in Rostock and the
surrounding area of the official venue of the summit (Heiligendamm). This will
include a large number of journalists and media activists.

The German association of Free Radio Broadcasters (BFR) and the european branch
of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC-Europe) are
issuing a global call to participate in alternative G8-radio-coverage!

We want to create a jointly organised and co-ordinated program of different
radios and radio groups to broadcast in as many languages as possible. The
basis of coverage is non-commercial and emancipatory. This also means critical
self-analysis of activities by the movement of those who are opposed to
globalisation in its current form.
The purpose of the coverage is to have continuous production of short
radiosegments and (live)broadcasts. The program developed on the spot will be
streamed via internet by as many radio stations as possible and transmitted
locally. The broadcast location will most likely be in an independent media
centre in Rostock. Four or five internet-audio-streams are planned to allow
simultaneous multilingual broadcasts. Depending on needs and possibilities,
there will be additional production sites. (Please bring your own notebook
computers, recorders and equipment.) In order to allow "correspondents" or
interested private individuals to participate, we advise registering by April
30th (see below).

Broadcasts and segments can also be produced in advance. The deadline is April
30th. Prior to the start of the protests, a multilingual "raise your voice" -
program will inform people about the impact of neo-liberal politics on the
local context of your radio stations. The goal is also a critical examination
of (new) social movements. We are interested to see what social struggles have
produced what experiences? What role does / did your radio station play in this
process?

We also aim to make this co-operation a space for social interaction and to
provide an opportunity to reflect on the different practice of free radios.
Active co-operation during such major events means creating (counter-)
publicity. This can be achieved by using structures and means of production
that reach beyond the influence of money and goods, e.g. horizontal
organizational structures, co-production, copyleft (free of copyright
restrictions). We want self- responsibility to create non-discriminatory
broadcasts! No racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, war-mongering or other
misanthropic content will be broadcast.

You are heartily welcome! We need your support!
supported by: AMARC - World Social Forum 2007, Nairobi, Kenya

You can also participate by:

- circulating this announcement
- pers. / techn. commitments, setting up g8-editorial staff
- taking responsibility for many little duties in Rostock
- participating in a preparatory conference Rostock III
 13.-15.04.07 - www.heiligendamm2007.de (ger../engl.)

contact (engl./span./french/ger.): g8 at freie-radios.de
Internet: www.freie-radios.de / www.amarc.org

Support for travel costs can not be guaranteed for the
moment. Perhaps with the help of donations? (see box)

-------------------------------
Donation-account:
Bank: OSPA Rostock
adr.: Am Voegenteich 23
acc.-name: RadioForum
IBAN: DE22130500000200068180
SWIFT: NOLADE21ROS
(tax-deductible)
catchword: broadcasting
or: legal aid
or: travel costs
------------------------------

P.S.: If this invitation serves for applications of visas: The BFR is not
responsible for travel or stay of participants.

Bundesverband Freier Radios
c/o Radio Unerhört Marburg
R.-Bultmann-Str. 2b 35039
Marburg


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G8X Queer Resistance 2007 Germany

Come and get involved in queering up the resistance to the G8 summit, in north
Germany 7-9 June. Currently there are ideas for a ..barrio" within the large
activists` camp near Rostock, to make the camp more ... camp.
>From this base we can organize actions and take part in demonstrations as a
visible queer bloc. There are also ideas to hold a preparation week in Berlin
at the end of May, including workshops, actions and a queer performance
night.This site will be updated regularly, so keep checking to see how the
plans develop.
Next meeting of the Berlin-based crew is on 25th of February 2007, 6 pm. Venue:
Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, Kreuzberg, Berlin

[http://queersagainstg8.blogspot.com]