It was a fruitful gathering at the European Social Forum for Democratic Alternative. The seminars that Democratic Alternative were involved in were well attended. There were relevant discussions, points were put forward and connections made.  The energy level and spirit were raised high and followed us back home to continue the struggle with!

The seminar Radicalizing Municipalities – Developing Direct Democracy, organized by Democratic Alternative on Saturday morning, attracted many people who participated with great interest and competence. Between 60-70 people attended and still many more wanted to come in but the room and fire safety regulations put limits on the numbers this time. We in Democratic Alternative are very glad for the relevant questions, sharp comments and the good spirit that was created.

Degrowht and Social Rebirth – The logical steps to global survival was a seminar on Friday which several organisations was part of organizing. Democratic Alternative were one of the  invited organisations and had one representative on the panel who made a short presentation of our perspective and a well-received comment to the discussion. New contacts where made and we are curious to see what will come out of it. Perhaps there will be a network of degrowth-oriented groups in Europe and another network in the Nordic countries. (For more information, see: http://www.degrowth.net/wiki/doku.php/start)

Members of Democratic Alternative from Sweden and Norway gathered on the forum together with international guests from Switzerland, Belgium, United Kingdom and the US. Many ideas was planted while eating falafel, going between seminars and enjoying cultural performances.

The grand finale was the big demonstration. We took part with banner, songs, chorus and a lot of joy and energy.

This was the beginning of building another Europe!

Within a few days the European Social Forum will be launched in Malmö, Sweden. This will mean four days filled with seminars, discussions, music etc. There will be participants coming from more or less all parts of Europe as well as from other parts of the world.

The final program of the 2008 ESF in Malmö consists of 250 seminars, workshops and assemblies, over 400 cultural activities - films, theatre, concerts, poetry, you name it - inaguration, parade, party and closing session. It is all in all the most extensive program ever for the ESF. And of course, more than this, there will be loads of side activities, informal meetings, manifestations and political activism.

The program can be downloaded here (file size: 8 MB, format:pdf):
http://www.esf2008.org/program/updated-esf-2008-programme

In the program we are involved in two arrangements:

On friday 18.00-21.00, seminar with Democratic Alternative and several other organisations at Folkets hus, sal 2, Nobeltorget, Sofielund:

“Degrowth and social rebirth - The logical steps to global survival”

The path of capitalism is based on unlimited growth in production and consumption. This path is pathological and unsustainable – people are becoming aware of this and new groups/movements are being formed. We want to gather these groups, exchange experiences and form a European network of degrowth groups/activists. The aim is to build strategies and alternatives to the current growth paradigm.

On Saturday 11.00-12.30, seminar with Democratic Alternative at Folkets hus, sal 3, Nobeltorget, Sofielund:

“Radicalizing municipalities, developing direct democracy”

Popular power needs to be radically expanded if equality, solidarity and ecology are to be seriously considered. What role can municipal direct democracy play in
implementing such a politics? Could confederations of municipalities build a better system of government than nation states? A seminar on how the theory and practice of Social Ecology and Communalism can help propel the popular movements forward.

We are also in a que to get a space for one more session in the program lead by Social Ecology London and Democratic Alternative. In the case we get the space the ativity will be:

‘Are you prepared for the Big Change? – Movement Building for a Free Society’
Presentation of the ideas of Social Ecology and Communalism, a philosophy and theory advocating popular control over the economy and face-to-face democracy, followed by a discussion on organizational challenges for the future. How do we induce and organize processes that can lead to people power?

From September 17th to 21st 2008 the European Social Forum (ESF) is being held in Malmö, in the south of Sweden. More than 20,000 people are expected to participate in the forum, which is a meeting place for social movements in Europe.

For five days seminars and workshops will be mixed with culture, music, activism and demonstrations. The forum is more than a meeting, it is a chance to put forward alternatives and visions for the future.

For more information see: www.esf2008.org/en/

Democratic Alternative would like to invite our affiliates to come and take part in this forum. We see this as a great possibility to be part of developing social movements, to make contacts, to make plans together and to bring our perspectives to the discussion.

Registration of proposals for programme activities will be open until May 31st. During this period and from May to June there will be a process of merging similar programme proposals from different kinds of organizations, sectors and parts of Europe and also along the nine themes which will be used to structure the final programme.

This is what we currently are planning to have sessions about:

* “The confederal idea”
* “Climate, energy and the municipalities” What role can the municipalities play in promoting ecological alternatives?
* “Local Democracy - Dream or possibility?” Which local democratisation initiatives can we learn from? Have they succeeded or failed? What is needed for democracy to vitalize in Europe today?
* “What is communalism and how can we build communalist organisations?” An introduction to communalism and experiences from Democratic Alternative about building a communalist organisation. (This session will have another title)

We are also planning to have a panel discussion about communal confederalism focusing on the following issues:

* Can confederated municipalities be a real alternative to national and ethnical conflicts?
* In which way can confederated municipalities contribute to a redistribution of resources?

We want to encourage you to register activities by yourself on the ESF webpage.

Note also that you can volunteer at ESF! It is a good way of being part of the forum. If you are interested in that get in contact with the organizers.

Summercamp 6-10 august

How can global warming be stopped? How can we adapt our communities and societies to renewable energy and less energy use?

How can people steer society in a direction towards solidarity and ecological sanity?

With this years summer gathering scandinavian organisation Democratic Alternative is focusing on these issues. We will discuss problems, how to understand them and their origins. But we will not be content with that. We will also look closely at opportunities for another kind of development as well as elaborate on desirable and strategical political demands that we can pursue now.

Our perspective is that participatory direct democracy is the key to genuinly activate the public in the creation of desirable society. Only by broad popular mobilisation on municipal as well as global levels there is a prospect for challenging centralisation, inequality within as well as between countries, as well as blind economic growth.

Politics for the future 2008 will be arranged on Bona folk high school in Motala, Östergötland, Sweden. Here lectures, workshops, excursions etc will be offered.

Participation in the summer gathering costs 50 euro and then food and sleepings facilities is included. The primary languages of the program will be a mix of swedish and norwegian, but if there is participants who want to come from abroad we will look at our capacity to provide translation. Preliminary program in swedish can be downloaded here.

Send an e-mail to info(at)demalt.info if you want the program, have any questions or if you want sign up for the summer gathering.

Information on the Summer Camp and more coming soon…