(written by Mariangela Casalucci)

Thursday 20th Program group meeting : merging

Friday 21st network meetings in the morning Program group meeting : merging

IMPORTANT FOR ALL GROUP ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES AT THE ESF! After the merging meeting a new list of activities was prepared and sent to the ESF list. All the organizers have to check it and send eventually changes for any details and more important for the languages needed, by the 30th of May in order to finalize the program and print the final version The program will be completely closed on the 30th of May. The final Program will be ready by the 3rd of June in order to be distributed

Saturday 22nd May minutes from EPA (decisions included)

Agenda: 10.00 Report of Turkey Organizing Committee and discussion 15.00 – 20.00 Report of program working group and decisions

Turkey Organize Committee (TOC) report and information about the next European Social Forum in Istanbul

TOC organization : There are lots of people working in the ESF TOC. For the next last month TOC is going to share responsibilities between four people in order to organize and solve the problems in the next weeks.

Website: www.sosyalforum.org

Women feminist day

29th of June The women caravan from Balcans is arriving in Istanbul. There will be a welcome meeting. Infos will be sent to the list

30th of June Women European day of action - organized by the Women World March There will be an assembly and several workshops h. 18.00 closing h. 19.00 women demonstration.

Timetable of ESF in Istanbul: 30th of June h. 20.30 Opening event the ESF after the Women March with a concert with a Turkish band.

Speakers at the opening event : one of the Tekel workers, one from the Greek movements, one from the women march, one from the Mesopotamian Social Forum (attention to gender ) from 5 min to 10 min each. In the opening event who is speaking has to focus also on the main aim of the ESF in Istanbul

Main slogan of the ESF 2010 in Istanbul

ANOTHER EUROPE IS NECESSARY

Followed by: (in different languages)

English Make them pay for their crisis Italian La crisi va pagata da chi l’ha provocata German Lasst sie für ihre Krise zahlen! Kurdish Divê Cirma Krîzê Xwediyê Krîzê Bidin!

PLEASE SEND THE TRANSLATION in your language to the list

Program for the forum

1st July Thursday 9.00 – 12.00 14.00-17.00 17.30 – 20.30 19.00 – 20.30 meeting: building proposals for the Final Assembly

2nd July Friday 9.00 – 12.00 14.00-17.00 17.30 – 20.30 19.00 – 20.30 meeting: building proposals for the Final Assembly

3rd Of July Saturday 9.00 – 12.00 seminars and assemblies

14.00 – 16.30 thematic assemblies

18.00: Demonstration:

The demonstration will be held on Saturday at 18.00 from the Sisli to Taksim square. A concert will follow

4th of July Sunday 9.30 – 1 pm Final Assembly against crisis (there will be a first part to decide common actions against crisis and a second part for actions proposed by networks)

Assemblies in the forum:

In the ESF in Istanbul there will be apart from seminars and workshops thematic assemblies and a Final Assembly. For thematic assemblies there is the need to have more than the ones already organized and to change some of the ones included already in the list more inclusive. So all networks are asked to try to organize a meeting in order to collect proposals from seminars and workshops (specially migrants, climate change, antiwar…..) To be It was decided that the Final Assembly has to collect proposals from networks activities, thematic assemblies and people participating in the Esf. The aim is to prepare the call for the actions taking place in Europe against the crisis. Meetings have been organized and will be clearly included in the program to allow all those who are interested to take part in them Biggest focus of this forum has to be how people from Europe can work together to answers to the crises finding alternative against the neoliberalism economical project. There is a call for organizing more thematic assembly (migrants, climate change, antiwar)

Entrance Fee:

Normal: 30 Euro Youth (under 22 years), unemployed or retired, Regular fee for CEE-countries: 15 Euros Youth (under 22), unemployed or retired from CEE-countries: 10 Euro Participants from Turkey: 5 Turkish lira Participation fee for organizations: 250 Euros

Accomodations:

3 municipalities are supporting the ESF. Next week there will be information on the website about friendly accommodations.

Rooms in Macka University

Max. capacity (people) Number of rooms available: Languages 400 – 600 seminar 3 5 250 - 400 seminar 3 4 150 – 250 seminar 6 3 100 – 150 seminar 5 3 50 – 100 workshop 7 No translation 50 workshop 10 No translation

In one time slot 36 meetings could take place.

Seminar Fees: Seminar fees for the different size rooms are as follows:

Size Fee 750 1100 euro 600 900 euro 350 525 euro 250 375 euro 150 225 euro 100 (workshop) 150 euro 50-100 (workshop) 75 euro

Stands and stalls:

100 Euro for informational stalls of ESF participants. 250 Euro for commercial stalls (there will be a limitation on commercial stalls, only the stalls of publishing houses, CDs and T-Shirts will be allowed) There will be a working group inside Social Forum of Turkey, which will take care of the organization of stalls. This working group will decide which commercial stalls will be allowed.

Thematic Spaces:

Applications for Thematic Spaces will be taken through the mailing list. The cost of the Thematic Spaces will be 500 Euros for 20 square meters.

Media centre

The media centre will be provided by the municipality with 20 computers. A projector and an Internet connection has been asked in order to organize projections on particular themes

Translation and Babel :

Translation and interpretation is one of the most important thing in a Social Forum. Lina from Babel stated on behalf of Babel that Babel is not going to take responsibility for the translation in Istanbul ESF. They will offer their database to the TOC in order to find the interpreters needed. She gave some information:

Some statistics taken from the Babels database: 638 volunteers for the Istanbul ESF ( compared with 2500 in previous ESFs ) 197 professional 172 experienced 158 occasional 86 first experience 50% of those volunteers will actually NOT be available

BREAKDOWN BY A1 LANGUAGE (professional+experienced) Nbr of volunteers: ES: 123 IT: 62 EN: 44 FR: 43 DE: 28

A lot of interpreters are very reluctant to participate because Babel doesn’t know the system. We proposed an emergency solution which is to use Babel database in order to ask people to come for translation but only on their own risk. Babel has doubt on the Alis system and is really worried. If the radio system doesn’t work interpreters need an alternative system which means a traditional system What Babel asks for: 1 Funds 2 Test in each room 3 More volunteers as interpreters 4 More volunteers for people to manage the equipment

It was decided that If by the 29th we will be sure that the technical system doesn’t work a different system will be set up and that TOC and also countries delegation will try to find more volunteers apart from the ones available at the moment.

TOC also stated that Alis is very important also because is an alternative to traditional and very expensive equipment. TOC stated that it will be granted equipment in the rooms where translation is needed. Better have more limited number of booths. It was said that Alis is a good system but it is important to train people to use the system weeks before. Several points were raised about the need of an European financial fund for interpretation.

Practical Issues:

Visa: None of the people of European countries need a Visa to visit Turkey but citizens of some non-European countries will need a Visa. And Visa process for Turkey citizens of some countries are very long (it can even take months). Those who will need a Visa invitation should send their passport information to the following email address: esfvisainvitation@gmail.com

Solidarity Fund:

There will be one person of the TOC who will take care about the solidarity fund. Because of both environmental and financial reasons, priority access to the solidarity fund will be given to those who travel as group by bus or train from neighbouring countries.

Future of the ESF

A seminar is going to take place in Istanbul on the future of the ESF. A working group on the Future of the ESF was decided in the last EPA. Who is interested can contact Alessandra Mecozzi a.mecozzi@fiom.cgil.it o Hugo Braun braun@attac.de In the seminar we will discuss about how we can improve the ESF process and the European networking. As suggestions we would like to stress some of the points of the discussion we had till now: Are decisions based too much on countries ideas? Are there too much TUs and parties-oriented people? Is it possible to start an European budget in order to ensure some fundamental tools for the ESF process (e.g. web tools and Babel) ? How can we enlarge the process? Is the charter of the ESF still valid? Is it true that only if the people in the ESF/EPA space can decide common actions and strategies we can reach a wider participation? Do we have to change the format or the way we work? What’s the EPA role?

Women inclusion

Has to be seen more during the ESF and the whole process maintaining the quota rule. Women have to be in the panels (at least 50%) of all the meetings including facilitating assemblies. For the seminar the program group is going to give priority to proposal where the people commit themselves to balance women and men (this commitment has to be part of the registration process form).

Diversities

In all seminars it will be important a special commitment by the organizers to include different point of views in the panel to increase the debate by genders, age, geographical (East and South) and cultural backgrounds, different abilities and so on

Logistic in ESFs

Food and accommodation must be consistent with our messages: i.e. affordable, environmental friendly, use local farmer products… Accommodation: (try to organize solidarity accommodation, hotels, hostels, campsite)

Presence of Political parties

Should neither have a separate space in the ESF nor be among the organisers. This does not exclude the participation of party members for special sessions of political dialogue, which could be particularly attractive also for the public opinion.

Website

In Istanbul in 2007 it was decided that all websites and tools need a permanent funding but this decision was never implemented

EPA in Istanbul minutes from Sunday 23rd

Agenda 10.00 Discussion about political situation in Europe (Greece, crisis) 12.30 Discussion on documents 13.00 Discussion about next ESF and next EPA

Call for the ESF 2010 in Istanbul Another Europe is necessary!

Make them pay for their crisis!

6th ESF, Istanbul 1-4 July 2010

As time goes by, the crisis of neoliberal capitalism is being transformed to a real war against the working people: tremendous cuts in salaries and pensions, unprecedented job cuts, total destruction of public services. This is the worst time for the workers income and social rights since the end of World War 2. Those who created the crisis, businessmen-financial speculators-neoliberal governments, are now trying to transfer the bill to those who have no responsibility: workers, unemployed, pensioners, youth, women, immigrants. It is high time to stop them, this is the time to make them pay for their crisis.

EU, IMF, financial speculators and neoliberal government all over Europe are trying to make in Greece the laboratory of a new barbaric anti-social model they want to implement all over Europe. But this is not a Greek crisis. It is a global crisis of neoliberal capitalism. It is already being transferred to the rest of European South and it will not stop there. We express our solidarity with the resistance of the Greek people to the austerity plan. WE ARE ALL GREEKS!

Now, more than ever, it is urgent to build international resistances and international alternatives to neoliberal capitalism. There cannot be any fragmented national way-outs of an international crisis. Furthermore, we should block reactionary forces which attempt to take advantage of the situation.

Now, more than ever, we need the European Social Forum. In Istanbul from July 1 to July 4 we are going to make of the 6th European Social Forum an immense laboratory for the international coordination of our resistances and for the promotion for an new social, economic and ecological model. It is high time to mobilize on the European level for the defence of jobs, salaries and pensions, for a decisive stop to financial speculation, for a European moratorium of public debt payments, for a shift towards an ecolological way of production .

We make an appeal for massive international participation to the 6th ESF. TOGETHER WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.

INVITATION FOR THE ESF 2010

We also worked on a text which was proposed by Judit and emended during the meeting on Sunday. TOC is going to send it to the list by tomorrow. Both tests are going to circulate in all different countries in all different languages. People and organizations involved in the preparation of the forum have the responsibility of circulating them.

The next ESF

We discussed about the place where the next ESF will be held. Several suggestions were made Bruxelles, Belgium Berlin, Germany Vienna, Austria East Europe Portugal Italy No decision was taken but we decide that in the next weeks in all different countries a consultation will take place in order to come to the ESF in Istanbul with a proposal

The EPA after the ESF in Istanbul will take place in Bruxelles

This is a first list:

Saturday 5th June National Demo in Rome "La crisi va pagata da chi l’ha provocata - Let’s them pay for their crisis. Against the Finance Act, in solidarity with the struggles of Greek Workers, we are all Greek"; promoted by COBAS and USB

From the 7th to the 15th June Italy, two days of National strike (with different dates for every region) of State school, promoted by COBAS Scuola

Friday 11th June Italy, National strike in the urban transports promoted by COBAS, USB, CUB, SLAI

Monday 14th June Italy, National Strike in the Public Employment promoted by COBAS and USB.

26th of May, general strike day in Turkey

AXES of the ESF in Istanbul

ANOTHER EUROPE IS NECESSARY: Make them pay for their crisis

published in http://www.sosyalforum.org/images/b...

1-Economic and social crises: Resistance and alternatives Subtitles:
 crises or failure of capitalism?
 Specificities and similarities of the crisis in CEE
 solidarity versus competition
 labour struggles against dismissals, closures and against precarity
 Is a fair international financial system possible?
 how to link struggles for rights with alternatives?

2-Social Rights for Social Europe Subtitles:
 common goods and public services for all
 a new welfare model against the ongoing destruction
 housing rights and resistance against forced evictions
 basic income and minimum wage
 labour and trade union rights

3-What kind of democracy? Promoting civil and political liberties Subtitles:
 against racist securitarian policies and anti-terror laws
 disappearances in custody and jail, isolation, prisons
 the rise of the far right and authoritarian policies
 which EU construction? Who decides?
 Democracy and civil rights in CEE and Russia

4-In defence of the rights of oppressed nations and minorities Subtitles:
 A peaceful, just and democratic solution to the Kurdish question
 For a democratic construction of Europe based on the respect of its diversity and the self governance and participation of the populations of all levels

5- Against fortress Europe:
 Full rights for Migrants and refugees
 Equal social and political rights
 Right to free movement of people

6-Equality versus discrimination. Feminist alternatives facing the global crisis. Subtitles:
 opposing patriarchal system
 struggles against violence on women
 sexual diversity, civil rights for LGBTT

7-Save the planet: Building a sustainable world Subtitles:
 overcoming the ecological crisis: How to link struggles for a sustainable environment and social justice
 food sovereignty based on peasant’s rights and land access
 access to water and safe energy for all
 against unsustainable production, distribution and consumption.

8-Peace versus war, militarism, occupations Subtitles:
 The struggle to stop occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and elsewhere
 Militarist policies in Europe
 disarmament is necessary, how can we achieve it?
 stop nuclear armament, military bases and missile shield projects
 Responsibility of EU in the implementation of international law to achieve justice and peace in Middle East
 Struggles of European movements for a just and peaceful solution for Palestine

9-Youth - the right to education, work and a future

10-Democratising knowledge, education and culture; creating alternatives
 Privatization and commodification of Education: The Lisbon Strategy
 Which content and which methodologies for which goals
 Life-long learning, vocational learning
 Culture, science and democracy

11- Mass media and power relations: Defending the freedom of expression and democratising information
 against censorship

12 -Europe and the world: Cooperation and development based on solidarity versus domination and neo-colonialism
 Free trade as a means of domination
 For a democratic international framework

Guidelines for facilitators in meetings useful for facilitating meeting at the ESF

during the EPA should try to allow more people to express themselves. The moderators have to come to work informed and prepared; at the beginning of the process they have to present the rules for consensus; the plenary debates should be structured according to the agreed agenda. Women have to be in the panels (at least 50%) of all the meetings including facilitating the Assembly, EPA plenaries and network meetings

Meetings guidelines make a list of speakers, new speakers will be prioritised, Gender balance of speakers (1/1), moderator on the list as well, fix a time at the beginning for speakers, Speakers: have to stick to the subject, be respectful, not to be interrupted, speak slowly and don’t raise their voice when speaking in the microphone “L-sign” when translation doesn’t work No applauses – out of respect for the translators – shaking hands in the air is much better to show the agreement Moderators have to close the speaker list if time is running out asking if someone wants to sign up before unless the assembly decides to carry on the discussion.

Taking decisions When a decision has to be taken facilitators of the meeting have to: summon up the discussion and present the final proposals, ask if the assembly is ready to make a decision on this and if anyone disagree (before decision is taken) If somebody disagree the assembly has to find the way of reaching consensus The consensus about the proposals has to be shown in an open, transparent and clear way and has to be directly asked.

EPA preparation: As usual a group of people is in charge of the following EPA. The group is formed by people from the new EPA host country, the previous EPA host country and the ESF host country, people from Eastern European movements, people from Babel and website network. This group has to collect minutes, documents, decisions and open problems from the previous EPA and networks and publish them and formulate the draft agenda for the coming EPA. The draft will be circulated through the lists for remarks and objections and then the coordination group will publish the final agenda in advance in order to facilitate the participation.