Re: like WCN? like Venice? (let's go network...)
Simon Field <[email protected]> Wed, 23 May 2012 14:37:04 +0100 (BST)
| Newsgroups | gmane.politics.activism.carfree-network |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
---633766066-1164626747-1337780224=:3423 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi all. Thanks to Joel for his e-mail. I share his frustration at the lack of progr= ess towards carfree. There appears to be little in the way of general inter= est in the subject, as exemplified by declining activity on this mailing li= st for the last few years. We have also noticed that the number of contribu= tions to WCN's World Carfree Day wiki has fallen every year, with just a ha= ndful of entries last year. This means WCN cannot answer media enquiries on= the subject, which in turn means less positive media coverage of carfree i= ssues.... In addition, we received no proposals to host the 11th Towards Ca= rfree Cities Conference. Interest in particular causes or activities is cyclical: right now carfree = is at a low ebb, but I'm hopeful new interest can be generated as we approa= ch World Carfree Network's ten year anniversary. As Joel says, carfree has = never been more relevant as a solution to congestion, climate change, physi= cal health, city liveability and the rest of it. I think a physical meeting in Europe is a good idea - there are few places = better for inspiration than Venice. I have registered to attend the Degrowt= h conference in September, and am planning to join the Degrowth walk from M= ilan to Venice (see the Degrowth conference website). This walk and the par= allel bike tour (tours?) could be good opportunities to spread the word abo= ut carfree and attract people to a 'Future of Carfree' meeting in parallel = with or after the Degrowth conference. We are open to ideas for actions. WCN's internal mailing list has recently hosted a discussion about restruct= uring and relaunching, but so far there have been no concrete, workable pla= ns with the names of people committed to help implement them. Your ideas wo= uld be welcome on this list, or off-list to me if you prefer. In the meantime we have a team of three core volunteers to maintain the web= site, prepare the bulletin and coordinate Carbusters Online. I sincerely hope the carfree idea doesn't fade away. I think there are peop= le out there who truly believe in it - over to you to make yourselves and y= our ideas known... Also looking forward to a response or two, Simon. ________________________________ From: J.H. Crawford <[email protected]> To: carfree_network-/[email protected]=20 Sent: Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 19:26 Subject: Re: [carfree_network] like WCN? like Venice? (let's go network...= ) =20 Responding to Justin's recent post: Hi All, So far there has seemed to be little interest in a network meeting in Venic= e. I'm not sure why, but I have one thought: Venice is expensive. Is that h= olding people back? Should we look for a low-cost alternative, perhaps near= Venice, so that those attending the Degrowth conference can easily attend = the WCN meeting? I am very discouraged these days. Nothing seems to be going in the right di= rection, and interest in carfree cities actually appears to be declining de= spite the improvements they offer for so many of the problems from which we= suffer. I really don't have any idea any more what we should be doing. I w= ould like to gather with some carfree supporters soon, somewhere. We need t= o discuss what to do next. Best, Joel >Here is another attempt to insert some life into this list (as well as net= work). This September 19-23 there is going to be a conference in Venice, It= aly on Degrowth. This is an important movement that has gained traction in = the past few years (some of you may have read about Francois Schneider and = his 14 month walk with donkey in France, in one issue of Carbusters). you c= an learn more about the conference at http://www.venezia2012.it/?lang=3Den.= (can also register there). > >Venice is also the glorious example, par excellence, of a carfree city and= beautiful carfree spaces, that all of us in the network like to gush about= . Well, there has been some talk among a few of us, of getting carfree peop= le to attend the conference, and using the opportunity to spend a little ti= me (ideally after the main conference) of planning for future ways that WCN= can play a role in shaping sustainable mobility and moving forward the car= free concept, in light of the closing of the Prague office closed last year= . > >Take this then as a call to see who is interested and would like to attend= , or help plan a mini-event and get-together. It will be great to see some = old carfree activists come together, but it can be equally super if some fr= esh faces show up. Anyone interested, please speak up! (either on-list or o= ff-list) > >Also in the planning is the ecotopia biketour, which will travel by bike f= rom Spain through France to Italy, ending up at the conference. Then there = is a group who want to walk a stretch to the conference, with a donkey ento= urage, just like Francois all those years ago (Francois btw, will also be p= resent, at least at the conf) . I've heard also about a regatta with rowboa= ts... So in a word, there is hope to do some action, such as a critical mas= s ride, or something else that we could organize. I think it could be great= if an action could take place that would specifically bring the carfree na= ture of Venice to light, support and promote that aspect of the city. > >So, here is the question, what are any of your action ideas for such an oc= casion? I know that if Joel comes, he'll take a video or three. What else c= ould we do? perhaps use the occasion as a scene for a statement broadcast w= orldwide? some media action? theatrical or otherwise? in Venice we wouldn't= so much protest AGAINST something as FOR it... > >if anyone wants to discuss this here, would be great, we still have a litt= le bit of time... also, if enough momentum develops, we can migrate to a sm= aller discussion forum. As other groups such as biketour are planning actio= ns, we could coordinate something together. I have contact with the confere= nce organizers and am also looking for more contacts to local institutions = or groups. would be nice to hear from any italians on the list.. > >looking forward to a response or two! > >Justin -----=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 ###=A0 =A0 =A0 = =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 ----- J.H. Crawford [email protected] http://www.carfree.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/carfreecities Video channels: http://vimeo.com/jhcrawford/videos http://www.youtube.com/user/CarfreeCities --=20 You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World Carfree Network" group. To post to this group, send email to carfree_network-/[email protected] Replies are sent to the author of the message. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to carfree_network-unsubscribe-/[email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/carfree_network?hl=3Den?hl=3Den ---633766066-1164626747-1337780224=:3423 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><body><div style=3D"color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:ar= ial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div><span>Hi all.</span></div><= div><br><span></span></div><div><span>Thanks to Joel for his e-mail. I shar= e his frustration at the lack of progress towards carfree. There appears to= be little in the way of general interest in the subject, as exemplified by= declining activity on this mailing list for the last few years. We have al= so noticed that the number of contributions to WCN's World Carfree Day wiki= has fallen every year, with just a handful of entries last year. This mean= s WCN cannot answer media enquiries on the subject, which in turn means les= s positive media coverage of carfree issues.... In addition, </span><span>w= e received no proposals to host the 11th Towards Carfree Cities Conference.= </span></div><div><br></div><div>Interest in particular causes or activitie= s is cyclical: right now carfree is at a low ebb, but I'm hopeful new interest can be generated as we approach World Carfree Network's ten year = anniversary. As Joel says, carfree has never been more relevant as a soluti= on to congestion, climate change, physical health, city liveability and the= rest of it.<br></div><div><br><span></span></div><div><span>I think a phys= ical meeting in Europe is a good idea - there are few places better for ins= piration than Venice. I have registered to attend the Degrowth conference i= n September, and am planning to join the Degrowth walk from Milan to Venice= (see the Degrowth conference website). This walk and the parallel bike tou= r (tours?) could be good opportunities to spread the word about carfree and= attract people to a 'Future of Carfree' meeting in parallel with or after = the Degrowth conference. We are open to ideas for actions.</span></div><div= ><br><span></span></div><div><span>WCN's internal mailing list has recently= hosted a discussion about restructuring and relaunching, but so far there have been no concrete, workable plans with the names of people commi= tted to help implement them. Your ideas would be welcome on this list, or o= ff-list to me if you prefer.<br></span></div><div><br><span></span></div><d= iv><span>In the meantime we have a team of three core volunteers to maintai= n the website, prepare the bulletin and coordinate Carbusters Online.<br></= span></div><div><br><span></span></div><div><span>I sincerely hope the carf= ree idea doesn't fade away. I think there are people out there who truly be= lieve in it - over to you to make yourselves and your ideas known...</span>= </div><div><br><span></span></div><div><span>Also looking forward to a resp= onse or two,</span></div><div><br><span></span></div><div><span>Simon.</spa= n></div><br><div style=3D"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-s= ize: 10pt;"> <div style=3D"font-family: times new roman, new york, times, s= erif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <font size=3D"2" face=3D"Arial"> <hr size=3D"1"> <b><span style=3D"font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> J.H= . Crawford <[email protected]><br> <b><span style=3D"font-weight: b= old;">To:</span></b> carfree_network-/[email protected] <br> <b><span style= =3D"font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 19:26<br> = <b><span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [carfree_netw= ork] like WCN? like Venice? (let's go network...)<br> </font> </div> <br><= br>Responding to Justin's recent post:<br><br>Hi All,<br><br>So far there h= as seemed to be little interest in a network meeting in Venice. I'm not sur= e why, but I have one thought: Venice is expensive. Is that holding people = back? Should we look for a low-cost alternative, perhaps near Venice, so th= at those attending the Degrowth conference can easily attend the WCN meetin= g?<br><br>I am very discouraged these days. Nothing seems to be going in th= e right direction, and interest in carfree cities actually appears to be declining despite the improvements they offer for so many of the problems = from which we suffer. I really don't have any idea any more what we should = be doing. I would like to gather with some carfree supporters soon, somewhe= re. We need to discuss what to do next.<br><br>Best,<br><br>Joel<br><br><br= >>Here is another attempt to insert some life into this list (as well as= network). This September 19-23 there is going to be a conference in Venice= , Italy on Degrowth. This is an important movement that has gained traction= in the past few years (some of you may have read about Francois Schneider = and his 14 month walk with donkey in France, in one issue of Carbusters). y= ou can learn more about the conference at <a href=3D"http://www.venezia2012= .it/?lang=3Den" target=3D"_blank">http://www.venezia2012.it/?lang=3Den</a>.= (can also register there).<br>><br>>Venice is also the glorious exam= ple, par excellence, of a carfree city and beautiful carfree spaces, that all of us in the network like to gush about. Well, there has been some tal= k among a few of us, of getting carfree people to attend the conference, an= d using the opportunity to spend a little time (ideally after the main conf= erence) of planning for future ways that WCN can play a role in shaping sus= tainable mobility and moving forward the carfree concept, in light of the c= losing of the Prague office closed last year.<br>><br>>Take this then= as a call to see who is interested and would like to attend, or help plan = a mini-event and get-together. It will be great to see some old carfree act= ivists come together, but it can be equally super if some fresh faces show = up. Anyone interested, please speak up! (either on-list or off-list)<br>>= ;<br>>Also in the planning is the ecotopia biketour, which will travel b= y bike from Spain through France to Italy, ending up at the conference. The= n there is a group who want to walk a stretch to the conference, with a donkey entourage, just like Francois all those years ago (Francois = btw, will also be present, at least at the conf) . I've heard also about a = regatta with rowboats... So in a word, there is hope to do some action, suc= h as a critical mass ride, or something else that we could organize. I thin= k it could be great if an action could take place that would specifically b= ring the carfree nature of Venice to light, support and promote that aspect= of the city.<br>><br>>So, here is the question, what are any of your= action ideas for such an occasion? I know that if Joel comes, he'll take a= video or three. What else could we do? perhaps use the occasion as a scene= for a statement broadcast worldwide? some media action? theatrical or othe= rwise? in Venice we wouldn't so much protest AGAINST something as FOR it...= <br>><br>>if anyone wants to discuss this here, would be great, we st= ill have a little bit of time... also, if enough momentum develops, we can migrate to a smaller discussion forum. As other groups such as bike= tour are planning actions, we could coordinate something together. I have c= ontact with the conference organizers and am also looking for more contacts= to local institutions or groups. would be nice to hear from any italians o= n the list..<br>><br>>looking forward to a response or two!<br>><b= r>>Justin<br><br>----- &= nbsp; ### &n= bsp; -----<b= r>J.H. Crawford<br><a ymailto=3D"mailto:[email protected]" href=3D"mailto= :[email protected]">[email protected]</a><br><a href=3D"http://www.carf= ree.com" target=3D"_blank">http://www.carfree.com</a><br>Twitter: <a href= =3D"http://twitter.com/carfreecities" target=3D"_blank">http://twitter.com/= carfreecities</a><br>Video channels:<br><a href=3D"http://vimeo.com/jhcrawford/videos" target=3D"_blank">http://vimeo= .com/jhcrawford/videos</a><br><a href=3D"http://www.youtube.com/user/Carfre= eCities" target=3D"_blank">http://www.youtube.com/user/CarfreeCities</a><br= ><br> </div> </div> </div></body></html> <p></p> -- <br /> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google<br /> Groups "World Carfree Network" group.<br /> To post to this group, send email to carfree_network-/[email protected]<br /> Replies are sent to the author of the message.<br /> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to<br /> carfree_network-unsubscribe-/[email protected]<br /> For more options, visit this group at<br /> <a href=3D"http://groups.google.com/group/carfree_network?hl=3Den?hl=3Den">= http://groups.google.com/group/carfree_network?hl=3Den?hl=3Den</a> ---633766066-1164626747-1337780224=:3423--